Our nanny sometimes goes with 2 year old to get a couple of items ... He likes going to the grocery and it's very close to our house. She has done larger trips for us too - but in this case I'm with the kids. I wouldn't ask her to do the larger grocery pick up with kids in tow.

Our first nanny would occasionally shop for us and would take our kids (twins). It was always appreciated but never assumed.

Our current nanny has it written in to her contract that she will do occasional grocery shopping for us while the kids are in preschool. We were totally uprfront about that while hiring and it wasn't an issue.

Our nanny does if we're low on a few things.muses petty cash and they seem to have fun.

Anonymous wrote:Our nanny's job description is nanny/house manager (our kids are ages 14, 10, and 8). She is paid 1k a week, and it is written into her contract that she will grocery shop and perform other errands as requested.

For me that would be quite reasonable for that salary, but I would prefer to do shopping and errands when kids that age aren't with me.

Our nanny's job description is nanny/house manager (our kids are ages 14, 10, and 8). She is paid 1k a week, and it is written into her contract that she will grocery shop and perform other errands as requested.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a nanny, I have no clue when I would find the time to do general grocery shopping for my employers. I take my charge to do his shopping for things I made for him when I am with him but he gets antsy if we are there too long.

Explain to your employers that their child does not like it and there are better, more pleasant and more educational ways to spend this time.

Unless your employers are not dense and actually know that a good nanny could make grocery shopping fun and educational for a youngster, then you might be let go so they can find someone more trained and experienced in working with children.

Nonsense. OP's charge is five. That is way past the grocery store lessons. And no five-year-old, in the middle of the hot summer, is going to want to play math games with the nanny in a crowded grocery store.

Maybe YOU should learn at what age what experience is educational, PP.

And how old are you that you use the word "youngster"?! LOL

not the pp, but I don't think that very many people learn everything they need to know about food and cooking before the age of 5. And the summer is a great time to go to the grocery store and/or farmer's market.

The things that kids learn while participating in life lessons (like shopping) are invaluable, but that doesn't mean that they always want to do them. Toddlers name foods, colors, shapes, count. Preschoolers can do very simple math. Kindergarteners can count change into a UScan, figure out how much change they should get, ask someone stocking the shelves where something is. I don't like taking kids between about 7 and 10, simply because they get into arguments, not because they couldn't learn anything. With preteens and teens, we split up the list, the preteens are choosing produce and meat with me, teens are doing it by themselves, and that includes evaluating whether it's a good idea to increase the romaine for the week by 50% because it's on sale and cut the spinach and other greens for the week. Little kids learn matching by finding items pictured on coupons and patience/delayed gratification when we don't get things just because we have a coupon or it's on sale. IME, there's no age at which going shopping isn't educational, and a good nanny knows how to motivate a child to do something they don't want to do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a nanny, I have no clue when I would find the time to do general grocery shopping for my employers. I take my charge to do his shopping for things I made for him when I am with him but he gets antsy if we are there too long.

Explain to your employers that their child does not like it and there are better, more pleasant and more educational ways to spend this time.

Unless your employers are not dense and actually know that a good nanny could make grocery shopping fun and educational for a youngster, then you might be let go so they can find someone more trained and experienced in working with children.

Nonsense. OP's charge is five. That is way past the grocery store lessons. And no five-year-old, in the middle of the hot summer, is going to want to play math games with the nanny in a crowded grocery store.

Maybe YOU should learn at what age what experience is educational, PP.

And how old are you that you use the word "youngster"?! LOL

not the pp, but I don't think that very many people learn everything they need to know about food and cooking before the age of 5. And the summer is a great time to go to the grocery store and/or farmer's market.

Has your charge ever watched "Fizzy's Lunch lab" on PBS kids website? The shows are each 2-3 minutes long. My kids (ages 5 and 6) love them, and they love to find new healthy foods that they enjoy, look for recipes, scour nutrition labels, etc!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a nanny, I have no clue when I would find the time to do general grocery shopping for my employers. I take my charge to do his shopping for things I made for him when I am with him but he gets antsy if we are there too long.

Explain to your employers that their child does not like it and there are better, more pleasant and more educational ways to spend this time.

Unless your employers are not dense and actually know that a good nanny could make grocery shopping fun and educational for a youngster, then you might be let go so they can find someone more trained and experienced in working with children.

Nonsense. OP's charge is five. That is way past the grocery store lessons. And no five-year-old, in the middle of the hot summer, is going to want to play math games with the nanny in a crowded grocery store.

Maybe YOU should learn at what age what experience is educational, PP.

And how old are you that you use the word "youngster"?! LOL

Our nanny occasionally does the grocery shopping. Usually it's attached to a cooking project they want to do, or as a trip they want to take. My DD loves the grocery store and she and her nanny like to cook. However, it is not part of her duties and I never request it. It's just a pleasant surprise when she does.

I'm a single mom, so anything our nanny does for us outside of childcare is met with gratitude and appreciation.

Our nanny does the grocery shopping sometimes. I don't really think it's harder for her than it is for me, and one of us has to do it, right? And the kids are going to have to go regardless.
This isn't Downton Abbey. I don't have a whole staff of people to split up the work with according to their position .

Anonymous wrote:As a nanny, I have no clue when I would find the time to do general grocery shopping for my employers. I take my charge to do his shopping for things I made for him when I am with him but he gets antsy if we are there too long.

Explain to your employers that their child does not like it and there are better, more pleasant and more educational ways to spend this time.

Unless your employers are not dense and actually know that a good nanny could make grocery shopping fun and educational for a youngster, then you might be let go so they can find someone more trained and experienced in working with children.

I do it with twin toddlers in tow. It's not that difficult people.

As a nanny, I have no clue when I would find the time to do general grocery shopping for my employers. I take my charge to do his shopping for things I made for him when I am with him but he gets antsy if we are there too long.

Explain to your employers that their child does not like it and there are better, more pleasant and more educational ways to spend this time.

Going to the grocery store is one thing. Having to go while bringing along a young child can be pure H-E-L-L, I know. And it sounds as if your charge will be miserable tagging along.

They are probably asking you to do it since they know how tough it is shopping while trying to keep a child occupied/entertained.

I wouldn't do it, UNLESS I was paid a very pretty penny for it. And the penny better be brand-new as well as very shiny. I mean that.

You can tell them that you prefer not to do this since it really is not a typical nanny duty. However, be prepared to get your walking papers if they eventually find someone who is willing.

Unfair, I know. But is life ever fair?