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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I agree with the PP who said that the nanny should get a one hour break while the child is asleep, and perhaps another 15 minute break if the child takes two naps.  If the child naps more than that, the nanny should be doing other things around the house--not heavy cleaning, but tidying up, cooking, managing the dishwasher, laundry, planning activities or kid meals, keeping an online photojournal of her time with the kids, etc.  She should not be napping, watching tv, reading magazines or the like outside her 1 to 1.25 hours of breaks unless that was negotiated up front.  [/quote]

This just reads so...dumb...to me.

I do ALL of these things. Shall I list them? I keep an extremely detailed log of our day. I wash, dry, and fold the children's laundry. I prep all the baby food, portion it, refrigerate and freeze it. I pick up necessary groceries. I load, run, and empty the dishwasher (GASP of the parents' dishes too and GASP I don't mind). I vacuum everywhere but the parents' bedroom. I sanitize all toys and books. I keep the toy boxes in order on a DAILY basis. I wash the bathtub since I give all the baths. I wash, dry, and put away the cloth diapers. I sanitize the diaper pails. I consolidate and take out the trash and recycling from the entire house. I bring in the mail and any packages. I wipe off the kids' fingerprints from the windows. I could go on and on, but I won't. I do all of these things and today I STILL had over two hours with nothing to do. So yeah, okay PP, I guess I "shouldn't" be allowed to read my book during that time, I should what, stand at attention outside the children's bedroom? [b]A nanny who gets everything in her contract done on time, who builds great rapport with the kids, who communicates well with parents, who knows the neighbors, arranges and hosts play dates, takes the kids to community activities, basically a nanny who DOES HER JOB WELL, should be allowed to enjoy any downtime she gets in her day. [/b]Tomorrow the kid's might only nap 45 minutes, which I'll use to get everything cleaned, tidied, cooked, put away, whatever, but maybe they'll nap three hours again and I'll have a long break. And that will me being lucky, not lazy. [/quote]

Exactly!!!  I'm an MB and this is how I feel.  My nanny works incredibly hard.  I know this because I know what it takes to care for my kids when I'm doing it.  My nanny also does many of the things this poster noted (some basic cleaning on occasion - beyond just the kids' stuff, some occasional shopping if she knows we're running low on something, receiving mail/deliveries/workmen, etc...)  If there are days when she can find the time to put her feet up and relax, nap, email, read, whatever... I am thrilled for her and I hope she takes advantage of every moment she can grab to recover.  That way she's better equipped to handle my toddler maniacs and enjoy them.  To micromanage when/if she could take breaks seems absurd to me.  Life with kids doesn't work that way - it isn't a factory job.  A nanny who worked that way wouldn't be right for our family.  And I can't imagine a competent, experienced, capable nanny wanting to be micromanaged like that either.

Let him/her do the job.  Let them have whatever small amount of pseudo-downtime is available (after all, even if someone is sleeping the nanny is still on call - it isn't truly a break, it's more of a lull!).  Let your nanny be the competent professional you hope you hired.[/quote]

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