It depends on how flexible your ability is to work from home. Will you need coverage for teacher work days, snow days, sick days, COVID quarantine days? If you can work from home on those days, then you might only need someone part time to do pick up and dinner. But if not, you need someone who is full time.

I agree the 12-7 every day would be perfect. Have her make lunches for the next day, prep snack, pick up and take to activities, help with homework, and do dinner prep.

If you have intense jobs that require travel, you are going to have to pay “up” for coverage (sick kids, teacher work-days, etc). Once our kids got older, we switched from a traditional nanny to a housekeeper who does much more around the house. Our kids don’t need close oversight- they are very independent and clean their rooms, do homework on their own, etc. Our housekeeper keeps up the house but also picks the kids up from school, runs errand, does dinner prep, etc. It’s been so great for us as a family.

We pay roughly the same hourly rate (~$35), but have a lot more flexibility in how she spends her time.

Anonymous wrote:I think you’ll have a hard time finding a Nanny who wants to work evenings on a regular basis. If you have the room I would consider an au pair for elem age kids.

Live-in nannies for elementary age do this all the time.

Either live in nanny or au pairs. Those have the benefit of being flexible and they don’t have own family to rush home to.

I think you’ll have a hard time finding a Nanny who wants to work evenings on a regular basis. If you have the room I would consider an au pair for elem age kids.

Look at biggest factors:
-Do you want live in or live out?
-What is the general schedule you want?
-What is the schedule when you factor in the extras?

Get another nanny with teaching experience or college degree. She can work 12 to 7 (provided you can take the kids to school) weekdays and five hours for a date night on the weekends guaranteed. She’ll handle all grocery shopping, laundry, errands, dinner prep as well as take care of sick days and school holidays. She will pick up your kids at school and take them to sports or activities, handle homework and bath. You come home to dinner and quality time with child.

New elementary parents here. Both of us have full time, very intense jobs. Both travel frequently for work (DH more than me). We are often not home for dinner and have to work later have dinners (client-related and friends) although not in COVID, but we are expecting this to begin again.. We generally do not work much on weekends. We make very good salaries and have family money so our primary concern is not financial. That being said, when our old nanny went to grad school during COVID I felt relieved because I didn’t really want her to sit around waiting for the kids to come home from school - it felt a bit silly. We delayed this conversation with an amazing babysitter during COVID but now we need/ want a long term solution. Please, DCUM tell me what I should do?