Anonymous wrote:Kudos to you OP for sticking to your rate and not backing down.

I like how your rate has no room for negotiation as it should.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Awesome. $22.00 an hour is what- like $45k a year? With no benefits and no upward mobility?
Ladies- please realize that this is a dead end job. You'll do this for a few years- fight over $2-3 an hour, and leave the 'career' with no transferable employment skills.

I have seen this poster quite a few times with a similar mentality. I know that for some having a high powered office job is how you measure your success. However I have learned so much from working with children, that I have many opportunities that come up in relation to the ages I work with. I do best with the under 5 set. With that said I have finished my degree in Child Psychology/Early Childhood education(I still nanny). I have taking a few seminar training courses and now do Parent education in the area I live. I go in to work on behavioral problems with a company that does ABA. I have been with agencies that offer Newborn care overnight. I have decided to pursue my DONA midwife certification later and will then work with expectant mothers. You can also transition into Household manager positions which can last upwards of 10 years. I have had a 401k in one nanny position, but in the others I ask for a match to my personal RothIRA, I receive vacation/sick time, Mileage reimbursement, sometimes a nanny car for work days, I am always on the books so am therefor entitled to unemployment when needed.

The reason I post this is that there are many ways to expand your nannying carer, and to receive benefits that others get from office jobs. No one carer path is the right way and there are many reasons that I work as a nanny the main one being is that I find great satisfaction the the job that I do. For some(even mothers) its hard for them to understand how you can feel fulfilled taking care of children. I look at it as everyone has their strengths and weaknesses I am a fantastic nanny and I see it reflected in the way the children I care for attach and respond to me, I find it easy to relate to them, while also setting healthy boundaries that nurture their potential.

So just because you may hire a different type of nanny. I have chosen to do this as a carer for me there is room for growth, continued education, and personal satisfaction in a job that I have come to love.