PP you do realize this was posted 9 years ago. $20 an hour was not on the low end.

$20 hourly is way below market, is she an AP? If so, then i get it. Still needs to pick up after meals.

Anonymous wrote:why is this so hard?? we love our nanny and pay her well ($20/hr for one fully potty trained child). She is treated like family. I'm trying to figure out how to politely ask her to clean up after meals. and after playtime. i.e. - put toys back in the toy box, do not leave dirty dishes in the sink.. take the extra minute to rinse them and put them in the dishwasher. wipe down the kitchen counter from crumbs, etc. This is such a pet peeve of mine. After working all day and paying a nanny, I don't think I should have to come home to dirty dishes and crumbs all over the counter tops.

Anyway, hoping someone would give some advice on how to politely ask her to do this. or is it just something that she doesn't feel she should need to do?

$20 is at the low end. Do you leave dirty dishes for her to clean up?

I've noticed several responses suggesting, "If you leave toys out, don't expect her to clean up." Firstly, no one intentionally leaves things for the nanny to handle. Children play and may leave toys out at any time. When the nanny is present and has time, basic courtesy dictates that tidying up should be done regardless of who was responsible when the mess occurred.

We pay the nanny for 8-9 hours of service during which they are responsible for all child-related activities and tasks. Please avoid feeling entitled to needing every detail explained in order to do your job. I've observed a tendency in the Western culture for people to act entitled and attempt to outsmart others when given tasks. As an employee myself, I understand that while I'm paid for a specific role, it often involves handling additional responsibilities to ensure the job is done properly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why is this so hard?? we love our nanny and pay her well ($20/hr for one fully potty trained child). She is treated like family. I'm trying to figure out how to politely ask her to clean up after meals. and after playtime. i.e. - put toys back in the toy box, do not leave dirty dishes in the sink.. take the extra minute to rinse them and put them in the dishwasher. wipe down the kitchen counter from crumbs, etc. This is such a pet peeve of mine. After working all day and paying a nanny, I don't think I should have to come home to dirty dishes and crumbs all over the counter tops.

Anyway, hoping someone would give some advice on how to politely ask her to do this. or is it just something that she doesn't feel she should need to do?

Shit. Even my AuPair does this AND sweeps the floor each day at 4:30. I come home to a house exactly as I left it and we have 2 kids.

You have a pretty lazy ovwrpaid nanny.

This subject line might as well read "Getting the nanny to do her job." What in the world are you paying $20/hr to do? be part of your family? Are you lacking some family members that you have to pay some to be part of your family?

Is it JUST this matter of cleaning up or her general attitude about her job and low expectations?

If it is JUST this matter, I'd work with her to get it resolved. If she just has low expectations for herself, you are seriously overpaying. Your kids will love getting a new nanny. It's like the new kid in class. Fire her ASAP.

"Some people want just a nanny and some want a nanny/maiD"

Wow are you lazy. It is called cleaning up after yourself. It is not at ALL unreasonable to expect this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This reminds me of something a former client told me. She'd hired me as a summer nanny for her two elementary schoolers. She told me that the previous summer she had hired the 16 year old who lived a few houses down for $9/hr. The kids had a lot of fun with her, but she came home every single day to a huge mess in the play areas and the kitchen. She said it was worth it to her to double her childcare costs (hiring me at $18/hr) just to have the peace of mind to know she'd be coming home to a clean house. Right now it sounds like you're paying for the real nanny but only getting the actual experience of a neighborhood high schooler (decent with the kid maybe but subpar in other aspects).

Nanny is something different to everyone. I'm paid $24 an hour and I rarely ever do the dishes, and never do any other chores (vacuum, sweep, wipe things, etc). I am there only for the baby. Sometimes I will find myself doing the dishes, but usually DB happily does them when he gets home. Some people want just a nanny and some want a nanny/maid.

You are lazy as shit. I'd fire your ass in a second it you couldn't clean up your dishes and the kids dishes. You can take that to the bank.

Good thing PP doesn't work for you. I doubt you could afford her anyway.

I would never hire such a lazy babysitter for even minimum wage.

Yea, good thing she doesn't work for me, she'd have a termination on her record.

Yup, OP your nanny is lazy. Just tell her that you would like her to clean up the mess she made. This is not housekeeping duty, it's her child related tasks. If she does not comply, find another nanny. This will eat away at you and you will be dissatisfied.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This reminds me of something a former client told me. She'd hired me as a summer nanny for her two elementary schoolers. She told me that the previous summer she had hired the 16 year old who lived a few houses down for $9/hr. The kids had a lot of fun with her, but she came home every single day to a huge mess in the play areas and the kitchen. She said it was worth it to her to double her childcare costs (hiring me at $18/hr) just to have the peace of mind to know she'd be coming home to a clean house. Right now it sounds like you're paying for the real nanny but only getting the actual experience of a neighborhood high schooler (decent with the kid maybe but subpar in other aspects).

Nanny is something different to everyone. I'm paid $24 an hour and I rarely ever do the dishes, and never do any other chores (vacuum, sweep, wipe things, etc). I am there only for the baby. Sometimes I will find myself doing the dishes, but usually DB happily does them when he gets home. Some people want just a nanny and some want a nanny/maid.

I've been a nanny over 20 years. I have never heard any nanny or family refer to cleaning up after themselves as "maid" duties. It is standard in the industry that even if a nanny is told to do no housework whatsoever (not even child laundry), that she cleans up the messes she and the kids made during the day. That includes the dishes they dirtied. That is not being a maid. Most people even expect that of the babysitter. It's reasonable for OP to expect her nanny to do that.

Very true. OP has a lazy nanny.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This reminds me of something a former client told me. She'd hired me as a summer nanny for her two elementary schoolers. She told me that the previous summer she had hired the 16 year old who lived a few houses down for $9/hr. The kids had a lot of fun with her, but she came home every single day to a huge mess in the play areas and the kitchen. She said it was worth it to her to double her childcare costs (hiring me at $18/hr) just to have the peace of mind to know she'd be coming home to a clean house. Right now it sounds like you're paying for the real nanny but only getting the actual experience of a neighborhood high schooler (decent with the kid maybe but subpar in other aspects).

Nanny is something different to everyone. I'm paid $24 an hour and I rarely ever do the dishes, and never do any other chores (vacuum, sweep, wipe things, etc). I am there only for the baby. Sometimes I will find myself doing the dishes, but usually DB happily does them when he gets home. Some people want just a nanny and some want a nanny/maid.

I've been a nanny over 20 years. I have never heard any nanny or family refer to cleaning up after themselves as "maid" duties. It is standard in the industry that even if a nanny is told to do no housework whatsoever (not even child laundry), that she cleans up the messes she and the kids made during the day. That includes the dishes they dirtied. That is not being a maid. Most people even expect that of the babysitter. It's reasonable for OP to expect her nanny to do that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This reminds me of something a former client told me. She'd hired me as a summer nanny for her two elementary schoolers. She told me that the previous summer she had hired the 16 year old who lived a few houses down for $9/hr. The kids had a lot of fun with her, but she came home every single day to a huge mess in the play areas and the kitchen. She said it was worth it to her to double her childcare costs (hiring me at $18/hr) just to have the peace of mind to know she'd be coming home to a clean house. Right now it sounds like you're paying for the real nanny but only getting the actual experience of a neighborhood high schooler (decent with the kid maybe but subpar in other aspects).

Nanny is something different to everyone. I'm paid $24 an hour and I rarely ever do the dishes, and never do any other chores (vacuum, sweep, wipe things, etc). I am there only for the baby. Sometimes I will find myself doing the dishes, but usually DB happily does them when he gets home. Some people want just a nanny and some want a nanny/maid.

You are lazy as shit. I'd fire your ass in a second it you couldn't clean up your dishes and the kids dishes. You can take that to the bank.

Good thing PP doesn't work for you. I doubt you could afford her anyway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This reminds me of something a former client told me. She'd hired me as a summer nanny for her two elementary schoolers. She told me that the previous summer she had hired the 16 year old who lived a few houses down for $9/hr. The kids had a lot of fun with her, but she came home every single day to a huge mess in the play areas and the kitchen. She said it was worth it to her to double her childcare costs (hiring me at $18/hr) just to have the peace of mind to know she'd be coming home to a clean house. Right now it sounds like you're paying for the real nanny but only getting the actual experience of a neighborhood high schooler (decent with the kid maybe but subpar in other aspects).

Nanny is something different to everyone. I'm paid $24 an hour and I rarely ever do the dishes, and never do any other chores (vacuum, sweep, wipe things, etc). I am there only for the baby. Sometimes I will find myself doing the dishes, but usually DB happily does them when he gets home. Some people want just a nanny and some want a nanny/maid.

You are lazy as shit. I'd fire your ass in a second it you couldn't clean up your dishes and the kids dishes. You can take that to the bank.

Anonymous wrote:This reminds me of something a former client told me. She'd hired me as a summer nanny for her two elementary schoolers. She told me that the previous summer she had hired the 16 year old who lived a few houses down for $9/hr. The kids had a lot of fun with her, but she came home every single day to a huge mess in the play areas and the kitchen. She said it was worth it to her to double her childcare costs (hiring me at $18/hr) just to have the peace of mind to know she'd be coming home to a clean house. Right now it sounds like you're paying for the real nanny but only getting the actual experience of a neighborhood high schooler (decent with the kid maybe but subpar in other aspects).

Nanny is something different to everyone. I'm paid $24 an hour and I rarely ever do the dishes, and never do any other chores (vacuum, sweep, wipe things, etc). I am there only for the baby. Sometimes I will find myself doing the dishes, but usually DB happily does them when he gets home. Some people want just a nanny and some want a nanny/maid.

Anonymous wrote:I would just kindly remind her that you're having a really hard time dealing with the dirty pots and pans when you come home. Ask her politely to please clean them up.

Something like, "Suzy, I love how you did X and Y with DC today! He had so much fun.... By the way, I've been meaning to talk with you about the kitchen. I'd really appreciate it if you could clean up the pots and pans before you leave. I know you're busy during the day and want DC to be your priority of course, but if you could do them before leaving for the day then, that'd be great. Thanks."

"If you could get those TPS reports done before you head home that'd be great. And I'm going to need you to come in on Saturday, Kay?"