Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

Original poster

Nanny has offered to cook for us in the evenings - how can I make this work?

31 replies

bossykate · 22/02/2007 12:40

We have a nanny helping out out a couple of evenings a week. She picks dd up from nursery, picks ds up from after school club, brings them home, makes supper, does baths, puts them to bed and tidies up. She is very good and we are lucky to have her.

She has recently offered to cook for dh & I on the evenings she is with us.

The children have separate meals from dh & I and both sets of evening meals are planned and shopped for in advance. There is a list of the week's meals up in the kitchen.

So far we have tried this cooking lark once - but it was clearly stressful for her to cook an unfamiliar recipe (from our list) and she offered to cook from one of her own recipes in future - but i am reluctant to deviate from my carefully constructed menu planning and shopping process - what it loses in spontaneity it gains in convenience!

Is it reasonable to ask her to cook what I have planned? Should I just let this idea go? Does anyone else have a nanny who cooks for the whole family and how does it work?

TIA

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
Original poster
bossykate · 22/02/2007 13:51

yes, it's brilliant she has offered to do this - i'd like to find a way of taking it up which doesn't stress her or me out!

OP posts:
Original poster
bossykate · 22/02/2007 13:50

thanks for the responses so far - a couple of issues preventing the "just cook a bigger batch of what she gives the kids" - which i agree in the ideal world would be the simplest solution.

she isn't a full time nanny and i estimate she has the grand total of 30 mins between walking in the front door and getting the children's tea on the table - so casserole, roast chicken, and even, i'd argue, made-from-scratch spag bol are off the menu. these are the kind of things we eat as a family at the weekends when there's more time.

then there is ds the picky eater supremo. over the years we've worked out a - limited - range of nutritious meals that he will eat than can be on the table in half an hour or less. an example of one of these would be ham, potatoes and cooked veg, e.g. peas, tomatoes and sweetcorn. he loves that - but it doesn't sound v appetising to me as an evening meal!

the kinds of things dh and i eat on weekday evenings - soups, thai salad, pasta dishes, stir fries - ds won't eat.

just to get that off my chest!

i think the simplest thing would be either to see if there are any meals i can think of which could be ready in less than 30 mins, which the whole family would eat, which would stand a 2/3 hour wait for dh & I. or do as dizzydave suggested and ask for her suggestions for integration into the plan.

thanks for the responses so far

OP posts:
nannyj · 22/02/2007 12:47

When i cook for my kids if it is something that i can make a large portion of then i make enough for everyone. But i choose what i cook and do all the shopping, dont know how easy it would be to prepare 2 meals in one evening to be honest. It depends on what things you and your DH like.

princessmel · 22/02/2007 12:47

Yes, can you re-do the planner so that on the nights she cooks its a meal that she's happy with and the whole family can eat it. Her too maybe?

I've never known a nanny to offer to cook for the parents before. ( I am qualified as a nanny and have lots of nanny friends) Very unusual.

DizzyDave · 22/02/2007 12:45

ask her what she likes to cook, agree a couple of dishes, pre plan them then you can still do your organised shop etc and she knows what she's doing.

MrsBadger · 22/02/2007 12:44

I don't think it's entirely reasonable to ask her to cook something you've planned and chosen without any input from her at all (I hate it when DH does this to me and I am landed with an unfamiliar recipe).
Could you consult with her on dishes she is happy to cook and then plan to have them the nights she's making dinner?

Actually, what do your kids eat that's so different from you and Dh? On the night she's cooking could you plan for eg roast chicken, casserole, pasta that everyone likes?