Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is her skill set "below average"?
Do you need her to drive?

Because she doesn't drive or speak English. Both of these limit what she is able to do with her charges. There is nothing wrong with nannies who don't drive or don't speak English, but they do not command the same rates that driving, English-speaking nannies do. I can see getting by without driving if the family lives in a walkable area, but it doesn't sound as if that's the case. If she can't speak English, she is essentially useless to the children outside of the house.

OP here. The nanny not driving was OK at first. Now, it is actually a slight limitation. Our oldest is now going to preschool. We ended up settling for the place where the nanny can walk to to pick him up. Our preference was actually a different school but it is a few miles from the house and we cannot just leave work in the middle of the day. In addition, she cannot take kids to story time, puppet show and they are limited by a couple of parks nearby

Her not speaking English is also limiting. She cannot organize or host a play group. She cannot always explain to the kids what's going outside when they see it

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is her skill set "below average"?
Do you need her to drive?

Because she doesn't drive or speak English. Both of these limit what she is able to do with her charges. There is nothing wrong with nannies who don't drive or don't speak English, but they do not command the same rates that driving, English-speaking nannies do. I can see getting by without driving if the family lives in a walkable area, but it doesn't sound as if that's the case. If she can't speak English, she is essentially useless to the children outside of the house.

OP here. The nanny not driving was OK at first. Now, it is actually a slight limitation. Our oldest is now going to preschool. We ended up settling for the place where the nanny can walk to to pick him up. Our preference was actually a different school but it is a few miles from the house and we cannot just leave work in the middle of the day. In addition, she cannot take kids to story time, puppet show and they are limited by a couple of parks nearby

Anonymous wrote:OP, do you speak her native language?

No, I actually do not. She speaks mine. I was born in a different country but lived most of my life here. Her native language is from the same group of languages as mine and she speaks the language of the country I came from OK.

Anonymous wrote:Why is her skill set "below average"?
Do you need her to drive?

Because she doesn't drive or speak English. Both of these limit what she is able to do with her charges. There is nothing wrong with nannies who don't drive or don't speak English, but they do not command the same rates that driving, English-speaking nannies do. I can see getting by without driving if the family lives in a walkable area, but it doesn't sound as if that's the case. If she can't speak English, she is essentially useless to the children outside of the house.

Why is her skill set "below average"?
Do you need her to drive?

Anonymous wrote:$15.40/hr for all that, OP? The poor woman is getting screwed. And your kids are getting screwed if they end up needing "speech therapy", because they aren't learning much English.

Right here. Why would not learning English require speech therapy.

The woman isn't getting screwed. She has a below-average skill set and she's getting a slightly below-average rate for two kids.

Anonymous wrote:But a foreign accent is not considered grounds for speech therapy in this country, 16:55. This is a myth perpetrated by one strange nanny on these boards.

If your son's teacher actually suggested speech therapy to make him sound more American, then that teacher is as ignorant as the nanny who posts here. The vast majority of professionals know that being bilingual has nothing at all to do with speech therapy.

I'm sorry to hear you have had at least one ignorant teacher who believed otherwise.

Where did anyone here say that a foreign accent was cause for speech therapy??

But a foreign accent is not considered grounds for speech therapy in this country, 16:55. This is a myth perpetrated by one strange nanny on these boards.

If your son's teacher actually suggested speech therapy to make him sound more American, then that teacher is as ignorant as the nanny who posts here. The vast majority of professionals know that being bilingual has nothing at all to do with speech therapy.

I'm sorry to hear you have had at least one ignorant teacher who believed otherwise.

OP, listen to what the people here already told you. I know you have a good heart and don't want to hurt an old lady. However, I think, based on what you told us here, that the nanny no longer fits the needs of your family. I don't think your relationship has a professional dynamic to it, and that's the core of the problem. Considering she's not American, she may think of herself as a grandma type doing you a favor rather than an employee. That happens.

On the cleaning: it's customary that nannies do the cleaning related to the child - the children's laundry, tidy up the messes, put the toys away. I don't know about cleaning the children's rooms, but the laundry is solidly part of her duties.

You have to decide if reinforcing your native language is worth the hassle. I think you mentioned your languages are Russian/Bulgarian - that sort of thing? Maryland has a booming Russian community and I am sure there are women there looking for nanny work. There are also numerous Russian preschools and daycares, and they might have some contacts as well.

Your nanny's pay is not super competitive, but neither is your nanny's skill set. She doesn't drive (DING!) and doesn't speak English (DING!) Quite frankly, her appeal as a caregiver is limited to a very small set of people for an excellent reason - that she lacks basic skills people want in a nanny. Frankly, I would find it a big hassle to drive someone to metro and back every day.

Finally, the nanny is supposed to relieve your stress, not add to it. When they begin to do the former, it's time to say goodbye, because while we all have stress in our lives, paying for the privilege of someone stressing you out simply doesn't make sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$15.40/hr for all that, OP? The poor woman is getting screwed. And your kids are getting screwed if they end up needing "speech therapy", because they aren't learning much English.

The woman isn't getting screwed. She doesn't speak English and doesn't drive. Those people are not going to make as much as someone who drives and speaks English.

Did you ever consider that the employers want their children exposed to another language? And where is your proof that kids who grow up with non English speaking nannies need speech therapy? Do your research.

Proof? Open your eyeballs, woman.
-Proudly bilingual

Only in this country is a foreign accent considered grounds for speech therapy. My son had caregivers who spoke to him in our native language exclusively till he entered kindergarten. He is a star student now, many years later. He has a slight accent in his perfectly fluent English, which only makes him a target of too much girl talk. And if his mother had a lucrative career in this country with her much-heavier accent, then so could he. His K teachers did suggest speech therapy to "make him sound American" and were politely told to go back to their day jobs.

OP, do you speak her native language?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she doesn't do deep cleaning, what cleaning products could she possibly be allergic to?

Op here. She wipes the counters with clorox wipes and uses windex to clean the kitchen table

Clorox wipes and Windex are toxic cleaners. If you gave me those to clean, I would be sick.

It does not make a difference to me what cleaner is used if at all. The nanny uses this exact products to clean her place. She asked us to get these actually. She is saying that since our house is bigger than her place using more of these products is causing her allergy

Then tell her to switch to vinegar and water! non toxic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she doesn't do deep cleaning, what cleaning products could she possibly be allergic to?

Op here. She wipes the counters with clorox wipes and uses windex to clean the kitchen table

Clorox wipes and Windex are toxic cleaners. If you gave me those to clean, I would be sick.

It does not make a difference to me what cleaner is used if at all. The nanny uses this exact products to clean her place. She asked us to get these actually. She is saying that since our house is bigger than her place using more of these products is causing her allergy

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she doesn't do deep cleaning, what cleaning products could she possibly be allergic to?

Op here. She wipes the counters with clorox wipes and uses windex to clean the kitchen table

Clorox wipes and Windex are toxic cleaners. If you gave me those to clean, I would be sick.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
$15.40/hr for all that, OP? The poor woman is getting screwed. And your kids are getting screwed if they end up needing "speech therapy", because they aren't learning much English.


The woman isn't getting screwed. She doesn't speak English and doesn't drive. Those people are not going to make as much as someone who drives and speaks English.

Did you ever consider that the employers want their children exposed to another language? And where is your proof that kids who grow up with non English speaking nannies need speech therapy? Do your research.

Proof? Open your eyeballs, woman.
-Proudly bilingual

Enough with the lies. There is no correlation between bilingualism and the need for speech therapy.

No one said that. Come back when you can read English.