It’s Nanny O’Clock, Mofos!
Guess what time it is? Happy hour! And by happy hour I mean “happiness hour” (I’m done with drinking for a while).
Last night my husband and I had “the talk”… The talk that all stressed-out, unhappy couples have when they are at the end of their rope and know changes need to be made. For the sake of their sanity. And marriage. And soon-to-be-exploding brains.
Yup, folks. That’s right. I’m talking about the “Nanny Talk” and by “Nanny Talk” I’m talking “Part-Time Nanny Talk” and by part-time, we’re talking ten hours a week. But ten hours? That’s huge. HUGE…
In ten hours I can easily post all my blog posts, finish at LEAST one chapter a week of my book and launch a radio show/website with time to spare! Okay, so maybe not, but at least it’s a start. At least it’s something. Something AMAZINGLY AWESOME! Woooohoooo!
So once again, this is where you come in, Straight From the Bottle readers! I need your insight. How do you even begin to find a Nanny for ten hours a week and what is the average hourly wage that is standard? How did you find your nanny? Should I follow-up with the Nanny Pimp or is there a better way?
Sock it to me, ladies and gents… And get ready for a whole new Mommy-blogger! Stay-at-home mom by morning! Working mom by mid-afternoon!
Can it be? The best of both worlds? Is it possible? (And could I be any more excited right now? Seriously. I’m doing cartwheels across the living room floor… badly, but still! Cartwheels!) Stay tuned and see…
Oh Nanny! Sweet Nanny! You soon will be mine! ALL MIIIINE!
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oh god, good luck. I am so jealous. 10 hours a week. I wish I had some advice, but things are pretty different in the midwest when it comes to child care.
Do you see any sitters at the playground that you like and that maybe have time for you? Sometimes sitters/nannys who are part time have flexible schedules. I would ask any and all friends whose advice you trust to help you on this mission. Or, if you want more of a mother’s helper type of thing you could get a college student or grad student to help. Congrats on this though. Your life will change.
Keep in mind that I have no experience in this department, at all. However, I have heard of people finding good part time baby sitters at the local college. Look for students majoring in child development. They would have the time and wouldnt expect much.
The only other thing I could suggest is to contact an aganecy or CPA and ask your questions about pay and taxes. For my husbands employees (we have 3) he uses a paycheck service. Basically, he pays them to cut the checks and take out the taxes. I dont know if that is an option for you, but it cuts down on the hassle which is worth the money.
Good Luck
Expect to pay 13-15 hour and keep it above the table. TB test, driver’s record, call references. Beware of evil moms not wanting to share their nanny (you mean she needs more than my 20 hours a week to get by?) and not providing info.
id happily nanny if i was a little more close to LA (its a 45 minute drive for me).
good luck though
and references, references, references. I have worked in the child care field for over 10 years and have only been asked for references ONCE. That always boggles my mind.
There are two choices as far as I can tell. And I’m not a mother; I’m saying this from the nanny perspective.
Choice One – A nanny or au pair will generally come through an agency. Regardless of who they are affiliated with, you want references and a list of experience and you probably want to be there the first time they’re around your son. Trust your son’s initial reaction to them. Also, agencies don’t always perform a TB or a background check – so find out! Also find out what language they’ll be speaking to your child. Sometimes parents want their child to be spoken to in a foreign language and sometimes they don’t – so find out. And ask other questions: what will they do in an emergency? If they won’t be driving your son, do they know the local cab numbers? How have they handled emergencies with children in the past? Do they have a cell phone? It may seem overkill, but this is someone you don’t know and if they’re worth the hassle they’ll understand. Pay wise it’s typically up to $15 an hour and it’s above the table and there can be alot of war-waging over it.
Choice Two – Someone a little closer to you. Do you know a friend who has a baby-sitter she loves who has a little extra time? I sit for some friends of friends ten hours a week and even though they kind of knew me through their friend they still checked my references and my immunizations and my cell phone and transportation access, etc. You can find some decent ones at the local colleges as well. With that look for child development majors or education majors – not only will they have the time and need the experience, but they’ll usually come up with great ideas for projects from classes and they’ll be interested in your son. As far as pay went for me, at first they paid me $100 a week – which breaks down to $10 an hour – and it was cash. Perfect. About six months in, however, I pointed out that I didn’t need the money and I felt guilty watching kids I loved hanging out with for money. So per request they stopped paying me but they did offer to keep track of how much was earned should I ever need the cash or change my mind or whatever. That seemed pretty fair, so now that’s what we do.
Also try to keep the hours as steady as possible. Everyone likes a predictable schedule. I know I don’t mind if they ask me to be in early or to stay late, but I know alot of nannies/sitters who do.
Good luck! If you don’t find anyone worth keeping over the next couple of months, post again and see if anyone’s come up with any other ideas!
As a nanny I think a fair rate is 15 per hour. If you break up the hours where the are in the morning or later in the afternoon it will be easier for her to find another job in the same day. I think this way you are more likely to find someone who’s serious about kids and is doing it for a real job instead of just trying to make a few extra dollars.
A friend of mine had good luck with nanny-sharing. I think she found the first family on Craigslist, and then kept the nanny when they moved and found another family to share.
Maybe you could post something and see if a family with kids entering school soon, might want to share their current nanny with you?
I was lucky and found a nursery school that took kids just under 2 and allowed as few as two mornings a week. Sort of saved my sanity.
Oh and as for wages, if it is only a 10 hour a week gig, I would probably treat it like a sitter. The going rate in Boston is around $12-15 an hour, which is partly why I went with a preschool setting instead. (It ended up costing more, but was worth it for flexibility (can easily add extra hours when under deadlines) and all the other kids & activities.)
Yeah, nannies, we’re doing that search now. It sucks. Finding the right, reliable person can be really hard. If you pay above the table, I think you also have to pay various taxes (social security, etc), so just be sure you look up all the rules first, and do the math. Local colleges with childhood development programs are supposed to be a good bet. Nanny shares allow you (along with another family) to offer more hours total, which can raise the appeal. Be sure your parenting styles and list of qualifications really match with the other parents, though. Craigslist can occasionally strike gold. Good luck!
Just read through “Finding a Nanny in the Bay Area”, but I think the advice would be applicable for down in LA too – especially in regarding your legal responsibilities when you become an employer – re: do a reference and background check (State of California’s got TrustLine, which will redflag previous abuse charges or substance charges like DUI etc)-
if you want to take advantage of the ChildCare Tax Credit – you’ll have to be on the up&up with taxes to the man – the book has that info too –
up here, PT sitters are getting $12-$15 w/out benefits or PTO – FT nannies seem to be making $18-$20 gross with benefits -(oh god I hope we get into this infant daycare center in October!!!)
Of course, your NannyPimp would probably find you someone under the table, which would be a lot cheaper…..can I get her number?
Thank you, all! Great suggestions and a great help you all are! Will keep you posted!
Some other ideas:
1) Steal someone else’s nanny.
2) Choose one from the huddle of people amassed next to Home Depot.
3) Skip the nanny. Leave Archer at home with some Top Ramen, some matches, a sippy cup full of gin and the TV remote. He’ll work it out.
Just trying to help…
Craigslist is your friend. Your mileage may vary, but I have found all of our nannies (we’ve moved several times) on CL and only had the best of luck. The key is in placing an ad that will weed out all the weirdos and freaks (like, say you WILL do background checks and you do have a nanny cam, even if you don’t, and state what you can pay, e.g. “$15 is my max). We’ve only ever used PT nannies (8-12 hrs a week) and you can usu. find a responsible student with flexible hours that can work for cash. Good luck! Enjoy getting to know yourself again!
DUDE!
I would totally sit for you for FREE if I lived in LA.
Fly me down once a day? haha
I agree that craigslist is a good place to start. You can also say “wage negotiable” and find out what your future fantastic nanny might want to be making (and if you can afford it!) I found some fantastic couples to sit for on craigslist, so I know there are some good people on there.
Good luck. Wish I could do it!
Aw, man! You nanny/sitter ladies are SUCH teases! Why must you all live not down the street from me?
Ah… well.
Thanks anyway.
Okay, clearly the “I’d sit for you but I don’t live there” line is played out. But, man, I think I could use a ten-hour break from writing for baby play almost as much as you need a ten-hour break from baby play for writing. Symbiotic, if transcontinental…
oh, you are SOO lucky. If only I could get a nanny for ten hours a week! Then I could go to bed at a decent hour, and I wouldn’t be up till four in the morning writing extremely excessive and arduous reports on American Literature…
Nursing students tend to look for babysitting/nanny jobs here and there, just to make some extra cash. It should be relatively cheap since they’re just doing it on the side, they’re trained in CPR, and they’re training to care for people. Any nursing schools near you? You should totally advertise to their listserv. Best thing would be to get a midwife-in-training or pediatric nursing student, something of the like. I’ve heard this advice from a young nurse!
Wowie. I don’t even know what I’d do with 10 extra hours a week. Well, yes, I should use them to sleep, but I wouldn’t. It’s kind of like the “if I had a million dollars” game — seems purely theoretical.
My wife and I sometimes try to remember what we did with our time before Miles and Porter made their debut. We can never recall.
We got lucky. We’re hiring my stepdaughter.
She needed a job that allowed her to spend more time with her son, and Kimi needed someone for 18 hours a week. We’ll be paying $15/hr., which is standard rate for the Seattle suburbs.
I found that professional nannies generally favor full-time gigs for obvious reasons (more efficient, economical, less logistics).
If you do want a “pro” but only part-time, you should definitely look into the nanny share route. The more work you do in finding the nanny a solid 40 hours whether its just with you or with you and other people, the more attractive you will be as a client.
For part-timers, you’ll find more students, etc.
I don’t have advice really- except I wanted to say AWESOME, congratulations, and I love you dear sister of my heart!
I absolutely love George’s “nanny” though I don’t call her that. For some reason I always think of Nanny’s as people who live in the home with you (which she does not do) I take George to his daycare which is in a woman named Andrea’s house.
My only piece of advice is that if you end up loving your Nanny- treat her WELL.
I buy Andrea flowers and candles and chocolate at least once a month because I am so glad that I can trust her with the most important thing in the world to me. I was so worried I’d never find anyone “good enough” to be with George during the day, so now that I have- I let her know it all the time how much I appreciate her.
I’m so glad you are getting some time to write sans distractions. Take care Rebecca.
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