Anonymous wrote:
No OP's nanny has hit the jackpot. The OP is free to do whatever she wants with her money. If she wants to double pay that is fine. I do find this post highly suspicious and unlikely to be true. Why anyone would would up their rate by $10 after a few months is strange. If OP was willing to pay that amount (which is unnecessary) she would have done it from the beginning.


It is sad to me that you find this suspicious, because I believe people should be compensated for the quality of their work. Up to the point we hired her, our childcare help had largely been younger students, and while they were often great, they spent a fair amount of time checking their phone, and did nothing except interact with the kids (just one child at that time actually). That was fine because we didn't ask for them to do more. With our current nanny, she went far above and beyond what we had asked of her, and I felt the extra was worth $10 more dollars an hour. I used to spend my entire weekend doing laundry - now I don't. I used to have a chaotic mess to clean up after the other nannies left, because kids make messes when they are playing and having fun, which was fine with me, but it was still another task for me to do when I was pretty tired after a long day. Plus all the other things she just took on and did around our house. I'm sorry that you find it suspicious that someone doing all of these things wouldn't be worth $10 more an hour to you, but to me it is definitely worth it. I gladly, and with no regrets, hand her that check at the end of every week. To me, she is worth every penny.

I find this suspicious as well and doubt you are an MB. If you are, you are sadly uneducated and spending your money foolishly.

The only extra your nanny may be doing is family laundry, hardly worth $10 more an hour. She should already be cleaning up after the children. That is a standard nanny responsibility.

Of course, you can spend your money as you wish. But don't fool yourself. You don't have an exceptional nanny who is going above and beyond. You have a nanny doing a good job who you are overpaying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No OP's nanny has hit the jackpot. The OP is free to do whatever she wants with her money. If she wants to double pay that is fine. I do find this post highly suspicious and unlikely to be true. Why anyone would would up their rate by $10 after a few months is strange. If OP was willing to pay that amount (which is unnecessary) she would have done it from the beginning.

It is sad to me that you find this suspicious, because I believe people should be compensated for the quality of their work. Up to the point we hired her, our childcare help had largely been younger students, and while they were often great, they spent a fair amount of time checking their phone, and did nothing except interact with the kids (just one child at that time actually). That was fine because we didn't ask for them to do more. With our current nanny, she went far above and beyond what we had asked of her, and I felt the extra was worth $10 more dollars an hour. I used to spend my entire weekend doing laundry - now I don't. I used to have a chaotic mess to clean up after the other nannies left, because kids make messes when they are playing and having fun, which was fine with me, but it was still another task for me to do when I was pretty tired after a long day. Plus all the other things she just took on and did around our house. I'm sorry that you find it suspicious that someone doing all of these things wouldn't be worth $10 more an hour to you, but to me it is definitely worth it. I gladly, and with no regrets, hand her that check at the end of every week. To me, she is worth every penny.

Both parent and nanny hit the jackpot, most likely.
Win - win - win.
Biggest winner is the child, of course, who is SO loved by all.

Anonymous wrote:No OP's nanny has hit the jackpot. The OP is free to do whatever she wants with her money. If she wants to double pay that is fine. I do find this post highly suspicious and unlikely to be true. Why anyone would would up their rate by $10 after a few months is strange. If OP was willing to pay that amount (which is unnecessary) she would have done it from the beginning.

Your entitlement attitude is appalling. Shame on you!

Anonymous wrote:No OP's nanny has hit the jackpot. The OP is free to do whatever she wants with her money. If she wants to double pay that is fine. I do find this post highly suspicious and unlikely to be true. Why anyone would would up their rate by $10 after a few months is strange. If OP was willing to pay that amount (which is unnecessary) she would have done it from the beginning.

It is sad to me that you find this suspicious, because I believe people should be compensated for the quality of their work. Up to the point we hired her, our childcare help had largely been younger students, and while they were often great, they spent a fair amount of time checking their phone, and did nothing except interact with the kids (just one child at that time actually). That was fine because we didn't ask for them to do more. With our current nanny, she went far above and beyond what we had asked of her, and I felt the extra was worth $10 more dollars an hour. I used to spend my entire weekend doing laundry - now I don't. I used to have a chaotic mess to clean up after the other nannies left, because kids make messes when they are playing and having fun, which was fine with me, but it was still another task for me to do when I was pretty tired after a long day. Plus all the other things she just took on and did around our house. I'm sorry that you find it suspicious that someone doing all of these things wouldn't be worth $10 more an hour to you, but to me it is definitely worth it. I gladly, and with no regrets, hand her that check at the end of every week. To me, she is worth every penny.

No OP's nanny has hit the jackpot. The OP is free to do whatever she wants with her money. If she wants to double pay that is fine. I do find this post highly suspicious and unlikely to be true. Why anyone would would up their rate by $10 after a few months is strange. If OP was willing to pay that amount (which is unnecessary) she would have done it from the beginning.

MBs are freaking out(!!!) that someone actually values their nanny, and isn't instead trying to get the best deal possible. That you all would actually try to convince OP that she is overpaying (the same nonsense you flip over when nannies say you pay too little) is absolutely hilarious to me. Guess what? OPs nanny probably busts her ass for her. She'd probably go to the moon and back to keep her happy and to keep that job. When all you want to offer is the lower end of average, you make it way too easy to replace you. I can bitch about snow days, refuse to do your laundry/wash your dishes, and not do one thing I'm not contracted to do, because your job is just like every other!

nannydebsays wrote:OP, do you pay her so much per hour because she **can't** find another PT job that slots in nicely with your needs? or do you pay that rate because she **won't** find another PT job?

If you haven't got a contract, and she has no PTO specified anywhere, I would say that she should only be paid if she works. Or, you and she can sit down and set up a contract, offering PTO (most FT nannies get 15 days, so I would offer her 7 or 7.5) and even guaranteed pay.

I am not sure I understand the idea of working JUST to pay the nanny, but...

Again, I work because I love it - I'm not sure how to state that more clearly and I guess if that doesn't make sense to you, nothing I say will make you understand truly loving your work. And she has another job the days she is not with us. She certainly works full time with her two jobs, so I'm not sure where you got the idea that she wasn't working during the time that she wasn't with us.

nannydebsays wrote:OP, do you pay her so much per hour because she **can't** find another PT job that slots in nicely with your needs? or do you pay that rate because she **won't** find another PT job?

If you haven't got a contract, and she has no PTO specified anywhere, I would say that she should only be paid if she works. Or, you and she can sit down and set up a contract, offering PTO (most FT nannies get 15 days, so I would offer her 7 or 7.5) and even guaranteed pay.

I am not sure I understand the idea of working JUST to pay the nanny, but...

OP pays well because she VALUES the nanny.
Shouldn't you be happy about that?

OP, do you pay her so much per hour because she **can't** find another PT job that slots in nicely with your needs? or do you pay that rate because she **won't** find another PT job?

If you haven't got a contract, and she has no PTO specified anywhere, I would say that she should only be paid if she works. Or, you and she can sit down and set up a contract, offering PTO (most FT nannies get 15 days, so I would offer her 7 or 7.5) and even guaranteed pay.

I am not sure I understand the idea of working JUST to pay the nanny, but...

Anonymous wrote:OP doesn't make sense - why would you work if you just break even by employing her? Are you just SAH for a yr and so need to keep up skills? otherwise, the math doesn't make sense.

I work because I love what I do and it brings me great joy. I am a much better mom when I'm with my kids because of the balance I have between cerebral adult activities, and my at home mom days. My work isn't about money to me.

OP here again - this thread has taken an interesting turn, and I'd like to reply to people asking how many children she is watching and posting that I'm paying too much.

We have two children, both girls, aged 8 years and 20 months old. Our nanny is in her 50's and she raised two families of children before she came to work with our family when our youngest was 4 months old. We pay babysitters $20, and our nanny asked for $18/hour. We started out paying her $20/hour, but after 2 months, I upped it to $30 and we started contributing to her health insurance costs, even though at that time we only had her 2 days and not 2.5 days a week. She did not ask for the increase in pay or the contribution to her health care.

So, why did we do these things? Because she is wonderful with our children, takes excellent care of them, plays with them, sings with them, is loving and kind, and energetic enough to keep up with them enthusiastically and happily. She gives them her full attention and focus. When she first started coming to us, she demanded to know where all of our laundry was kept (not in a rude way, but in an insistent way). I told her she was not expected to do things like that, but she just kept waving me off and asking where is was. She said she liked to keep busy with things while the baby was napping, and now she does all of our laundry every week. She is super efficient and very neat, taking on things like cleaning out our fridge, organizing my kids clothes and toys, tackling chaotic closets, etc. Again, these are things I never asked her to do, but am unbelievably grateful that she does. On a few occasions, I've come home to grab lunch and found her napping with my daughter in her arms - and I have been totally fine with that. Taking care of a toddler is very tiring, and I see nothing wrong with her needing a rest too. In a nutshell, this wonderful woman makes my life exponentially easier, gets things done in 10 mins that would take me an hour, and allows me the freedom to enjoy working at a job I dearly love. The balance between working and being home and the happiness that I am able to personally enjoy because of it are made possible by everything she contributes to our family. I value her as a person and think her wages should reflect that. Most of all, I am entrusting her with the two most precious things in my life, so childcare is the absolute last thing I would ever bargain shop for.

Actually, after writing about all she brings to our family, it has reminded me how lucky we are to have her. It kind of renders my original question moot. I will find a way to pay her for the full week, even though she was unable to be here 1.5 of the 2.5 days. She still has bills to pay, and expenses and those don't just evaporate because if bad weather or sickness.

Anonymous wrote:OP doesn't make sense - why would you work if you just break even by employing her? Are you just SAH for a yr and so need to keep up skills? otherwise, the math doesn't make sense.

Indeed the big picture is far beyond your adolescent mentality.

OP doesn't make sense - why would you work if you just break even by employing her? Are you just SAH for a yr and so need to keep up skills? otherwise, the math doesn't make sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PTO is paid time off.

Unless your nanny is super nanny, you are being extremely generous in how much you pay her. You pay her too much.

Do you give her vacation or sick days? I understand you pay her when you go away, but what about when she needs vacation or gets sick days? Is that something you negotiated upfront? It doesn't appear to be the case.
And yes, while she is a part time sitter, you do have set hours for her, it isn't as if you call her and see if she is available.

We pay her the amount we do because we believe that people deserve a living wage. What do most nannies get paid? Much less than that would seem impossible to live on in DC. We do not give her vacation or sick days, because if I don't work, I don't get paid and therefore have no funds to pay her. Each year, I save throughout the year to be able to pay her for the summer because I don't have students during the summer (my work is tied to the school year).

You are right and deserve to be commended for your respect for the work that dedicated nannies do. Your paying the nanny $33./hr speaks volumes of the outstanding human being you are. I hope you continue to be vocal about this very important issue.

There are countless parents I know who earn quadruple your income, yet pay their child's nanny half as much as you do. You are outstanding and richly deserve all the best.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you,
on behalf of all nannies who love their work

This last week, she called out sick on Monday and therefore I had to scramble for childcare for part of the day, but had to cancel the rest of my clients (thus, I can't bill for all of those hours). Then, she said she can't make it tomorrow, so I've found a back up sitter to cover the day while I work, but I obviously will be out the same amount of money to pay her as I would the regular nanny.

No you would not pay in this case. She would use her PTO or take the time unpaid.