Its around about this time of year that we get a lot of calls from families looking for before and after school nannies. In most cases, the children have tried the service provided by the local school and it hasn't worked out for reasons such as the children's after school activity schedule and having to get up too early in the morning in order to leave at the same time as their parents.
Many parents often arrive at the conclusion that a nanny is the perfect solution; the children can stay in bed a little later in the mornings and the parents don't have to rush around before working getting them ready for school. A nanny normally arrives in the morning at approximately 30 minutes before the parents leave for work so that they can assist with the hectic morning schedule of breakfast, getting dressed, preparing school bags, seeing children to the bus etc.
Once the children go to school the nanny is free to leave and will not return until meeting the children off the bus when they finish school. Then its unpacking the school bag, preparing a snack and helping with homework. Its an ideal situation and normally cost effective if you have two or more children in school. It certainly makes life easier for the parents!
Finding the right nanny however can be challenging. In our agency, it's the most difficult position to place because most nannies don't want a job with split shifts, working for about two hours or less in the morning then two to three hours at the end of the day. There is also the question on school breaks when you don't need the nanny to work. Therefore there are some important points to consider when searching for your nanny:
1 - Location
Find a nanny who lives within close proximity of your house. Ideally within a radius of five miles or a 10 minute commute. You want your nanny to be reliable and if a long commute is needed, traffic will become an issue. Also, who wants to get up in the morning and do a long commute only to work for less than two hours, return home and do the same later on in the day.
2- Nanny Qualities
Make sure the nanny is capable of being organized and staying on task. The busiest time in a household with children is the hour before they go to school and the time when they return home so you want to have a trial run first to see if your nanny can meet the hectic demands. She will need to demonstrate that she is able to stay calm.
3 - Homework
If you have children in third grade or higher they will have homework. The nanny will need to be able to assist and help review the lessons of the day.
4 - Driving
If the nanny is required to take your children to after school activities you will need to be sure that she is a safe driver, has a reliable form of transportation and is willing to sign an agreement with you that she/he will not text or talk on the phone while driving. Its really important to emphasize this and not assume that your nanny will know better. Its an epidemic problem.
5- Nanny pay
In order to attract the right candidates and make sure they stay with you, a higher hourly rate may be necessary. If you normally pay $12-$14 per hour in your area, you should consider paying in the region of $14 to $16 or more for this type of position.
6- Background checks
Make sure you run a thorough background check on your nanny before she/he starts and check that they have current CPR and First Aid so that they are ready to deal with emergencies.
Finding the right nanny can really help to improve a family's quality of life and avoid the organized chaos that so many of us find ourselves in.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment