Well you were the problem, in that you repeatedly made a bad choice in employers, and weren't clear on your expectations upfront. Your specific duties should always be spelled out in your contract, and if a family wants to amend them, they'll need to go though the proper avenues of amending the contract, and subsequently your pay.

OP here: to the PP who said look at myself, believe me I do. I also look at the families when I get into the situation. I'm new and I know I don't weed through the bad options enough. I've had a job where, 3months in, DB sexually harassed me. Another job, about 1 month in, they fired the housekeeper and decided all her duties were mine now for no extra pay. Another, an otherwise great family but they decided having a live-in wasn't working for them and I didn't have my own car yet. I had one job that lasted literally a week before they let me know MB had a mental illness and that was why she screamed at me every day. Yes, every single day since the 2nd day of work.

My current NF thinks I walk on water. I'm sure I was never the problem.

I have worked with three families that were not a good fit and I stayed a year or less for those. The two jobs I had that were each over seven years I left when I felt it was time to move on and I still am in touch with both of those families.

Anonymous wrote:OP, if in MOST of your jobs you're finding that the parents are nightmares, maybe you should look at the common denominator (you). Having bad luck once or twice is one thing, but if you've only had one successful family relationship then you may need to take a closer look at yourself.

Eh, it could be OP, but it is also not hard to find a string of whack job parents in this industry. You have a lot of first time parents with really no idea what their style will be until the time comes, first time parent neuroses, people with no idea about nanny industry norms, no idea how to be a boss, no idea how expensive nanny care is and are constantly trying to cut corners, only know what they've seen in movies and think nanny is code for 24/7 servant, and oh so much more. With all of these potential issues, and the learning curve that comes with hiring your first nanny, I would say it is disastrous far more often than it works.

1st Family: I was with for 4 years. The kids started school and the family only needed part - time care but I needed a full - time paycheck.

2nd (current)Family: MB is a teacher so it's a 10 month contract no summer care. Hopefully I'll be back with them next school year

OP, if in MOST of your jobs you're finding that the parents are nightmares, maybe you should look at the common denominator (you). Having bad luck once or twice is one thing, but if you've only had one successful family relationship then you may need to take a closer look at yourself.

1st family: I was their PT nanny while in university FT. I transferred schools so had to quit.
2nd family: FT summer nanny position. The job ended the last day of August.
3rd family: I have been their FT nanny for just over a year while I take some time off from school. I will be going back to school FT this September, which they know. I am hoping I can stay on PT or babysit occasionally but my/their schedule for the fall is not known yet.

So, the short answer is: school!

1st family: a bad fit from day one. Mb was very controlling and quite hard work. The oldest was quite hard work and i had no support or back up from parents. Stayed 1yr then left.

2nd family: 6mth contract. Would have loved to stay longer but they only needed someone for the initial 6mths

3rd family: only had 10mths left on my visa which suited the family as they only needed someone for the school year so meant they didnt have to pay someone over the summer hols!

4th family: was great when first started but as the children grew from babies to toddlers i realised our ideas on discipline would never mesh and they were so lax it left their children in dangerous situations sometimes which i felt uncomfortable with. Stayed 1yr.

5th family: by far my best family. Was there 7.5yrs. Started when oldest was a baby and they added two more babies while i was there. Left as wanted to become live out

1st family - moved out of state.

2nd family - DB decided to stay home with the youngest child. Family and I have an amazing relationship.

3rd: MB And DB are going through a divorce. DB put the kids in daycare, MB tried to argue--but lost. I got less then 24 notice for my last day!

1st family- parents sold their business and wanted to be with their kids. I was a live in for 8 yrs. Two of the five kids were born during that time.

2nd family- was a temporary thing. Mom had to go back to work after 1 month of maternity, daycare slot not available until he was 6 months

3rd family- started when twins were 2 months they will start kindergarten this fall, so transition has started and I moved to part time.

4th family- just started but looking long term. Its part time til the fall and with infant twins. Looking long term it will be til kindergarten

Four families, 3 moved on to preschool and didn't need me full time, 1 moved right before preschool. I normally start at 3months and stay until they turn 3

Four nanny jobs in my history.

1) Mom decided to SAH after birth of her 5th child. Still feel like part of their extended family.
2) Was a good fit with MB, but not with DB (they weren 't on the same page as one another). Stayed one year which was what I stated up front, then moved on. Still on good terms with family.
3) Worked for them 4 years. MB at that point started trying to be more involved and make more decisions, but did i by basically underminin me and criticizing the way I had been handling things for 4 years. Bad situation, but I helped with the transition to a new (part time instead of full) nanny and MB admits now that I was right to leave so that she could have room to grow into being an active mom. Still babysit for them weekly.
4) worked part time for a family bit got an opportunity to go full tome, sonI will leave at the end of the school year. Feel badly about this one because they (and I!) hoped this would be a 2-year kind of thing at least.

Most of my jobs have ended because of a move, or new baby and mom decides to stay home. I've only quit one job, because the parents couldn't get their act together almost every single pay day. I finally had enough of never knowing if I would get paid.

For me, I've only left when my charge started school - like babies. I've been lucky I guess.

Just a curious new nanny interested in the demographics. In most jobs, the reasons for leaving are pretty straight forward compared to those of the nanny trade. In my short history of job experience, the majority of reasons for a job ending have, unfortunately, been a poor fit with the NF. (That's professional-speak for "parents you meet on craigslist are f*cking nightmares!" ) I've also experienced a job ending when the kid reached kindergarten age and I was no longer needed.