You people are mad. Getting paid $15 an hour to lay on a couch and read?! Who wouldn't want this job! OP, fire her ass. If she's a college grad she shouldn't have a problem finding another job

Anonymous wrote:Of course you can't fire her. She's doing all her work. I wouldn't care a bit if she reads afterwards while my middle-schoolers are doing their homework.

And please don't start re-negotiating with her now and trying to add on a bunch of stuff because she read a book. Micromanaging sounds about right.

I have little kids, and I would feel great knowing that my nanny got to sit and read for a while when they are sleeping, by the way.

+1

Of course you can't fire her. She's doing all her work. I wouldn't care a bit if she reads afterwards while my middle-schoolers are doing their homework.

And please don't start re-negotiating with her now and trying to add on a bunch of stuff because she read a book. Micromanaging sounds about right.

I have little kids, and I would feel great knowing that my nanny got to sit and read for a while when they are sleeping, by the way.

OP here, how is organizing my fridge and office not considered "light housekeeping?" I'm not asking her to get on her to clean my ovens or get on her hands and knees and shampoo my rugs. We pay a housekeeper to do those things 3 times a week. I feel like organizing things would be considered "light housekeeping" and probably too menial a task for our maid to waste her time doing when we initially hired HER to take care of the heavy duty cleaning. Meanwhile, I have a nanny who apparently has free time since I realize that my kids aren't toddlers and don't need to be closely supervised the entire evening. So, yeah, I expect her to make good use of herself instead of reading a book and expecting free money. Sheeeesh is that so much to ask?

Sounds like you are a micromanaging prick, OP. if you can afford to pay a nanny to "watch" you're 2 kids who are just about teenagers, then you can afford to cough up the extra cash for a housekeeper/home organizer to set your disorganized ass straight.

Organizing your home office or fridge is not "light house cleaning".
Dishes, laundry and stuff yes, but I feel what you're asking is way past light house cleaning.

And do you really want a random person go through all your papers in the office?

OP here, I wasn't vague I was pretty specific. I mentioned specific areas (home office, den, pantry, fridge, library) what am I supposed to do? Handwrite step by step instructions for her? She's a 23 year old college grad, she's not unintelligent. FWIW, I don't think she's lazy either and the kids love her. But let's get real here, if you're gonna be making $15/hr can't you at least make yourself look busy so I don't feel like I'm flushing my hard earned money down the toilet?!

What is she supposed to do OP ? Rummage around your cluttered house trying to determine what to reorganize and what to leave alone? You were extremely vague about what you expected and vagueness usually leads to miscommunication

Anonymous wrote:OP maybe she was feeling a little burnt out or tired today? Taking care of your son was her first priority and she saw to it that it was taken care of. If you want someone to reorganize your food shelves... Hire a housemaid and stop micromanaging

Many of us would like to go read a maganzine during our work day if we are feeling a little tired. It's not an option. Seriously, these are middle schoolers, they are not going to need hands on care most of the time, and these aren't 10 hour days where an hour refresh is needed. Taking care of them may be the first priority, but its entirely reasonable to expect someone in this sort of job to actually do work while you are paying them.

If you expect thing like reorganizing, then you should state that in the interview process.

Sorry, but definitely not cause for firing! She's doing what you hired her to do.

This isn't a great sign that she is a good fit for this job, but it seems like a talk is in order before you let her go. If she's used to more of a babysitting model, she may think its fine to relax if the basics are done. I'd be clear that this is more of a housekeeping position (as would be natural when watching middle schoolers). Depending on how many hours she works, suggest a reasonable amount of break time, but be very clear you expect productive work when its not break time.

If she's interested in keeping the job, she may change. If not, I'd look for someone with more of a housekeeping background who's used to that model.

OP maybe she was feeling a little burnt out or tired today? Taking care of your son was her first priority and she saw to it that it was taken care of. If you want someone to reorganize your food shelves... Hire a housemaid and stop micromanaging

If all the basics are done, I'd let it go. I hear you on the not paying for her to read but really she's still doing what you ARE paying her for which is supervising your kids. I pay someone $15/hr to watch t.v. while my kid sleeps on a Saturday night. It burns me up because I'd love to get paid at my job to relax, but I also realize that's the way with childcare. If she's good otherwise, let her have a break and relax. I'm sure there will be moments where she's working really hard so it will all balance out.

MB here,

Hired nanny to care for my 2 middle school-aged children during the afternoons and evenings. She was hired in part because she agreed to light housekeeping (load/unload dishwasher, do family's laundry, cook dinner) ... Tonight I heard her ask DS if he was doing ok with his homework and if he needed any help. He replied that he was fine so she asked him if he'd mind if she went into the den to read her book. He didn't object (he's in 7th grade, as if he'd say "no please stay here with me") ... Now my quip is that I'm not paying this girl $15/hr to get some pleasure reading done. I've mentioned in passing that I'd love for her to reorganize fridge, pantry, home office etc. in her spare time.

Yes, the kids ate, the dishes are done, and the wash is clean and folded ... But is it unreasonable of me to expect her to start doing some organization instead of sitting on my couch reading her book?