It’s Not All Mary Poppins

Calling all Nannies

Again.

So, if I have an almost-18-year-old daughter who is a superb babysitter, and who is thinking of working as a nanny through university…

We’ve contacted some local nannies re: local rates of pay, and now we’re considering contracts. I have a contract, of course, but nannying will have different issues and concerns than home daycare, so we want to be sure we’ve thought through the relevant bits.

I’m thinking it would be useful to see a variety of contracts. Would any of you be willing to share your contract with us? My email is over there in the “About” section.

November 25, 2010 - Posted by | my kids | , ,

2 Comments »

  1. Well, I’d rather not share a copy of my contract. But I’m more than happy to share the gist of what I’ve found to be the most important parts of it. Keep in mind a lot can change with each family, the ages and numbers of children in her care, etc. I currently have a 5 year old and a 5 month old :

    Beyond a usual school and/or activitiess schedule, make sure to talk about what the plan will be for days when your daughter or the children in her care are ill. Will she be expected to come to work ill? What constitues “ill?” Is it a fever? Vomiting? Or, if the children are ill and will be staying home from school will your daughter be expected to care for them that day or will Mum or Dad be staying with them? This same holds for when the children go on vacations out of town. Discuss how these situations may or may not effect her pay.

    I think you’ve mentioned that you live in a smaller town than I do, but I would suggest requesting some type of stipend for supplies, admissions, souveniers and the occasional meal-on-the-go for various activities throughout the MONTH. The family I work for has given me a reloadable visa card that is loaded with $75 each month for these things. I find this way MUCH easier than saving receipts for reimbursement and with a monthly timeline, I was better able to plan and budget for activities in advance.

    Aside from caring for the children directly, what will her responsibilities be? Will she be expected to walk the dog? Wash the breakfast dishes? Put the children’s laundry away? Pack their lunch for school? Perhaps supervise a maintainence man when the drain clogs? Put all these things in writing. Overtime, as she becomes a part of their family she may be asked and trusted to take on more responsibilty and eventually, your daughter may decide to ask for more money to compensate her efforts. It is in her best interest to be able to have these things in writing.

    Also- I would urge your daughter to introduce a daily log and monthly calendar that can be accessed by her and the parents. I use spiral notebook as a daily log that usually note things like, “Little Miss tried brussels sprouts today and liked them.”, “Sweet Baby has been eating 4oz every 2hrs instead of usual 6oz every 3hrs, no bowel movement.”, “Little Miss skinned her elbow today racing to the door…she won:)” The calendar is used to notify all the adults of various things that are adjustments to the regular flow of things. Doctor’s appointments, birthday parties, special events and activities, etc.

    Please don’t hesitate to email if you’ve got any other questions. I do absolutely LOVE being a nanny. I’m sure your daughter will find it to be an extremely rewarding position.

    Comment by C. | November 25, 2010 | Reply

  2. I’m not a nanny, but I’m employing my third nanny right now.

    I’ll send copies of contracts with all three, once I can get them into pdf. (names and relevant details removed). One is from the UK, and two are from the US–things are very different and I’m not sure if Canada would be more like the US or the UK.

    The nanny above has some great points. We keep a spiral log for the babies (one 4.5 and the other 10 mos) and we also give a certain amount of walking around money with specifications of what it’s generally to be used for. (For example, there was extra put in last week to go to get a new pair of sneakers for the big boy.) I don’t ask for receipts–I trust her with my kids, what’s the big deal if she spends $3.00 on a latte here and there?

    Good luck to your daughter–I’m sure she’ll be great at it, especially given her teacher. 🙂

    Comment by K | November 28, 2010 | Reply


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