Anonymous wrote:In the last five years, I am seeing more and more college educated nannies with teaching experience.

It makes sense. The first three years are so important.

This exactly. The first three years are the most important years, and therefore called "the foundational years". A full time caregiver will teach your little child that the world is basically a good, safe place to learn about. Or not.

Choose wisely.

In the last five years, I am seeing more and more college educated nannies with teaching experience.

It makes sense. The first three years are so important.

Anonymous wrote:This concept is the reason why nanny wages are really all over the map. There is no standard or even a "ceiling". Every parent is looking for something different. It's almost as impossible as constructing a job description for your spouse. You know what qualities you are hoping for, but you never know for sure until you see it, and how it all fits together. The relationship is so personal, that what's worth next to nothing to one person, is worth the world, to another.

The most vocal parents here seem to have a focused mission, to dictate that NO nanny can possibly be worth $XX/hr. Who are they to determine what every other parent values? What is their real agenda?

This thread is 2013, but still relevant today.

The Perfect Nanny:
Jane Banks:
[Spoken]
Wanted a nanny for two adorable children

[Sung]
If you want this choice position
Have a cheery disposition
Rosy cheeks, no warts!
Play games, all sorts

You must be kind, you must be witty
Very sweet and fairly pretty
Take us on outings, give us treats
Sing songs, bring sweets

Never be cross or cruel
Never give us castor oil or gruel
Love us as a son and daughter
And never smell of barley water

If you won't scold and dominate us
We will never give you cause to hate us
We won't hide your spectacles
So you can't see
Put toads in your bed
Or pepper in your tea
Hurry, Nanny!
Many thanks
Sincerely,

Jane and Michael Banks:
Jane and Michael Banks.


The Life I Lead:
Mr.Banks:
I feel a surge of deep satisfaction
Much as a king astride his noble steed
When I return from daily strife to hearth and wife
How pleasant is the life I lead!

Mrs. Banks:
[Spoken]
Dear, it's about the children...

Mr. Banks:
Yes, yes, yes!

[Sung]
I run my home precisely on schedule
At 6:01, I march through my door
My slippers, sherry, and pipe are due at 6:02
Consistent is the life I lead!

It's grand to be an Englishman in 1910
King Edward's on the throne;
It's the age of men
I'm the lord of my castle
The sov'reign, the liege!
I treat my subjects: servants, children, wife
With a firm but gentle hand
Noblesse oblige!

It's 6:03 and the heirs to my dominion
Are scrubbed and tubbed and adequately fed
And so I'll pat them on the head
And send them off to bed
Ah! Lordly is the life I lead!

A British nanny must be a gen'ral!
The future empire lies within her hands
And so the person that we need to mold the breed
Is a nanny who can give commands!

A British bank is run with precision
A British home requires nothing less!
Tradition, discipline, and rules must be the tools
Without them - disorder!
Catastrophe! Anarchy! -
In short, we have a ghastly mess!

Mary Poppins is a fictitious live-in nanny working 24/6; most families don't want or need that level of care. Jane and Michael's advertisement is childish, full of examples of what a child wants (no discipline, lots of sugar, etc.). Mr. Banks advertisement is exactly what most nannies were to their young charges during the Victorian and Edwardian era; however, traditionally a nanny's care ended around 5 or 6, boys would have a tutor or go off to boarding school, and girls would have a governess.

Honestly, given the uproar that parents throw when a nanny who works 60+ hours a week (not going into 24 hour nannies, as that's beyond most parents' understanding) posts that they do *everything* for their charges, Mary Poppins is *not* the nanny that most parents would want. Of course, she is strictly a nanny, not a housekeeper with a little babysitting thrown in, like Alice...

Anonymous wrote:This concept is the reason why nanny wages are really all over the map. There is no standard or even a "ceiling". Every parent is looking for something different. It's almost as impossible as constructing a job description for your spouse. You know what qualities you are hoping for, but you never know for sure until you see it, and how it all fits together. The relationship is so personal, that what's worth next to nothing to one person, is worth the world, to another.

The most vocal parents here seem to have a focused mission, to dictate that NO nanny can possibly be worth $XX/hr. Who are they to determine what every other parent values? What is their real agenda?

Where's that job description for Mary Poppins written by Jane and Michael Banks? Would that fit the bill for American parents? Perhaps some of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This concept is the reason why nanny wages are really all over the map. There is no standard or even a "ceiling". Every parent is looking for something different. It's almost as impossible as constructing a job description for your spouse. You know what qualities you are hoping for, but you never know for sure until you see it, and how it all fits together. The relationship is so personal, that what's worth next to nothing to one person, is worth the world, to another.

The most vocal parents here seem to have a focused mission, to dictate that NO nanny can possibly be worth $XX/hr. Who are they to determine what every other parent values? What is their real agenda?

Leaving aside the emotion in your post, I think it is reasonable to make an argument about two types of childcare providers, both valuable in their own right and worth their wages:

- an extended "baby nurse" who takes care of newborns through maybe 3 or 4, taking care of their physical needs, love, affection, fresh air, healthy routine, independent habits like eating, potty training, sleep routines plus early education.

- then there is a governess type who works with older children and that person is primarily an educator who shapes cognition, exposes the child to new concepts, superintends their education and looks for opportunities for enrichment. She may or may not oversee other tutors but her primary focus is education and character building.

Just my 0.02c.

Thank you for your post. Question for you, if I may... What top three qualities pop into your mind that make a successful teacher?

Hmm. I think it would need to be someone who genuinely loves to teach, someone who knows how to stoke curiosity, and how to package information from many different areas in exciting and intriguing ways that work for children of varying ages.