Anonymous wrote:Another bright nanny.

I meant to say doormat nanny.

Another bright nanny.

Anonymous wrote:I agree that you need to figure out how many hours you're willing to work for the money, and maybe tack on a couple extra if you want to be nice. But make sure you go out exploring on your own. You say you're college educated, then act like it. Go out and learn about this place you'll be visiting. Be curious. Learn. Visit a museum, gallery, boutique, whatever. Go walk in the beach and soak in some sun. Take advantage of this opportunity... It's not likely you'll get another one with this family! Go have fun. Have lunch at a cute cafe and write it some postcards to send home. Take some awesome pictures. Get out of the house when you're not working.

Op here.thanks for the advice. I plan on doing just that. I fear if i stay in they Will be tempted to use me. They are the kind of parent That do not Pay attention to their kid When i am around. It is not likely i Will accept any other travelling plan With them (they actually asked me for 4 more trips during this year, but those Will be declined, they are later in the year, so i Will tell them When we get back from this trip That i Would not travel With them anymore at That rate). Anyways i Will keep you guys updated on how the trip Will go. We Will be leaving in mid june and are going to the beach, Hawaii.

I agree that you need to figure out how many hours you're willing to work for the money, and maybe tack on a couple extra if you want to be nice. But make sure you go out exploring on your own. You say you're college educated, then act like it. Go out and learn about this place you'll be visiting. Be curious. Learn. Visit a museum, gallery, boutique, whatever. Go walk in the beach and soak in some sun. Take advantage of this opportunity... It's not likely you'll get another one with this family! Go have fun. Have lunch at a cute cafe and write it some postcards to send home. Take some awesome pictures. Get out of the house when you're not working.

Don't dare give them a price until they give you a written job description. If you do, guess who'll be screwed?

Tell them that based on your hourly rate, you can work X hours for $500/week. Suggest that they make a list of when they will want you to work, so that there are clear expectations and no surprises.

And when they go over their daily hours the first time, remind them that they are only paying for X hours, and ask what day they want to trim an hour from so that they pay you correctly for working while they are on vacation.

You can set firm boundaries without being rude. If they can't respect those boundaries, then continuing to work for them is a bad idea.

And unless you specifically said to them, "Yes, I will go along for $x now that we have worked out all the specifics of my hours and duties." buying your ticket was a great way for them to guilt you into joining them for half price, wasn't it?

Good luck! Hope you come back and let us know how it went.

Anonymous wrote:OP here again. Thank you for the advice form the previous posters. I really appreciate it, yes I think we both handled it poorly, and I will need to have a chat with them. Aside that they are really nice people and when I work for them pay me what they owe without any problems. I would really feel bad cancelling given the fact that they are so excited about the trop and are telling their friends they are going to have a great trip without being exhausted because I was coming with them. I will go this time, but will need to set hours to match the rate they are offering me. However, I will learn from my mistakes for the future. Thanks agai everyone. This forum really helps.

Good for you OP, and don't cancel on them, just figure out a way to work it out. But learn this time for next time, and don't let them take advantage of you when you travel.

OP here again. Thank you for the advice form the previous posters. I really appreciate it, yes I think we both handled it poorly, and I will need to have a chat with them. Aside that they are really nice people and when I work for them pay me what they owe without any problems. I would really feel bad cancelling given the fact that they are so excited about the trop and are telling their friends they are going to have a great trip without being exhausted because I was coming with them. I will go this time, but will need to set hours to match the rate they are offering me. However, I will learn from my mistakes for the future. Thanks agai everyone. This forum really helps.

Op here. I am not sorry to be upset with what they offered me because given That I will work about 8 hours a day 4 days a week with my regular rate will be 480 (15*8*4), then 4 evening starting from 5 pm till the baby goes to bed at 9 pm (15*4*4) which will be 240, so which gives me a total of 720 for the week ( and that's only countin with my regular rate and the hours I will work). After that, there is the overnight which is not taken into consideration and the fact that I will be on call. That is why PP i said $1000 (it was fair, I was not bein greedy or whatsoever) I just want to be compensated rightly. I am a college educated person, and very professional when I do my job. After reading a few posts on this forum, I saw some families pay the nanny their normal rate for hours worked plus overnight fees ranging from 75-150 per night and a per diem for giving them convenience to have an on call nanny at all times. Call me crazy if you want but I seriously thought that 1000 a week was a great deal I was giving them. But in any case, I will talk to them next week to finalize everything but for 500 I will have to reduce the number of hours I will work during the whole time.

I've said this several times on this thread already (as have others) but you need to set a very clear expectation of how many hours you will work for $X amount. If they're only able to pay $500, then how many hours are you willing to work for that? Tell them that number, and don't work a minute more. Even if you end up hanging out with them while not on duty, you're not in charge of DC, and you don't help feed him, you're not in charge of water safety, you don't stay inside with him for a nap, etc.

I think everyone handled this poorly - especially your employers. They should never have bought a ticket and just assumed that you would be available and/or affordable. This is a really rookie mistake on all sides.

It may be difficult to come through this without bruised feelings on all sides now but at minimum, if you want to preserve the relationship, you're going to have to have some candid, careful conversation with them about your rates, your time, the value of the trip to you (will you enjoy any of it as a vacation? THat pretty significantly impacts its value to you.), etc...