Is It Time For A New Nanny?

The New Year brings a lot of changes – and evaluations. I like to clean out my closets. If I haven't worn something in over a year, I donate it. It's also the time our company does performance reviews to talk about strengths and challenges we want to work on in the next year.

I've also found that a lot of our members like to evaluate their care plan this time of year.

An employee here recently left work a little early on a nice day and popped in on her nanny and son at the playground. Her nanny was calmly sitting on the park bench. But her 3-year old son was playing "baseball" (no bats or balls, just running bases in some game he'd concocted like creative, wild 3-year olds can be!) with another nanny and 3-year old in the field. Everyone was fine, but Mom had a realization – her calm, pleasant, nurturing nanny couldn't match the energy level of her bouncing, sprinting, leaping 3-year old boy.

It was time for a new nanny.

If you were to do it over again, would you hire the same nanny for your child? What qualities have you found are most important in care providers?

Sometimes these changes can be made with a discussion, like with performance reviews. You could ask your nanny to sit down and discuss the year ahead. This is a great time to update your nanny contract as well. Or, you might feel you need a whole new personality who is a better fit for your evolving family. (One tip: If you decide it's time for a change, make sure you give your current nanny proper notice. We suggest 2 weeks.)

Tell us – what do you love most about your nanny – or what would you change?


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