Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

post reply Forum Index » General Discussion

◄ 1 2 3 4 ► Go

Go to page...

12/16/2013 11:09

Subject: Re:Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:The nannies here are conveniently forgetting that the OP's child would be napping in the afternoon. My kids used to nap for 3 hours after preschool. Even if the OP's child only takes a 2 hour nap, this is 4 hours a day of free time on preschool days. The types of things that some nannies are suggesting the nanny do are from the basic list of things that any does when the kids are home during nap time anyway!

OP- you are not out of line but you need a different nanny. There are plenty of nannies out there that have no issues providing light housekeeping. You just need to avoid the ones who want to think watching a kid in preschools means you hit the watch Netflix while being paid jackpot.

Do you know anyone like that?

report

12/16/2013 11:15

Subject: Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:Op here, my daughter does not nap anymore.

What time does she sleep at night and wake up in the morning?

report

12/16/2013 11:54

Subject: Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

Anonymous

She sleeps for about twelve hours total throughout the night.

report

12/16/2013 12:23

Subject: Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

Anonymous

I'm an MB here and I agree with pretty much all the PPs that you are out of line and seriously at risk of losing your nanny. It is difficult when a child starts school and the nanny has extra time but you are trying to fill it the wrong way. No nanny is going to want to do heavy housekeeping. If you want to keep your nanny I strongly suggest you involve her in a discussion about what she thinks would be reasonable to do in the extra few hours she has while your DD is in school. I can think of many things a nanny wouldn't mind doing most of which people have already suggested so I'm not going to repeat them here. I'll also add that there is NO way she could even do all the things you are asking in the little time she has since your daughter is only in school 2 days a week.

I'd also strongly suggest you don't lower her salary. Of course you can do whatever you want but so can the nanny and she is very likely to leave if you cut her pay.

I don't know if you are a troll are not but I'm really hoping you are, otherwise you are giving all the good MBs out there a bad name!

report

12/16/2013 12:30

Subject: Re:Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

Anonymous

OP I don't think your list is bad for 4 hours assuming that you have no issues with the nanny folding laundry with your daughter. If you are asking her to run errands then that could knock out a full two hours. I'm also assuming that you don't have a pet and your house is clutter free. It takes me 2 minutes to vacuum the living room because the floor is accessible. It can me 30 minutes to vacuum the play room because I need to pick up legos and polly pockets.

report

12/16/2013 13:30

Subject: Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

Anonymous

Bathrooms isn't light housekeeping idiot.

report

12/16/2013 15:39

Subject: Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

Anonymous

I think whether you are out of line depends on whether you discussed the specific tasks you wanted her to complete in those 4 hours per week before your child started school. If the nanny knew exactly what was expected and is now having second thoughts, and you like the nanny, then you should discuss what she will and won't do during those 4 hours. If you did not tell her the chores (and it sounds way more than light housekeeping), then you should not be surprised that she is not happy with the arrangement. I have heard of some people hiring nannies that are basically a combination of housekeeper and nanny but it doesn't sound like that is what your nanny wants to be. If that is what you need, you should post a job for that and not a straight-up nanny.

report

12/16/2013 16:03

Subject: Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

nannydebsays

Member
Joined: 11/10/2012 15:54
Messages: 840
Offline

Anonymous wrote:We are having difficulty with our nanny recently since our daughter has started school. We asked her to pick up a few household chores during the time that our daughter is in school, she seemed okay with it at first but she is now becoming upset. We ask her to vacuum all carpet, mop and sweep the entire tile and hardwood flooring, clean bathrooms, and complete the entire laundry (before it was just our daughter's). She stated that she is not happy that her nanny position is "now morphing into a maid" and that if we continue to expect this of her, she will have to look elsewhere. We pay her generously, give her vacation time, and even pay her when we do not need or when she has a sick day. We believe that it is a fair trade to ask her to complete these tasks. Our daughter is in school 2 hours for 2 days a week, and we feel as if the duties that we are asking of her would fill the 4 hour void per week. Thoughts?

Its not uncommon to ask for a nanny to take on a little additional work when a child enters school. It is WAY out of line to ask a nanny to take on more than can possibly be done in the time she is without her charge.

I would suggest you, OP, attempt to do all the work you want done within 4 hours. At that point, you will fail to accomplish the chores you want your nanny to accomplish. This is especially true if the "2 hours" nanny has free include her travel back to your home and back to school for carpool/drop-off and pick-up.

Then your next step is to approach your nanny, and apologize for having incredibly unrealistic expectations. At that time you can talk with her and ASK HER what chores she is willing to take on during her time "on-call" while your daughter is at school. If she doesn't wish to do any of the housekeeping, she might choose to take on your grocery shopping, run errands, etc.

Then discuss your needs further, and come up with a compromise acceptable to you both.

profile p.m.

report

12/16/2013 16:07

Subject: Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

nannydebsays

Member
Joined: 11/10/2012 15:54
Messages: 840
Offline

Anonymous wrote:Op here,

Not a troll. We feel as if our nanny'a role has changed now that our daughter is older and off at school. If these things are unreasonable to ask if her, can we cut her pay for the time that she doesn't have to care for our daughter?

Sure. You can cut her pay for those 4 hours, but then you don't get to expect nanny will be available when your child is ill, is out of school, or otherwise needs her nanny those 4 hours a week.

Pay nanny to do light chores and have her ready and available for times there is no school, or figure out other coverage for times your child doesn't have/can't attend school.

profile p.m.

report

12/16/2013 18:03

Subject: Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:Op here,

Not a troll. We feel as if our nanny'a role has changed now that our daughter is older and off at school. If these things are unreasonable to ask if her, can we cut her pay for the time that she doesn't have to care for our daughter?

Your child still has the same needs of a full time caregiver. Just the specifics of how that job is handled is different. If she is sick at preschool, who gets her? If you answer is your nanny, then there is your answer. If you are willing to leave work, then your family needs are changing and its time to consider if you should even keep the nanny based off of your family's needs. Maybe your family would be better off with full-time child care. Reasonable is for her to do everything child related - cleaning, cooking, keeping rooms child related clean. I don't think its unreasonable to help with minor cleaning, kitchen upkeep, etc. but she is in the home a significant amount of time and should be doing it anyway. It probably takes her 15-20 minutes to drive to school and another to return. Then she has to do the trip all over again. So, it probably leaves her at best an hour or so. It is wrong to cut her pay. You stop school before you cut her pay as she didn't sign up for a shift job flexing her availability around yours. If you cannot afford her and preschool, then that is a separate issue and you will need to choose one.

report

12/16/2013 18:25

Subject: Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

Anonymous

How long is her day? Because with all these extra chores, she won't get a break... shouldn't 30-60 minutes be factored in?

report

12/17/2013 08:20

Subject: Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

Anonymous

Our nanny works from 8 to 5, we are still not sure how to handle this. She is a great nanny but we just can't justify paying her for the hours that she doesn't have a child in her care unless she is being actually working.

report

12/17/2013 12:33

Subject: Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:Our nanny works from 8 to 5, we are still not sure how to handle this. She is a great nanny but we just can't justify paying her for the hours that she doesn't have a child in her care unless she is being actually working. [/quote

I agree. I'm a MB and my employer doesn't pay me to do nothing so I don't see why I should pay my nanny to watch TV. But you have to be prepared for your nanny to quit if you insist she take in housecleaning tasks. You'll find a new nanny who Is willing but it will take time and effort and you may end up having other issues with the new nanny. I know that I would resent paying someone for doing nothing so I would probably decide to look for a new nanny or have the existing nanny start later on preschool days if she agrees

report

12/17/2013 14:28

Subject: Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

Anonymous

You have changed her job description because it better suits your life. No different than if I hired you to be a teacher then told you actually, there were two spare periods a day so I would need you to clean the bathrooms, and the school. Sure it would be great for me to have a school that was clean and then I woudn't need to hire a janitor but the teacher - whose expectation and job description was to teach children probably isn't going to be too happy.

You are trying to get her to be a maid because it better suits your life, however you didn't hire a maid and you didn't tell your nanny during the hiring process that you were looking for a nanny and a maid. Now you are trying to make her do work from a different profession because it suits you. She should look for another job as likely she wants to be a nanny. You should advertise and look for a maid/nanny next time.

report

12/17/2013 14:44

Subject: Nanny not happy, are we out of line?

quote

Anonymous

This is a bad situation for the nanny because housekeepers make more, so you really should be paying her $20-25.00 for those four hours of cleaning and laundry. If you want to be an understanding employer cut her tasks down to family laundry and vacuuming of Your child's room and living area, then let her have an a lunch break. Also, as PP said, try tackling all the items on your list yourself in time frame nanny has (include travel time to school and back twice, and a lunch break) and you'll see this is just too much to expect. More often than not your child will not be in school so if you like your nanny, check your expectations again, she's not superwoman!