Anonymous wrote:My kids have gone over to a friends house to play, both of them at the same time. Now is time to reciprocate.

It'll be for about 3-4 hours to watch 4 kids.

Do I need to pay my nanny extra?

I would rather pay extra then have her be resentful of it. Also, a good arrangement that everyone is happy with can lead to more play dates and better friendship.

What do other people do?

A one time gift? Extra pay? if so, how much? Nothing, with understanding that our kids will be at their house sometimes?

OP, did your kids go there when you were at home,
OR when the nanny was working at your house?

We don't pay extra for play dates, but we don't have them often, they are always reciprocated, and our nanny gets some kid free time on the clock when DD is at another child's home.

That said, if it were a playdate with more than one extra child (we have a single DD so playdates are normally with one other child) and our nanny was watching 3-4 kids, I might give her a gift card or one time bonus for the extra work.

Anonymous wrote:I think it is only right to compensate your nanny for the extra kids. After all there is a big difference between two and four, esp. when it comes to young children.

However, if in the past your nanny has had time off reason being that your kids went to play at another home and she didn't have to do anything, then I may re-consider my advice.

+1

I think it is only right to compensate your nanny for the extra kids. After all there is a big difference between two and four, esp. when it comes to young children.

However, if in the past your nanny has had time off reason being that your kids went to play at another home and she didn't have to do anything, then I may re-consider my advice.

Anonymous wrote:My kids have gone over to a friends house to play, both of them at the same time. Now is time to reciprocate.

It'll be for about 3-4 hours to watch 4 kids.

Do I need to pay my nanny extra?

I would rather pay extra then have her be resentful of it. Also, a good arrangement that everyone is happy with can lead to more play dates and better friendship.

What do other people do?

A one time gift? Extra pay? if so, how much? Nothing, with understanding that our kids will be at their house sometimes?

OP, I think the question that others have asked is important: did your nanny get the benefit of the previous play date? (Was it a time when she was regularly scheduled, still paid [guaranteed hours], but got to take off to relax and use as personal time?) OR, was the previous play date of no benefit to her (was she still performing job related duties at that time? Did she not receive pay for that time off if she did take it off? Or was the play date during a time when she was not on schedule?)

IF your nanny did get paid for that time, and did get to use it as personal time (not doing job related tasks), then I think it would be okay to ASK her if it is okay with her to have the play date at your home happen while she is on duty without extra pay. BUT, you have to respect the fact that she might say she is not comfortable watching two extra children during her shift (it might have nothing to do with pay; she has agreed to watch your children, doubling the number of her charges without her consent is not fair).

If your nanny did not benefit from the previous play date (as described above, if she still did job related tasks, did not get paid for her time, or was not on duty during the play date), then it is completely unfair to ask her to supervise other children without being compensated for it. And again, she still has the right to say no, even if you offer to pay for it.

Personally, if I had two charges, I would be okay with each of them having a play date friend over at separate times, but I would NOT be okay with them having friends over at the same time. Things can just get crazy way too fast; it's too much of a liability, and it makes me very uncomfortable.

I have been a nanny for fourteen years. I have had previous families (and their friends) take advantage of play dates before (I was being paid to watch my NFs two kids, but more often than not they would each have 1-2 friends over so I was frequently in charge of 4-6 kids!). Now, my rules for play dates are a bit strict:
1) If the child coming over for a play date is under 4, I expect an adult (nanny, grandma, mom, etc) to accompany him throughout the play date, OR to be paid to watch the child (generally for an extra $5/hr or so, depending on many circumstances).
2) If the child coming over is 4 or older, I either expect play dates to be reciprocated and not paid extra for (the child comes over for 2 hours to NF house one week, then my charge goes to his house for 2 hours next week, without me so I can take the time to relax or focus on my other charge, if siblings are a factor, or get caught up on laundry, etc), or, if not reciprocated, then again I insist to be paid for my time (again, generally $5/hr extra for the play date).

As others have said, the most important thing is to talk with your nanny and see how she feels. I hope my post has been helpful; good luck.

And you wonder why you can't have the same nanny for a while.

nannydebsays wrote:I don't think you can pay nothing unless nanny was not "on call" and/or doing other kid related tasks while your kids were not there. IOW, if the play date was at 3:00, and you told nanny to go home for the day after dropping off the kids, that is actual "free time".

If the play date was from 10 - 12, and nanny was doing kid laundry/tidying/grocery shopping then she did not have free time, she had kid free time. She was still working, right?

So if nanny was working during the play date, get her a small gift card to one of her favorite places for the work of hosting, make sure she knows her job is to supervise and do household stuff **if possible**, and go from there.

I said nothing meaning nothing extra. I pay my nanny guaranteed 8hrs a day. If 3 of them are not watching the kids, then good for her. Even when I let the nanny go home and pick the kids up on my way home, I still pay her her guaranteed 8hrs.

I don't think you can pay nothing unless nanny was not "on call" and/or doing other kid related tasks while your kids were not there. IOW, if the play date was at 3:00, and you told nanny to go home for the day after dropping off the kids, that is actual "free time".

If the play date was from 10 - 12, and nanny was doing kid laundry/tidying/grocery shopping then she did not have free time, she had kid free time. She was still working, right?

So if nanny was working during the play date, get her a small gift card to one of her favorite places for the work of hosting, make sure she knows her job is to supervise and do household stuff **if possible**, and go from there.

Nothing, because you assume the next play date will be at the other house and you will be paying for her to not be watching your kids.

I am a nanny and I can say I expect for there to be play dates occasionally and therefore expect nothing more. If it was an everyday thing then yes I would expect more as I was responsible for nor skids but not if its just a play dates that happens from time to time

How many of the four kids are yours, OP?

Huh? Her pay is that she got a few hours off, paid.

Nothing

My kids have gone over to a friends house to play, both of them at the same time. Now is time to reciprocate.

It'll be for about 3-4 hours to watch 4 kids.

Do I need to pay my nanny extra?

I would rather pay extra then have her be resentful of it. Also, a good arrangement that everyone is happy with can lead to more play dates and better friendship.

What do other people do?

A one time gift? Extra pay? if so, how much? Nothing, with understanding that our kids will be at their house sometimes?