lazy nanny

btw, how much does a nanny cost? i've looked at this list, and realise i could ditch my cleaner & nursery, if i could afford a nanny instead!

I would be unhappy at 1.5hrs solid tv time, unless my child or the nanny were ill. My nanny does their ironing either when they are in playgroup one morning a week, or during their nap. I would be unhappy at the iron being out whilst they were playing nearby. My nanny strucutres her days, so monday is laundry day, changing sheets, ironing, Wednesday is cooking, doing big stews/batch cooking, Thursday is cleaing their rooms and changing beds and Friday is ironing their clothes worn since monday. I think the op's nanny needs a few pointers - I would not be happy coming back to a house in complete disarray - its like that when I am there!

What about if you typed a job description and maybe a sort of timetable with the chores you expect her to do around your house? Maybe just say 'I know theres a lot to do, so perhaps this might help you keep track of what needs doing'?

I agree that ironing shouldnt really be done when little babies / toddlers are crawling around under your feet...

BUT when they are that small they normally have a sleep in the day anyway....

AND when they are out growing there sleep they still often need a quiet time (my 4 year old often has 30 mins of tv after lunch to recharge), and i find it very easy to iron over the other side of the room while she sits on the sofa relaxing...

by this age they are old enough to know and be told that irons are hot and very dangerouse and that you dont touch them... ever

Its completely normal for nannies tobe expect to wash and iron the childrens clothes and most of us manage to do it and do it safey

I think ironing is a perfectly reasonable request of the nanny, so long as it is for the children's clothes only. Most children either go to school or take naps, or they can be taught not to jump on the iron. I think nannies can manage this in the same way that mums (and dads) do.

Furthermore, childminders are not nannies and of course they don't do ironing. They don't do a lot of things nannies do.

Riab, your list looks fine...

except for: Iron DS clothes and sheets

Ironing with young children around is very dangerous. Hot irons are an accident waiting to happen. Ironing should therefore be done, in my opinion, only if the child is in bed.

A childminder would NEVER iron clothing while they were caring for other peoples children. A nursery nurse working in a day nurser would never bring an Iron into the babyunit and start ironing with babies and toddlers around their feet.

I feel that if you include ironing in a childcarers contract, then you need to insure that there is a suitable time at which it can be done safely. As employer you have a legal duty to make sure things are Safe.

As a male nanny (hmm, I wonder if being a bloke here makes a difference), I don't have any domestic duties - like washing & ironing clothing - written into my contract. However, that does not mean that I totally ignore it... as I do put loads of washing on, hang it out to dry/tumble dry, when there is time for such things and when of course when clothing supplies are running low. I would never Iron however, as it's not safe to do so and becasue I'm hopeless at it - do you want burnt clothes

Lisalisa

Im a nanny currently looking for work,whereabouts are you based?

Oh wow! Did you know about the redundancy? Are you shocked or planning to celebrate?

Where are you advertising Lisa? Do you still have an aupair as well?

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hmmm, just read about the baby grows etc - all sounds a bit worse than I had realised. I don;t think subtlety like my suggestion is teh way. I think you need to tell her exactly what the problem is.

haven't read everything but I would say very strongly don;t deal with this through written notes, they might be written with chatty intent but they are still an impersonal and very poor way of communicating with your nanny. Think how you would feel is this is how your boss dealt with you. imo you need to find a "hook" - my nanny was getting a bit like this (not as bad as yours) so I had a really big sort out one weekend - clothes, toys, craft things - all nice and tidy and plenty of space to store them; then I just said "I've had a really good sort out, so there's plenty of room now in the craft cupboard (etc), I'd like to try and keep everything tidy, so would you mind making sure it all goes away at the end of the day". seems to have worked.

i'm not trying to defend this girl as i think she's well out of order but in this heat milk goes yucky after a few hours of being out, at least my ds's did on monday and yesterday. hope it all gets sorted for you

Riab, what does your contract say? It should outline what qualifies for immediate dismissal. Say, for example her care was a danger to the child's welfare. So, like, if you came home to find your child playing with the kitchen knives and nanny was passed out on the living room floor because she'd been helping herself to your scotch. That would be grounds for immediate dismissal. This girl is just lazy. I think you need to have the talk on the next dday that she comes to work, and you could hand her a written warning as Mrsschadenfreude has already said.

I would think you still have to go through the procedures, but can you not skip the verbal and go straight to the written for stuff like this? We gave ours a verbal warning, sat down and talked to her, she said yes, yes and nothing changed. Unfortunately we were unable to sack her by that point as she was in pig and did even less. I made her start her maternity leave one month before the baby was due, paid her maternity leave, holiday pay for the whole year, 13th month and then gave her a month's notice (can't sack anyone in Belgium less than a month after they are supposed to return from maternity leave) and then just gave her notice. Yes, that probably sounds terrible, but I'm not a charity.

Everything you have said you would like her to do is very reasonable, Im sure most Nannies do that without being asked! I hope it works out for you all

LisaLisa

yes.... i am changing jobs in september.... got it all sorted now...

my youngest starts full time... there were 9 families wanting me, but ive chosen a lovely family who live only a mile away with a 3 year old and a baby... (for 4 days a week) and my other day staying with my current charges (which is great as i dont have to get all upset about "leaving" them (mummy cutting her working hours and granny doing more!)

will be SO lovely to have a baby again... youngest currently being 4 years old!

I have nannied for over 5 years and now a mummy to one aged 1.5yrs and one on the way. I also childmind for a boy of nearly 4.

I think its disgraceful. Whether she is tired or not, everyone is! She shouldn't bring it to work with her. If they have streched themselves too far finacially that is not your problem, she should still be looking after your child properly.

I think you're well within your rights to tell her that you think she should get the house looking reasonable before she leaves. Surely she has enough time with only one child and you hardly sound as if you'd be v.messy!

I can see why some days she may spend time in front of the tv/dvd but to get out too. We go to several groups, swimming, library etc... every week and we try to get to the park at least twice a week too. Sometimes we just don't have time to fit it all in but we TRY which is more important. My DD loved painting at 15 months- very messy but still enjoyable. She loved poking playdoh too. They were things we would do maybe once a week and only lasted for a short time, and a bath afterwards but she loved them. She loves crayoning now (and would try with a chunky wax crayon at his age).

I think you're going about it the right way by writing it down so everyone knows what to expect. That way it is fair on both sides.

As for the first aid and renewing her courses, i think in some ways it's important but more important is that you sort out this issue first. I think by 2008 everyone who works with children will have stricter guidelines to work from, such as first aid etc... I have just updated mine with the paramedic service and it was very interesting, which I wasn't expecting. You can also order a free birth to free pack from the surestart website which covers acheivements each child should have the opportunity to do. This maybe will give her a little more motivation and ideas what to do. Also for you, you can see what she should be doing.

Good luck and let us all know how it goes!

The usual procedure is 1- verbal warning 2- written warning 3- dismissal. I think you should sit down, review the contract / job descrition, then summarise the outcome in writing. If she fails to get her performance up to snuff in say 2 weeks time, then I'd give written warning. And if one week later she was still slacking off I'd give her notice.

You may find the one sit down review is all it takes to get her to shape up.

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