How to Find the Perfect Before and After School Nanny

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.

Nanny Sharing - a more cost effective way to keep your child at home

If you are considering hiring a nanny but have concerns about the costs involved you might want to consider a 'nanny share' situation when two families agree to hire one nanny to care for both children and by doing so significantly reduce the costs involved with hiring a private nanny.

Generally this works well if each family has one child requiring care and the children are approximately the same age, give or take a year. There are many things to consider before making this decision in order to ensure the arrangement works well. Here is a useful list of talking points:

1. Parenting Style

First, both families must discuss their philosophy on raising children including discipline style, schedules, appropriate activities and generally, how they want the nanny to spend their time with the children.

2. Location

Next, both parties must firmly agree where the child care will take place i.e. at whose home. Families might decide that the children will stay at one location at all times or switch off on a schedule. Also, bear in mind how long it will take to reach each other's houses during rush hour.

3. Safety

Once a location(s) has been agreed both parties need to be sure that the home is childproofed to their standard.

4. Compensation

Obviously you are going to agree on an hourly rate to pay the nanny but you will also need to discuss holiday pay, overtime, vacation, expenses if the nanny is taking the children out of the house and finally what happens is one party decides to leave the arrangement and how this will affect the nanny's pay.

5. Responsibilities

In addition to general child care what other responsibilities are you giving the nanny? e.g. laundry, meal preparation, emptying dishwasher etc. If you agree to use two locations will the nanny be doing the same tasks in each home?

6. Hiring the Nanny

How are you going to find the nanny? Decide if you are going to use a nanny agency or do the search on your own. If you do the search on your own be sure to conduct thorough background checks and drug screens and check that they have excellent references and training in CPR and First Aid. A good agency will do this for you.

7. Communication

Going forward how are you going to communicate with each other and the nanny? You should agree to meet on a regular basis and encourage open communication all round. The best tool to help ensure a smooth long-term relationship between nanny and both families is a work agreement prepared in advance. This document clearly lists every aspect of the job and is signed by all parties prior to work commencing.

Nanny share can be a wonderful option for your child. They really do get the best of both worlds - the care, nurturing and attention that a professional nanny can provide and the social aspect of daycare without all the germs! For more advice contact the Williamsburg Nanny Agency 757-645-3898 or visit our website www.williamsburgnannyagency.com

After school

When I found out I was pregnant with triplets (boys no less) I spent many a happy hour imagining my idyllic future with them. I always had this particularly vision of the three of them getting off the school bus, running into my arms, delighted to be home. Then we would all sit down around a table, have a (healthy and nutritious) snack and play a lovely game of Candyland.

Hmmmm.... not quite.

In reality, my children are exhausted when they get off the bus and I even got that part wrong because I drive them to and from school now. They don't like the bus anymore and they are only in Kindergarten! The healthy snack has been replaced with dinner because by the time we get home its 4:20 and they are hungry, irritable and just want to plop in front of the TV and watch cartoons.

I've come to the sad conclusion that school is a whole new business for our youngest generation. A very serious business. By the end of Kindergarten our children are now expected to be able to read and write and sit quietly. All day. And, they better be sure to leave gaps between their words, write in a straight line and know how to spell at least 30 words.

In my opinion, children need more of a balance between academic work and play time. After all, we know that children who are allowed to express themselves through imaginative play do better in the long run and boys especially need plenty of exercise, preferably outdoors if they are going to learn anything (I call it brain therapy).

So anyway, back to the topic of after school, my advice is to allow your children some downtime when they get home. Let them choose what they want to do and if that means watching TV for forty minutes then so be it. Encourage them to play outside or take them to a local park but try not to over schedule them with after-school activities. They are on task all day long so give them what they really need when they get home...their freedom (and it doesn't cost a penny!).