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[quote=Anonymous]Nanny here. My last  families:

Two preschoolers.  Mom gone M-F 8-5.  Dad worked from home but barely saw the kids.  The extent to which he spent time with them during the day was that he would come in and watch the news in the living room and get mad when I took them to the playroom to play since he was "there to spend time with them" but was often watching grisly or upsetting content.  Evenings the family would eat dinner together from 5-6 while dad got increasingly wasted then mom put them to bed.

Next family: Dad worked from before kids got up M-F until after they were in bed, with maybe one exception per week.  He often worked or napped on weekends.  Mom was a SAHM and I only worked part time.  I would arrive about an hour after the kids (two toddlers) were awake and mom had changed their diapers and they were naked and eating breakfast.  I would clean up breakfast, unload dishwasher, take the kids upstairs to clean their rooms  and get them dressed for the day, then I would pack their snack and take them out until lunchtime, we would return and I would feed them lunch and put them down for nap.   Somewhere in all of that I also got a load of laundry completely washed dried folded and put away each day and I would make dinner for the family most evenings.  After I got them down for nap, I would walk the dogs. Mom was in charge of them  from 4 PM to 8 PM.

My next family was again, two preschoolers. Dad never wanted kids so even though he worked at home, he rarely spend more than a few minutes with them during the day. He helped with the bedtime routine by sitting with one of them and watching a children's show while mom did the other ones bath and got  The other kids ready, then they would switch kids. Mom did all other childcare when I was off duty.   I worked from 8 AM until 6 PM Monday Wednesday and Friday, and 8 AM until 9 PM Tuesday and Thursday. I didn't work weekends but they had a separate mother's helper and mom would drop her off at the park with the kids after breakfast  and pick them up in time for a nap Saturdays.

My current family, dad  leaves for work before the kids get up for days a week and arrives after they are in bed three days a week. It is extremely rare for him to spend more than 30 minutes total with them on a weekday.  He also works most Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings.  Mom sees the kids for about half an hour in the morning and 15 minutes before bed, and spends the weekend  mornings with them, but has a sitter for the afternoons.  Mom also travels for work about one week out of six and does not see them at all that week.

The idea that anyone hiring a nanny is  choosing between basic necessities like food and shelter and childcare is pretty silly. Nannies are the most expensive form of child care, and the people who hire us are doing so because they need the flexibility to work ridiculous hours or to have ridiculous amounts of downtime.  I won't comment on how it impacts children are long term, but the idea that it is rare for a nanny family is to actually spend only a tiny amount of time with their children is just not reflective of what I have seen over my career. [/quote]

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