Really, this is why so many military spouses I know are SAHP--so they can just completely uproot themselves at a moments notice and abandon their career to follow the military member to whatever short term/long term/overseas/stateside but in a crazy remote/economically depressed area, etc.

Anonymous wrote: Man, there are a lot of insecure women on this board. (Or their husband proved to be a bunch of sleazy horn dogs. )Either way, it's really sad! Sheesh!

It's also often the case that nannies will choose not to work for "single" dads, especially in a LI situation, which maybe the direction OP goes if all she can afford is $200/week.

However, OP, legally you have to pay at least minimum wage for a nanny, LI or LO. And paying "Nanny Taxes" should be done as well.

Guessing that you're looking at 36 hours a week, with a 6 day work week, minimum wage = $261/week. Could even a LI nanny pay her bills on that wage? I'm pretty sure the answer to that is no.

So either you're looking at an AP (if you can find one for just 6 months) at around $24K/year, or you're looking for 2 college students willing to split the shift and who will likely expect "babysitting" rates of $12 - $15/hour (approximately $500/week), or you're looking for a grandma type retiree to LI who will likely also expect more than minimum wage, or you are looking for a nanny, who will likely want about $600/week.

Good luck to you!

Man, there are a lot of insecure women on this board. (Or their husband proved to be a bunch of sleazy horn dogs. )Either way, it's really sad! Sheesh!

Anonymous wrote:OP - I'm military too and, in all honesty, I would take my child with me to school in TX. I'd find childcare there (maybe on post or an FCC provider?). You'll have better hours being in class all day and your child will get to be with you. Otherwise, I'd send him to my mother and father's. I just wouldn't want a nanny that would agree to your hours for that pay. I also wouldn't want a nanny around my DH all the time. Just sayin....

Not sure if it depends mostly on the school/branch/rank...but it might not be possible for OP to take her child. My Dh is military as well, and has had to attend schools that were Unaccompanied TAD--which means we wouldn't rate family housing on base, but he would rate a room in bachelors quarters, in addition to still receiving BAH or family living in base housing at the "home" base. If OP is in such a situation, obviously she can't bring her child into bachelors quarters with her. She may not be able to afford to rent suitable housing out in town AND pay for childcare there as well.

OP - I'm military too and, in all honesty, I would take my child with me to school in TX. I'd find childcare there (maybe on post or an FCC provider?). You'll have better hours being in class all day and your child will get to be with you. Otherwise, I'd send him to my mother and father's. I just wouldn't want a nanny that would agree to your hours for that pay. I also wouldn't want a nanny around my DH all the time. Just sayin....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly people, if I remember correctly OP said Texas, which is a huge area and which is vastly different from the DC metro area. We really have no idea what would be an appropriate pay level for this type of work.

That said, OP, you're asking for someone from 6pm to midnight every weeknight and then every Saturday too? Whatever the rate, it's going to have to be a bit or more higher than the going rate to make someone think these hours are worth it. They are very very strange hours.

OP will be in Texas, while her nanny/sitter cares for her son at home (don't think OP said where specifically but I assume in the DC metro area)

OP has an ad on this site. She advertises that the job will be in Herndon.
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/nanny-forum/posts/list/279059.page

Anonymous wrote:Honestly people, if I remember correctly OP said Texas, which is a huge area and which is vastly different from the DC metro area. We really have no idea what would be an appropriate pay level for this type of work.

That said, OP, you're asking for someone from 6pm to midnight every weeknight and then every Saturday too? Whatever the rate, it's going to have to be a bit or more higher than the going rate to make someone think these hours are worth it. They are very very strange hours.

OP will be in Texas, while her nanny/sitter cares for her son at home (don't think OP said where specifically but I assume in the DC metro area)

Honestly people, if I remember correctly OP said Texas, which is a huge area and which is vastly different from the DC metro area. We really have no idea what would be an appropriate pay level for this type of work.

That said, OP, you're asking for someone from 6pm to midnight every weeknight and then every Saturday too? Whatever the rate, it's going to have to be a bit or more higher than the going rate to make someone think these hours are worth it. They are very very strange hours.

Anonymous wrote:Its hard to find an evening job for 30 hours a week where you can study for 15-20 hours. A school age child goes to bed around 8pm, maybe 9pm at the latest. She would be doing pick up, dinner, babysitting for 10-15 hours for the week and able to study for 15-20 hours. $240-$300 would be $8-$10 an hour. College students not doing internships usually get jobs in retail or food service. They aren't making more in those jobs. With unemployment being high, its harder for them to find those jobs and they can't study during those jobs. Occasional babysitting does pays more because it isn't regular enough for someone to rely on it.

Well, for one thing OP didn't say she was offering $240-$300, she said $200. And she is not asking for 30 hours a week, she is asking for 30 hours PLUS Saturdays. So who knows how many hours that really amounts to?

Like I said *MY* job in college was in retail/food services (grocery store clerk) and I WAS making more than $8-$10/hr, and that was almost 20 years ago. I got a full health insurance package with that too (Union job). I *STILL* got burnt out and resentful that I was constantly giving up evenings and weekends when a lot of my friends had the time off.

OP, I'm also curious if you will need extra care for your son on days where there is no camp/school (for example, snow or hurricane days, teacher in service, etc), or if he is sick? Or will your Dh be able to take time off for that?

Anonymous wrote:Its hard to find an evening job for 30 hours a week where you can study for 15-20 hours. A school age child goes to bed around 8pm, maybe 9pm at the latest. She would be doing pick up, dinner, babysitting for 10-15 hours for the week and able to study for 15-20 hours. $240-$300 would be $8-$10 an hour. College students not doing internships usually get jobs in retail or food service. They aren't making more in those jobs. With unemployment being high, its harder for them to find those jobs and they can't study during those jobs. Occasional babysitting does pays more because it isn't regular enough for someone to rely on it.

You're still asking someone to give up their freedom every night of the week including Fridays. Not desirable for a college student, or most adults for that matter, no matter how you spin it. You'd have to find a homebody who needs the extra money, but even someone like that is going to want their evenings to themselves on occasion. Trying to pay anything but a premium for this job is going to result in a revolving door of caregivers. Not exactly what a mother away from home needs to put her at ease.

Its hard to find an evening job for 30 hours a week where you can study for 15-20 hours. A school age child goes to bed around 8pm, maybe 9pm at the latest. She would be doing pick up, dinner, babysitting for 10-15 hours for the week and able to study for 15-20 hours. $240-$300 would be $8-$10 an hour. College students not doing internships usually get jobs in retail or food service. They aren't making more in those jobs. With unemployment being high, its harder for them to find those jobs and they can't study during those jobs. Occasional babysitting does pays more because it isn't regular enough for someone to rely on it.

Anonymous wrote:I will be going to TX for school next month for approximately 6-months and I'm really stressing over trying to get care for my son while I'm gone. Hubby works swing shift, so he will be able to get our son off to school/camp in the morning. I'm looking a nanny to pick our son up from school/camp, do his laundry and prepare his dinner Monday-Friday from 6pm to midnight and an occasional Saturday. I think this would be good for a nanny share.

Do y'all think $200 per week is a fair rate? Do the hours seem reasonable for the pay rate? Minus the admin fees this is the weekly rate at one of the au pair agencies that I checked in to.

I posted an ad on sittercity as well as this site. On sittercity, I got a coupla hits from au pairs, but can they legally work for another family?

-- BV

So is it an occasional Saturday, or every (or most) Saturdays? Because in your ad, you state that it is while your DH takes a class and make it sound like it would be every Saturday. Regardless, I'd think you'd have to pay a premium for these types of hours, not a lower rate. I don't necessarily think it would be a good arrangement for a college student. For a couple years, I worked nights in college (as a grocery store clerk, not a nanny). It sucked. Especially Friday nights, when everyone else is out having a good time. I got burned out very quickly and even though I was making good money ($15/hr back in the mid-90's when min. wage was only $5.xx/hr) I quit. I got another job that only paid min. wage but I never had to work weekends or after 6 pm and was much happier.
I think it could be that you would hire a college student and after several months of never going out on Friday nights, they'd burn out and quit on you.

Anonymous wrote:Was using an expletive really necessary? I'm new to the nanny world, so this is a definite learning curve for me.

Anonymous wrote:Your post is confusing.
Do you need a nanny in Texas or in DC/MD/VA?
What hours do you need?
How far in advance will you know about what Saturdays are needed?

There is no way you'd find a share until midnight. What parent wants to come pick up their child at midnight from someone's home?

$200 a week? Are you f*cking kidding me? Assuming you need someone from 4pm until midnight, that's a 40 hour work week before the Saturdays. You're trying to pay someone $5 an hour?!

Yes, the expletive was fucking necessary.
Great job not answering any of the other questions.

Tell you what, you go work those insane hours for $200 a week and see how fabulous it is.

Anonymous wrote:6 am to mid night with a kid that is old enough to be in school/camp is not a $15-$18 nanny job. Its more in the $10-$12 range tops. The OP really just needs a reliable babysitter as the child will be asleep at least half the time the sitter is working. This position is good for a student who goes to class during the day and can study after the child goes to sleep. OP- you may want to post on nearby college job boards.

You may also find a nanny who wants evening work. You should not pay her a day rate for evening work.

You would be correct, if OP was talking about the occasional evening. But if you want someone to guarantee you 6pm-midnight on a nightly basis, that will be harder to find and not desirable AT ALL for most college students with any social life or extracurricular activities. $10-$12 isn't going to cut it. Perhaps if you split the job between 2 students giving them some evenings to schedule around. As a college student I would have loved a job like this a couple of nights a week for doing school work and getting paid, but not every night especially every Friday.

6 am to mid night with a kid that is old enough to be in school/camp is not a $15-$18 nanny job. Its more in the $10-$12 range tops. The OP really just needs a reliable babysitter as the child will be asleep at least half the time the sitter is working. This position is good for a student who goes to class during the day and can study after the child goes to sleep. OP- you may want to post on nearby college job boards.

You may also find a nanny who wants evening work. You should not pay her a day rate for evening work.