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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]You really believe the market rate for after-school nannies is $100/hour?  Wow.  This board has officially lost it's mind.[/quote]

"The market rate" is the cheapest rate you can find an after-school nanny for in your area. So "market rate" in this case is obviously not $25/hour (because in that case PP would have found somebody to take the job). It may be $30/hr or $40/hr. Or it may be paying somebody for a full-time position and only asking them to work from 4 - 7 pm. Nobody said "market rate for after-school nannies is $100/hour" but if that is the cheapest you can find somebody for the job? Then yes, it might be.

[quote=Anonymous]$600 Driving lessons. All of our APs have had them.
$150 New linens/towels/etc. Every other year
$100 Welcome gifts
$500 What we pay for their insurance
$50 Stocking the house with their favorite foods for their arrival
$300 New cell phone (this is the first time we've had to buy one, long story)[/quote]

- get a non-driver. No need for $600 driving lessons if you can make do with a non-driver. Also, not all APs need $600 driving lessons. Screen for APs from a country with strong driving and somebody with plenty of experience driving.
- no need for $150 linens/towels. Linens/towels can be used for more than two years and don't have to be fancy if you really want to provide your AP with new linens/towels (Walmart, Target, Ikea...).
- welcome gifts are your choice. Yes, they are appreciated. But they are not a prerequisite.
- yes, insurance is expensive. Are you talking car insurance? Cf. point one - get a non-driver, don't require AP to drive.
- again, your choice. Yes, appreciated, but not a prerequisite.
- I don't have a $300 phone. My husband doesn't have a $300 phone. Next.

Thing is... no, having an AP is not "cheap" childcare. It can be inexpensive childcare, depending on where you live and how many children you have. If you have one child and live in Bumfuck Nowhere where daycare is $150/week or where you can get a after-school nanny for $15/hr, who is flexible to pitch in on snow days, sick days, teacher days, vacation days you can't cover etc., yes, having an AP might be more expensive than other childcare options. Living in a high-cost area? Three or four children? Yes, having an AP may be the more sensible decision, financially.
I was an AP in Bumfuck. My HM also told me how much money they were saving when comparing having an AP to full-time daycare for a toddler plus before and after care for three (pre)teens plus summer camp (plus a babysitter for snow days, sick days...).

You are making expensive choices and calculate them as "AP cost." It doesn't work that way. If you buy a $60,000 car for your AP to drive, you cannot say your AP cost you $60,000. If you decide to buy a $2,000,000 6br/4bath home, eventhough you only need one extra bedroom for your AP and only have one child (and could make do with a 4br/2.5bath for $500,000), you cannot calculate that as AP cost. If you decide to take your AP on a two-week trip to Disney, you cannot complain that your AP is so expensive. You cannot decide to buy a $300 phone and complain that having an AP is not cheap. No, it is not cheap. The agency fee is not cheap, the educational stipend is not cheap (so it hasn't been raised in at least 20 years, which is ridiculous), housing and feeding her is not cheap. But depending on where you are and what you need, it may be less expensive (and more flexible) than other options you have. You are making expensive choices. Some are nice choices, good choices and the right choices - but they are still something you decide on. You have the option to make other choices. They may inconvenience you. But they exist.

Having a child is a privilege. It's something millions of people on this planet can either not afford or just cannot have due to infertility. Being able to put your child in daycare, daycare even existing, is a privilege. Having the luxury to worry if you can put your child in daycare instead of having to quit your job to care for it is a privilege. Being able to hire a young foreigner to watch you child, in your home, without you having to take your tired 2-year old to daycare at 6 am and pick them up at 6 pm, having to go to the grocery store, washing LO's clothes, cleaning their room, entertaining them in the evening when you are tired, cooking dinner, taking time off for sick days (and if you have your child in daycare you know how frequent those will be, especially in young children), struggling to find somebody to watch your child on snow days, having to cover months of summer break with different camps (and having to take your young child to day camp in the morning)... is a privilege.

Having an AP is a privilege. It's something millions of people cannot afford. It's like offering your AP a $300 phone or the possibility to drive your car. It's a privilege. And privileges come at a price. That's the way life is. If you don't want to pay for it? Don't. But don't complain about choices you make.

And no, having an AP is not cheap. It's inexpensive at best and sometimes not even that. But it's a choice. And it's your choices that make it more and more expensive. You can find cheap? Go for it. You can find higher quality? Go for it. And if you can't afford it, you can't afford it. Remeber, it's a choice. And a privilege. Free market. You can go wherever whenever.[/quote]

Are you the french AP? your posts are always funny lol
Anyway I agree with most of what you said. To your points:
- My current AP is a bad driver and she is been taking public transportation, many of her AP friends don't drive, THIS is saving me a few thousand of $, so i will not require next AP to drive. My high real-estate price for DC should be worth something!
- I got AP a used Iphone 6s (which is what I have) for $50 on CL and her phone bill with simple mobile is $25/month
- I have 3 kids so it is totally worth it, when I had two kids I did daycare (2 kids in school).
- I get AP new Lines from Walmart for less than $30
- Welcome gift of about $100 but I spread the gift cards within the first few weeks.
So the AP is not as cheap as people think but it is what you make of it! I have acquaintances thinking an AP just come to your house and live for free, eat your food and take care of your kids. They don't know about the almost $10K agency fees and another $10k AP wages you have to pay etc[/quote]

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