Light house keeping does not refer to prior messes made by your boss. There are two grown people in their family,one can look after the kids while the other is cleaning the kitchen. Clean after you put the kids to bed, don't expect your nanny to clean your dinner and breakfast dishes. Leaving food uneaten food on their plates, yogurt half eaten in it's container everything just thrown in the sink. take your lazy carcass scrape the food in the trash can rinse off the dishes and put them in the dishwasher.Don't expect me to clean after pigs.

I'm a nanny who cleans the dishes in their sink, who cleans basements filled with toys. I can't imagine leaving a messy house messy. If my boss came home and saw the house was still a mess I would be fired. And my job description says light housekeeping. But it states: dishes, toys, children's areas. Well the children go almost everywhere, so I clean everywhere.

Anonymous wrote:Cut the crap, when I cook and eat my dinner I don't leave a nasty mess in my kitchen. They have a dishwasher rinse the freaking dishes and run the dishwasher. If you have time to make the mess then take time to clean it. No other family that I have worked for have done this, just plain trifling! It is not my responsibility to clean up after 2 grown lazy adults.

+1 Absolutely right!

If the family leaves dirty dishes in the sink and they were dirtied prior to you arriving, then it is usually not your obligation to wash them. However I am a neat freak, so if you have down time such as baby/toddler nap time, I would hand wash them (if there are not too many + if there is a dish drainer available) or load them in the dishwasher. However, if I am watching older children and have zero downtime, I will only wash up whatever dishes I have dirtied during my stay.

Regarding cleaning up toys, I always pick up whatever toys were played w/during my shift as well, however I may pick up more if time permits.

Yet, I do not do housework in general. I am a nanny and am primarily in the home to provide childcare to the child(ren), not to care for the house. I leave that up to the maid. Or the laundress.

I don't mind if you are running late and leave the morning dishes behind once in a while. But to leave dinner dishes along with breakfast dishes, no this is not my responsibility. I already run the vacuum clean the counters, table, outside of fridge, glass doors plus the lunch dishes. I have worked for every type of profession, each and every household cleans up after themselves. Hire a maid, not a nanny!

And then these same people will call the exterminator to come out and spray for bugs and ants. Even the exterminator commented on the dirty dishes everywhere saying "spraying isn't going to help matters, if they continually leave dirty dishes everywhere. It's just common sense.

You don't leave everything nice and neat before you leave if you describe their basement as gross. What nanny doesn't clean up toys even if the mess is made when you are not working.


I am not cleaning mess by the kids that are made with their parents. They have toys on each and every level of the house, we clean up the messes we make together. I don't play with them in the basement, if they let the kids dump out every toy by themselves more power to them! If they are capable to make the mess the same little hands are capable to put them back in their toy bins.

If you want to leave dinner dishes in your sink more power to you! But don't expect me to clean up after your trifling butt. If I can clean my entire house so can you! Either wait until the kids are in bed and clean the kitchen or get your behind up early before the kids wake up. To do this each and every morning is not acceptable.

I'm an mb I work 40-60 hours a week and I still have time to wash my dishes. I do it by hand because it's faster and I don't like dishwashers. Right after dinner while the kids have independent play (to the pp who suggested the nanny cleans up a mess from the night before, why can't you do your own dishes?

Anonymous wrote:What do you do in situations were dinner dishes are left everywhere or breakfast dishes still with food on them are thrown into the sink? Do you go ahead and put them in the dishwasher or do you leave it the same way? I hand wash all of my dishes at home, what is the problem with some people? The basement is full of dumped out toys where the kids just dump out each and every toy they own. I don't even go down there anymore it's just gross. I have talked to them but they still do it, I have quit a job before for the same reason. Seriously I want to vomit everytime I see this. I leave everything nice and clean before I leave.

You don't leave everything nice and neat before you leave if you describe their basement as gross. What nanny doesn't clean up toys even if the mess is made when you are not working.

Wow, self-righteous much nannies? There are days when I, a single woman, doesn't even feel like washing my dinner dishes and leave them for the next night after work. If it is such a bother for you to load a few dishes in the dishwasher (heck, do it while the kids are having independent play!) than just DON'T DO IT. But why complain?
I have encountered this a few times and I find that a quick "Hey would you like me to take care of your dinner dishes?" text elicits a "Yes, if you have the time" and a hearty thank you when the parents get home.
It is no skin off my back to help out a bit outside of my scope of duties when I am spending 8+ hours in someone's home all day. I've rarely ever been so busy that it's an inconvenience, and I doubt you have been either OP.

So you don't think nannies work full time? Our houses should be disgusting because we don't have time to clean? What a stupid comment, whoever you are. We actually work longer than the average parent.

Cut the crap, when I cook and eat my dinner I don't leave a nasty mess in my kitchen. They have a dishwasher rinse the freaking dishes and run the dishwasher. If you have time to make the mess then take time to clean it. No other family that I have worked for have done this, just plain trifling! It is not my responsibility to clean up after 2 grown lazy adults.

Um, it's nice that you have time to hand wash all your dishes. Perhaps your bosses don't have that time because they're busy working full time and raising children at all other times.

What do you do in situations were dinner dishes are left everywhere or breakfast dishes still with food on them are thrown into the sink? Do you go ahead and put them in the dishwasher or do you leave it the same way? I hand wash all of my dishes at home, what is the problem with some people? The basement is full of dumped out toys where the kids just dump out each and every toy they own. I don't even go down there anymore it's just gross. I have talked to them but they still do it, I have quit a job before for the same reason. Seriously I want to vomit everytime I see this. I leave everything nice and clean before I leave.