Personal Assistants: Can Nannies do Double Duty?

i think its NOT ok for a family to expect laundry done by a nanny unless asked and agreed if paid a bit more. Laundry+housework+kids is a bit much as it is.

I am an experienced nanny with several yrs. of experience. It is not ok to expect the nanny to do laundry, housework, or family cooking as a matter of course. In addition, it is not ok to pay a nanny $5.00 an hr. or even $10.00 per hr.
I saved a child from choking once while I was a nanny. I perfomed the Hemlick on him and that saved him from choking. Had I not been right there with him or had I been distracted with housework, laundry, etc. he would have either died or had brain damage. Without oxygen the brain begins to sustain brain damage within 4 minutes, yes, 4 minutes. I hope the lady, who thought it was ok for the nanny to do laundry to think about that. And all the other parents out there wanting to hire a nanny and expect them to also be a housekeeper, cleaning woman and/or family cook to also give pause and think about that.

I am so excited that Care.com will soon have a forum for Personal Assistants/Household Managers. I have over 10 years of experience caring for children and elderly adults, but I've found that financially I must maintain an "office job" as well. My organizational and proactive personality are perfect for administrative assistant jobs, but I'd love to add to that the one-on-one interaction of nannying. For a busy family with two parents workings outside the home and multiple children, it really is the only option. If hired as a household manager (and compensated accordingly), I would be happy to do most any task, including laundry, bookkeeping, child care, errands, etc.

I'm a 39 yr. experienced Nanny, caring for 4 siblings, doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc...While pre-occupied w/mundane chores instead of caring for the children, the 5 yr. old took his 3 yr. old sister w/long blond hair into her bedroom and cut off all of her hair...Where was I?...Preoccupied!!! w/mundane chores for $5.50 an hr, 44 hrs. a week and hired from Care.com...Nannies shouldn't be doing anything outside of caring for the children unless paid more...Children are our priority, not housework for pennies!

As hiring a "Nanny" is a fairly new phenomenon to the middle class world, the rules of protocol are often misinterpreted or simply unknown. I would suggest using Care.com's guidelines in order to come up with a fair and reasonable hourly rate and job duty specifications. Nanny's are solely dedicated to the direct care of the child or children in a household. They are not Housekeepers, Maids, Dog Walkers, Gardener's, Social Secretaries, et.al. Those jobs should be specifically reimbursed or additional hourly wages increased accordingly. It's interesting when you do sit down and figure this out, you realize just how underpaid the "stay at home Mom" is and that there is value to each & every task! Be gracious when hiring someone to come into your household by compensating them fairly for the tasks you have asked them to perform. If they "walk the dog" for instance, then that is worth $15-20 extra a day which is what it would cost to hire a dedicated dog walker. If you hire a cleaning service once a week, that would cost you $100 & upwards, depending on the size of the home as well as the overall condition. (Cleaning Services ARE NOT Maids who pick up after you & maintain your day to day messes, etc.) So if you break out the $100 by 5 days, then another additional $20 a day should be added.
Do not take advantage of a person's time & dedication by overloading them with chores or tasks without compensating them for it. Remember that most often, you are not offering health benefits or other perks that person would receive elsewhere. If you want the best quality childcare, then expect to pay accordingly. Hiring a teenage babysitter for a nite out is NOT the same as hiring someone to responsibly care for your child safely both in AND out of the home. Nanny's are more than just babysitters. They are direct influences in shaping the behavior and development of your child on a day to day basis while you are not there. That seems to be the most important consideration in engaging a person to care for your child and far more important than just getting the laundry done.

i was reading some of the personal comments and one of the ladies who said it's not ok to do laundry because one of the kids baby she was looking after was choking while she was doing laudry, well as a mother who raise 4 kids and still helping with my grand kids first why was the baby choking was she or he eating something if so you should have know as a nannie or baby sitter not to leave that child along eating and as a mother we still have to work around our kids doing house work. and any good mother or nanny should know that and most of all alway pay attention to your child even if he or she is not your

it's a baby pay attention pay attention

I have been a Nanny for 15 years, and a Mother for 8 years. I agree with the person who posted about only all-children related chores. I do pick up children's toys, do mine and the children's dishes,the children's laundry. Sometimes I will throw a load of towels in if they are right there, or load and unload the dishwasher and put the rest of the dishes in if they are in the sink. I have noticed that people are naturally lazy and the more that I do for them when I have extra time, the more they depend on me to do or expect from me. As someone that is in the house most of the time it is hard for me to not pick up a mess that I see. They see it as me doing them a favor not as me doing extra chores. It is very easy to get taken advantage of and us people pleasers go right along with it.

I think it's a great help to the family and organization of the children's lives if the nanny helps alittle with house chores. I'm WAY too big of a neat freak to let dishes sit or laundry sit. I have found it best to do dishes while the kids are eating at the table in front of me, or doing laundry while they nap. Ofcourse I also agree the terms of what the nanny is responsible for should be set up front.

I have worked as a nanny for almost two years now and my job has changed a lot since I started. When I was hired we agreed upon a set amount of duties as well as being told it would be rare I was responsible for all of the things. Needless to say, as time went on my employer asked for small favors and as I was trying to be helpful I agreed. This is an ongoing thing now and I am a little tired of feeling like her personal assistant! I have no problem tending to the children and things relating to the children, but find it a bit rude to ask me to clean up after the things she was too lazy to do when she was home.

I am a nanny for three kids, all under 3 years old with, the two oldest have developmental disabilities. The youngest is 9 months old. I answered an email for a full-time nanny from 7am-3pm. I started in June working 7am to 5 or sometimes as late as 6:30pm. In July the mother changed my hours to 6am until 6pm sometimes even later. I wash, dress and feed all 3, put 3 year old on bus in the morning, clean family dishes from night before, take out trash, sometimes do laundry, clean bathroom, and prepare family meals occasionally. My hours range from 55 to almost 70 hours per week and I get a salary of $400 per week. I just had to ask for a raise, and I got a $50 a week raise. Also my employer changed my pay day from every Friday to every other Friday, and sometimes I don't get paid on time, and have to wait 2 or 3 days after, or get part of my pay. I had to drive kids to grandparents home in Brooklyn, NY for free one week and then was offered $40 to take them again and pick them up two days later. I keep the kids on weekends at my house when the parents need me to, and get $200 for the whole weekend. When I calculated my hours, I realized I was making well below minimum wage. I feel stressed out and taken advantage of lately, and just want to quit with no notice. I have had other offers, but I feel an attachment to the children and don't want to leave the mother high and dry. I don't know how to explain to her and her husband how I feel. I think every nanny should have a clear and concise contract. I was not given a contract at all. I keep hearing that they can't afford to pay me more, but the wife is constantly and compulsively shopping. I just want to go back to retail.

I'm 59 years old and I have babysat my grandchildren and various neighbors children for the last ten years. However, I owned a daycare center and trained nannys to work in the homes of clients.

Our philosophy was that the nanny was responsible for the total care of the child. A part of that care, in our estimation, was to be sure that the parents were kept well informed as to whatever went on with the children, and doing laundry and preparing the evening meal before leaving was a part of what we trained them to do.

I had five children of my own and I trained the girls to perform in such a way as I would have wanted someone to care for my children. I wasn't giving my children away, but I had to work. That meant that the nanny was an extension of me...and I wasn't to be cut out but assisted in being a good parent.

I am delighted that care.com will be implementing a personal care assistant. I've since been to school and obtained my associate degree in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting. I'm qualified to work in an office, but being an older woman, it is difficult to find that kind of work. I love working with children and families.

Nannies are not only Mommy substitutes. A Mother's Helper might be, but a Nanny is more like the Governess of old (Remember Mary Poppins?). We are usually college educated with degrees or at least many semester hours in Child Development, Nutrition, Early Childhood Education & in my case also Sign Language & Applied Scholastics. I'm a Parenting Educator & the Parents for whom I work expect my expertise in many aspects of Child Rearing, Nutrition, Education etc. They also expect me to be constantly learning & reviewing & up-dating my education & keeping track of the latest research & informing them as I come across new information.

If all they wanted was for the children to be "watched over" they could hire an inexperienced teenager or drop them off with a neighbor or family member who also has kids with whom they can just "play" all day. Or they'd simply hire a housekeeper/maid & tell her; "BTW keep an eye on the kids while your cleaning."

It's specifically because of our vast education & eventual experience that most Mom's want to have a Nanny who's securely focused on all things child related & who is in a constant teaching mode always seizing opportunities to teach & encourage development & growth of their child. The parents consider the well being as well as a the development & education of their child to be tantamount. They want the most highly educated, knowledgeable & experienced person they can find for that "mission".

Menial chores can be done by any teen or uneducated laborer & is certainly not on what they'd waste a Nanny's wage. It's why Nannies pay reflects that of any College Educated post as an exec. in any company or that of a teacher in any school except your child in getting individual education as opposed to being herded into a class room (one size fits all) setting (which should be more of course) but never would a family hire a "Nanny" for minimum wage or to do menial labor unless they are not interested in the EXTRA attention specifically for their child that only a true Nanny can provide. It has been my experience that most Families who hire a Nanny consider their children their most precious charge deserving of undivided attention & not merely an after thought to glance over at while doing housework.