What does a mother's help do?

[Bryyy]

I've googled this but a nanny told me I was nuts, so hopefully MNNS have a better idea :)

So as far as I'm aware they keep an eye on the children as well as some basic house chores or washing up, hoovering, putting clothes away while I'm still more or less available/ at home.

So I'd still bath/feed the baby and do more in depth house work.

Said nanny friend said that what I wanted was a cleaner or a nanny but that nobody would do both.

You’re describing a nanny housekeeper. Somebody who can watch and play with your child and help with housework.
It will be expensive.
A mother’s help is an extra pair of hands but you’re still looking after your child. So as above, “you run the bath for the kids while I fold this laundry... can you put a wash on while I play a jigsaw with the toddler..” etc
A mother’s help isn’t for when you’re working

Our mothers help adapted as the circumstances and needs changed. She was brilliant- we’re in contact still but have moved 200 miles away. She was returning to work as her cheese older teenagers. She wanted something flexible, had no formal qualifications and couldn’t drive.
What she could do was;
Manage two tiny children very competently and kindly.
Walk for miles and provide lots of play opportunities.
Clean, hoover, dust, mop, make beds
Do laundry and ironing
Oversee trades people
Go to post office or do other errands
Cook and bake
Tidy.
She saw what needed doing, as she’d managed her own home and family. She was who we turned to when I went into labour and she was who babysat, who had the children when we were moving.

We arranged for her do do a couple of qualifications and helped her find another job, as a TA, after we’d moved. I tutored her daughter through GCSEs and supported her application into the Police.
It was more than a simple employee/employer relationship.

Au pair is good option

I've got a couple coming over next week for a trial day. I've made it clear I'm WFH so we shall see. One I have to pick up form her home and it a bit of a detour from the children's school so that lack of flexibility doesn't really sit with me so I might have to pass.

@CherryPavlova my many was that way and I loved her more than my own grandmothers.

@BabyLlamaZen yea what I look for is sort of a live out aupair as I don't have a room for one.

Just be really clear at the interview what you expect and see what they say - good luck

Just be really clear at the interview

This ^.

As the employer, it's up to you to be very clear about what you want and then let the candidates decide whether they are interested in the role.

Given what you say about the person who 'needs to be picked up' I would add expectation that they would get themselves to work and gone again under their own steam.

If that leaves you with no promising candidates, then you can have a rethink.

All the best.

Many moons ago, in the 1950s I think, my now late MIL worked as a mother's help.There were, according to her, quite numerous then.
She told me that she did housework besides caring for small children and babies.She would do shopping for her employer taking the baby or children with her.She would love to boast about the lovely posh prams she wheeled the babies out in.
As far as I can remember she was sometimes left alone with the children for a few hours while their mother visited friends or went to meet a friend in town.She did any necessary house cleaning but her main priority was childcare.
She was not a trained nanny but had been in domestic service since leaving school at 14 and had spent a lot of time helping the official nanny in what she called ''grand houses''.I think her title had been nursery maid.

I'm a mothers help.
I basically am the extra pair of hands. The person to pick the children up if the parents can't. To take them out if the parents are busy.
I make meals, bathe and put them to bed.
Do their shopping, take care of uniforms and prepare anything they need for school. I also help with jobs around the home, but the cleaner does the main bulk of it.
I'm basically what it says on the tin.
There's no definite job description it changes with each home and family.
You need to be clear what you want from them and it has to work both ways.
With the right match it can work so well

If it helps, my mother's help is actually a student teacher. She has lectures and placements that can get in the way a bit but we have a relaxed attitude to hours. She's available for long periods over the summer and school holidays, which could really suit some people. I'll be devastated when she qualifies and leaves us!

When I worked as a mother's help I was also a student and worked around my tutorials, and then again when I was newly qualified and it took 6 months to get a job in my field. I loved working as a mother's help. I had boundless patience and energy for the children back then, and somehow doing other people's housework is less mind-numbing than doing your own!

Thanks for the last replies all very helpful. It makes me feel more confident about the whole thing.

My friend (who had 4 young DC at the time) had a mother's help who came between 3pm and 7pm every day to help with the chaos of school run, after school activities, tea time etc. So I think of it as a part time job that can be combined with something else (like the student above) whereas a nanny is a full time job involving sole supervision of the children. That's my interpretation of it anyway!