Nanny duties

Hi,

I know it's rather late in the day but only just found this site. I'm a nanny and have been for almost 19 years (where does the time go?) I'm not qualified as such, have done courses but not reckonized (sp?) as qualifications now.

I think that the most important thing about being a nanny is feeling as part of the family, and there being a bit of give and take, my bosses are fantastic, I look after 2 and half year old twin boys, if I feel that the sitting room needs hoovering (not used by the boys except as a thoroughfare) then I will hoover it, if the boys bath needs cleaning, I'll clean it, if the kitchen floor needs washing it'll be washed (even down on hands and knees with scrubbing brush occasionally when the boys were crawling!)They have a cleaner who comes in on a Friday. If there is dry-cleaning to drop off/collect and I am going that way I'll do it, but I am not expected to do these things, and generally bosses express their gratitude. I have done this with all my employers.

If my employer comes home early she generally lets me go home early. I have 4 weeks stated holiday in my contract but have had almost 6 in both years that I have been here and haven't been asked to do any chores while they are away (unlike some nannies I know!). They are very generous when it comes to Christmas, birthdays and anniversaries (starting date) and make me feel very appeciated and so I am happy to do things to help out.

I think the most important thing is to ask your nanny if she is prepared to do these jobs you would like to be done and how often, and if she is, write them into the contract, but don't over fill the hours when the children are a school, after all, in an office, you generally get coffee breaks and lunch breaks, as nannies we don't get those and so any time that we can have a liitle "me" time is good.

My twins start school in Sept, only three mornings a week (too many!!) and I will do washing, ironing and cook meals for the freezer (I also only cook the boys fresh, organic food, they do have nuggets and fish fingers but are home made) on Monday, on Friday I will do the family supermarket shop (which I currently do on Friday mornings) and Wednesday will be a morning off and I can spend that how I wish, be it in the gym, or doing other jobs for the family or in bed (most likely!).

Flexibility on both sides is very important. I've rambled on enough now but if you want to ask any questions, please feel free.

I was a nanny for 3 school age children. 2 of whom were in fulltime school and the other little one in nursery 5 mornings a week (till 12:20)
I got them up in the morning, ready for school, off to school then did various things. Mondays was usually groceries (round the corner from school) Tuesdays I went to the Library for ME and also dropped off and picked up parents drycleaning wich was 2 shops down. Wed to Fri fater I had finished any chores (childrens laundry, cooking for the children, cleaning the childrens rooms/playroom etc was MY mornings during which I went to my ice skating class, studied at home etc When I collected the youngest from school we would go home to a cooked lunch (which I would have cooked sometime during the morning) then she would have a nap. Afterwards we would walk down to the bus stop to collect the older 2 and then we would do homework, creative activities, outings etc
I regard myself as rofessional nanny even though I don't have a NNEB I do have a nanny certificate from my home country and a qualified Maternity nurse. I don't do cleaning unless it is related to the children (so I have no problem cleaning the children's bathroom or wiping down the kitchen tables, unloading the dishwasher etc)

Of course, if the childrne were sick, they were at home and my personal activities went to the end of the list because I have to attend to the children whom I care for very much. SOme days the chores etc went out of the window because of illness, very busy day etc. The children come first.
HTH

hi there!

Im a nanny with 5 yezars experience my duties inclued getting children washed, dressed and have breakfast walk them to school. but baby to bed for an hour, during this time i will empty and reload the dishwasher, clean around the kitchen ie wipr the surfaces and table, once baby is awake we go to baby class, tumble tots and swimming depends what day we are on! come home give baby lunch but her back to bed, i will them do the childrens washing ironing cleaning of rooms takes about 2 hours in total then walk up to school then go to after school clubd ie ballet, swimming, tennis then get home cook tea bath children. and in to pjs then my day is over!!

As you want to know about light housework, i clean up the kitchen if the floor is dirty i will hoover it i do that that 3 days a week as they have slate floor so it sows everything. i will hoover the hall as it is in the middle from the kicten to the play room i have no problems with this at all and i cant understand why some nannys do! esp when they have older charges who are at school during the day the only thing that does get to me a little bit is the fact i seem to be in my car for alot of the time during the week! this week has been fab as it was half term we took each day as it came we didnt have to rush to get out in the mornings we did lots of play activitys but i must admit none of my jobs have been done!! but my boss understands this at is it the school hols so the children will come first all the time

Emmerdale, you just might not find so many nannies posting here. You would probably get a wide range of answers if you posted on nannyjob.co.uk - but be prepared for quite a lot of different points of view. You may have tried that already?!

Anyway, as a nanny employer & as rule of thumb, I'd say that Light Housekeeping means no elbow grease - so no bathroom cleaning, floor washing, oven scrubbing, ironing or hoovering (except hoovering of children's bedrooms/playroom, as that comes under "nursery duties"). But dusting, receiving grocery deliveries, supervising windowcleaners, shoving washing in the machine and then in the dryer - those should be OK - depending on the person of course.

And yes, nannies do vary enormously - as somebody sensibly said to me "they come in all shapes and sizes" - and if both sides respect and like each other, & are happy to put themselves out a bit for the other - then you'll get much more done for you, because your nanny won't feel taken advantage of. I think a lot of nannies who are territorial about their duties have been burnt in the past. You should get a good sense of where they're at if you're upfront in the interviews.

PS to get the benefit of childcare vouchers you don't need someone already qualified, you just need someone prepared to do the relevant qualification courses, which are not a big investment - have a look at the SureStart website.

Emmerdale i too am surprised that no more nannies have replied to you!

I no one nanny who will do NOTHING that isnt child related (and i mean NOTHING!)... she thinks i am a pushover for occasionaly unloading the dishwasher when both parenst leave by 7.30am.... this is the dishwasher where 90% of the contents was stuff used by me the day before!!! (it only happens occasionaly because me bosses feel very guilty when they leave it and dont think i should be expected to do it either

Most of the nannies i know personally also would not be happy to be 'responsible' for cleaning the rooms.

Also dont forget if you have a QUALIFIED nanny, (who has a CRB and 1st aid cert) who is registered (costs £96 per year) then you are elgable to use childcare vouchers which save you up to £1000 ish per year per working parent.

You dont get this if you use a non qualified nanny / au pair.

i think if i went for an interveiw and we clicked got on really well,and i really liked your kids i would probably be quite happy to do hoovering anywhere in house,dusting,clean kitchen,bit of gardening,shopping and cooking . i think if i had everyday till 2.30 i would be looking for things to do!.sorry no other nannies are replying to you. good luck

sorry forgot to mention i took kids for haircuts,doctors ,dentist, shoes all these things parents found stressful.

hi emmerdale i used to be a nanny.I was a nanny for 16 yrs .Have you tried advertising for a mothers help!I personally would not object to doing light housework when kids at school.I worked in wimbledon when the kids were at nursery i would go back to their home and do lots of cooking to fill freezer for parents,sort kids toys out.tidy bedrooms i did not clean as she had a lady who cleaned and did the ironing,but i used to clean up after them every morning as they left kitchen in a mess,knowing i could not cook until dishwasher emptied and sink and surfaces cleaned.

hi emmerdale i used to be a nanny.I was a nanny for 16 yrs .Have you tried advertising for a mothers help!I personally would not object to doing light housework when kids at school.I worked in wimbledon when the kids were at nursery i would go back to their home and do lots of cooking to fill freezer for parents,sort kids toys out.tidy bedrooms i did not clean as she had a lady who cleaned and did the ironing,but i used to clean up after them every morning as they left kitchen in a mess,knowing i could not cook until dishwasher emptied and sink and surfaces cleaned.

Ditto Issymum.

A nanny of my aquaintance runs errands, does laundry, pet-care and various business-admin of the parents during the school hours. Another did a little light gardening. Another did a share with a mum who wanted term-time only.

Ask any potential nannies and see what they say.

oooh issymum - there was a whole article in G2 about this in the wake of the David Blunkett affair. I've had two nannies - both English, one qualified and in her twenties, one unqualified and in her forties. The former (our current nanny) does see herself as a professional but is wonderfully flexible, (hangs out grown-up washing to dry when she babysits, stops me emptying the dishwasher in the morning before I go to work). the latter would leave a dirty mug on the side if it wasn't anything to do with her. Maybe there's an element of the degree to which they;ve been taken for granted in the past. One of mine seemed to have a bit of a chip on her shoulder for sure

LOL

i clean up after myself... and its always left tidy for me to use! and yes.... when my bosses leave for work early i dont complain about unloading the clean dishwasher put on the night before

Now you now emmerdale...
Im really NOT lazy in any sense... i adore my charges, and we have a full on stimulating set of things that we do!

Im a trained nanny and have a degree (BSc. (hons) psychology)

all im saying is that i dont 'clean' as such... thats what the cleaners do!

My bosses will agree that they always come back to a spotless kitchen, and tidy playroom etc and most importantly HAPPY (though often tired!) children!

Hatsoff - yes I found her through simply childcare. Given that I am on the very outer edges of the circulation area I was worried that I'd get no response. However I had about 10 responses of which 3 were serious contenders! All were prepared to do a combination of term time and holidays and to do housekeeping/shopping/cleaning etc.

Good luck

soapbox - did you find your flexible nanny through simply childcare? I'm going to need someone soon who's possibly prepared to do more term-time hours and less holiday hours (I'm going to be studying myself). Sounds like you've got yourself a treasure. On this whole thing, I have to say that there is no one-size fits all "nanny" job description. As an employer (of any kind) you are entitled to create a job description that matches your needs and invite people to apply. If no-one suitable applies you may have to modify your job description and/or your terms and conditions. Qualified/professional nannies are no different to the rest of us in that respect - they're free to apply for a job or to choose not to. I'm a professional with certain qualifications and certain experience. My job is in an organisation that is "self servicing" when it comes to basic admin (filing, photocopying). It was in the job description, along with all the other stuff. It's not for one second what I was trained to do, but I was not prepared to turn down a very good, professional opportunity, coz I felt a bit of photocopying was beneath me.

Emmerdale...

The rest of the time with my charges we do anything and everything!

rarely watch the Tv tho and i only feed them 'proper' almost all home made food if you were wondering.... no chicken nuggets other processed kids 'crap' either. (i also generally only feed them organic ("happy" as they call it!) food!)

They LOVE painting / drawing etc and playdough. They love cooking aswell. We spend lots of time in the garden, go to tumble tots, swim once a week, see freinds go to the local parks animal farm...

Today we went to the park then supermarket shopping, had lunch then freidns came round...
we walked down to the ferry boat, ahd a lovely boat trip, had an ice cream, came home and played in the garden, mainly on the trampoline and paddling pool, and then we all had tea outside in the garden!

We are looking forward to strawberry picking when the strawberries are ripe, and making our own strawberry icecream!

Is that ok?