are you sure they are intending for you to clean it up? My NF always has toys EVERYWHERE when I walk in. They don't expect me to clean it up but honestly there are so many toys that even cleaning them up makes the house look messy because there are so many. I do a general tidy at the end of the day to make things look nicer, but it's not like I'm rigidly lining the books up on the bookshelf or checking rooms other than our play areas (such as the bedrooms) to clean those messes

You have to talk to your employers, OP. Try "The girls are not picking up their toys after playing with them - the playroom is a disaster when I get here in the mornings - and was wondering how we should handle it now that they are older." Open a discussion about it.

It is wrong for your employers to expect you to clean up ANY mess caused by your charges when you are not working.

By initially cleaning up their messes in the beginning, you set a precedent so now they think they can be more lax when you aren't around, then assume you will just clean up after them when you have the time. FYI, I am not blaming you one bit, this is totally on THEM!!

In my opinion, the nanny is only responsible for cleaning up any messes such as scattered toys, dirty dishes & any spills, etc. made during her shift. Any messes made prior to her arrival are the responsibility of the family.

If a nanny elects to clean up any prior messes during her stay, then the family should be grateful and take that as a benefit...Not something that is to be expected from then on.

Since you feel that talking to the parents may make things worse, my best advice to you is to focus on only cleaning up what was messed up while you were there. If the parents balk at this, ask them for a meeting to look over your contract + state to them that this wasn't outlined as a job duty upon hire.

If they tell you this is a typical and common-sense duty for nannies, kindly disagree.

Good luck.

You aren't responsible for anything that wasn't being used when you walked in the door. However, the toys the girls were using with MB and DB *are* part of your responsibility. Make cleaning fun for the girls, don't make it a chore. At 2 and 3, this should still be a game!

Of course I would never expect the nanny to clean up the mess my kids made when the nanny wasn't here!!! I assume your children go to bed before you do - you clean up the mess they made after the nanny left!

I would not expect you to clean up any mess not created by you when on duty. You are not their maid and once you start cleaning up their mess, they will expect it all the time. Unfortunately, you have to address this problem with them.

...clean up kids messes made before she arrives in the morning? My current schedule with my NF is 7am to 5pm M-W-Th and 9am to 5pm T and F. On the days I arrive at 9am in particular, (and also now on Monday mornings, left from Sunday night) the house has been more and more of a mess. I understand that MB and DB enjoy those mornings playing with their kids before work, and at first when it was just on occasion, or a small mess, I was fine cleaning it up myself during nap time. But it has been happening more and more often, and now instead of just a small mess in one room I often enter the house to find multiple large messes in several rooms.

The kids are 2 and 3.5 years old, and are not the best picker uppers. But that is why I always stress cleaning up one mess before we get new toys out when I play with them (they might fight it at first but will choose to clean up after a minute or two of pouting). But when there is a big huge mess (like what I'm seeing more and more of when I come in) they act like it's the end of the world and will fall on the floor and say things like "it's too big, I can't do it!!" Etc which really makes the whole morning a drag, and sucks because the first interaction I have with them is negative (I need you to clean up some of this mess now before we can play more), so the last thing MB and DB see before heading to work is me struggling with fussing/upset kids (who had been happily playing right up until I walked into the house). I've tried to avoid that situation by just letting them continue to play as MB and DB leave, but they're always playing with MB and or DB so when they get up to leave the kids lose interest in whatever they were doing and want to play something else instead. And, as I said, I'm often left with Sunday nights messes when I arrive early on Mondays, too.

I know I've seen people on here say things like nanny should clean up after the kids, but nanny should not have to clean dirty dishes left from meals eaten before she arrived, etc. I guess I'm wondering what the consensus is on nanny cleaning up messes made by the kids before she arrives?

There is a big mess right now in the living room and the art area that was here when I arrived. I tried to get the girls to clean up earlier but they made a big scene, as usual, and I felt like they were being extra moody because they were hungry and needed to get out energy, so we had a quick snack and went to the park. When we returned, they wanted lunch, and when I mentioned the mess once more after lunch, the younger one started crying and the older one said "I'm so so so tired! I need my nap!" So I just let them nap without fighting them over it. Once they went down to nap I ate my lunch, did all the dishes, cleaned up after the park (put away park toys in the garage, cleaned off muddy shoes,, etc), and folded their clean laundry. I took one more look at the mess...I thought maybe I could get the girls to clean up after nap, but waking up is often difficult for them, and they will just want to sit and read books and have a snack, and I'll need them both to sit on the potty, and MB will be home shortly after they wake up anyway (I'm in CA so it's only 3pm here now).

I don't think I can say anything to MB and DB about not leaving a big mess for me...I just can't see that going over well. Is it enough of a statement if I just leave the mess for them to deal with? I know it's passive aggressive but I just don't feel comfortable bringing it up with them...and I'm starting to really get frustrated that they're leaving big messes for me to deal with so often. They have to understand that it isn't fair and it frustrates me... I've worked with other families in the past who took advantage of me, and I've never felt that from this family at all...I just worry that they will be taken aback if I bring it up? Or would they be more taken aback if I chose not to clean up the big mess they left this time? Help please...