I often wish I was a SAHM instead of a nanny. I look after a 2yo 8am to 6pm and have no household tasks, don't have to run errands, don't even have to do her laundry. They have a cleaner, the mother is obsessed with healthy cooking so she cooks literally everything I give to the child, and all the cleaning I do is if we spill something or make a mess with arts. Tbh this is driving me insane. I love the girl, but it is boring to just play with her all day long. We go to story time and to the park and do fun craft things, but without anything to do in between, the days are very long. I'm considering having a child in the next few months and I am already excited to be able to do their laundry while balancing them on my hip or setting them to play with some pots and spoons while I cook dinner.

The huge difference between staying home w/your own child vs. caring all day for someone else's child is simply liability.

When you are in charge of the safety & welfare of someone else's child, you by nature take stronger pre-cautions that they child will not be hurt at all. Because if he is, then you have that major liability riding on your shoulders. Again + again.....

W/your own child, of course you will do everything to keep him safe. However w/another child, someone else's precious soul...There is a higher stress factor.

I do not see how anyone can disagree w/this.

I've done both. They are very different. There are elements that are the same, but mostly just the mechanical things like how to get to the playground or going to library story time. It's a bit trickier since there are other responsibilities besides childcare, but also more flexible a day since I can incorporate my kids in things I have to do, like making dinner or going grocery shopping. The day is much longer because it starts when they get up at 6:30 and goes until the oldest goes to bed at 9 (which is also when DH gets home). But, it doesn't feel like as much work because it's your life instead of the thing you are doing to pay for the separate thing that is your real top priority.

However, if you had trouble making friends and were lonely, that might just be how you handle unstructured environments and that might not change between being a nanny or a SAHM. Preschool teaching is a very structured environment and differs from them both.

Most SAHMs aren't concentrating solely on their kids during the day. They are scheduling appointments, talking to the older child's school, trying to cook, clean and do laundry and all the other zillion things that there are to do to keep a household running.

Most nannies don't do any of those things.

I've only known 3 nannies (including myself) who worked 24/7 and did all the things that a SAHM would do, but all 3 of us had contracts which listed our position as nanny/housekeeper/house manager. I was also homeschooling, so mine included homeschool teacher.

Unless a parent outright states in the contract that I'm hired to fill in a missing parental role, with all minor decision-making abilities and a say in most major decisions, I wouldn't even try to equate my position as nanny with that of the parent.

Really.

Were you responsible for your charge 24/7? You don't have an "end time" where you can walk out the door and carry on with your adult life.

Very different. It is your child and you dictate how things are done, when, etc. Congrat's.

Besides the you DON'T have a boss part? Is it not as lonely? Being a nanny for the last 7 years was extremely isolating for me and I live in Alexandria (where lots of Nannies were around). It was tricky because almost all of the nannies I met in Old Town, Alexandria didn't speak English well. They have their own little group. I was also much younger than the moms to begin with, so I spent the vast majority of my time alone. Some of the SAHM moms were rude too.. especially the older moms.....

The children I cared for were all super sweet and I loved them, but after 7 years I found it exhausting and fairly dull. So while still nannying I got Montessori teacher training and started teaching preschool. 2 years later, I'm leaving my job to be a SAHM. I will go back to teaching once my little one is preschool age. So is being a nanny nothing like being a SAHM? Since I am a young mom I guess I can fit in with both nannies and moms. My baby will be mixed race so may look different than me. I'm thinking people think I am his nanny. Husband is SA. haha oh well this is not a big deal.