I've been looking for a nanny for four days a week (Wednesday's off) because I'm going back to uni. Every nanny we've spoken to we've stressed that I'm not sure what my schedule will be exactly so we're happy to agree to a daily rate now, so that if I end up home early everyday and let them go, they're not going to be out of pocket. We do have a dog but I'm putting him in doggy day care every nanny day so he won't be an issue for anyone and she won't have to take care of him. We've been really informally interviewing, and during the interview had agreed to 10ph and four weeks holiday, all bank holidays etc... So we really loved 2 of the nannies and invited them back to meet our 2 children and see how they got on. (Though I know this could go badly just because children are unpredictable!)
So, we loved Nanny 1. She was so sweet, my youngest child really took to her (nearly 2, and very clingy to me) and she agreed to the money.... I wanted to offer her the job on the spot, but we had already arranged to see nanny 2 the next day.
So Nanny 2 arrives (after me raving about her to DH about her 10 years experience and how easy it was to chat to her) and it was completely awkward. Then she started on her demands... She wants her 4 weeks holiday and all bank holidays, but also Easter holidays and mid December until January 3rd... Paid. We need someone 4 days a week with Wednesday's off, this was specified a lot and mentioned in our profile, on the phone and at her first interview. Well, she doesn't want that. She's decided she wants Fridays off because she just loves to take long weekends. And if she 'liked the family enough' she would agree to their schedule but she doesn't feel she can at the moment - oh dear! She won't use her own car (although her profile says she will), and needs to authorise the car we want her to use, as we may not have considered it's safety for children. She also wants to be paid 45p a mile for local driving even though we would have to cover all car expenses. She reminds us how great she is, and how wonderful a nanny she would be... A lot. She tells us she's going straight off to another interview so we need to hurry if we want her.
Well, um, we don't anymore!
So Nanny 1... she's very young, she only has 8 months experience and her spelling etc on her cv was awful! But she was so so sweet and lovely and we really wanted to give her a chance because she was just so likeable. She already agreed to 10ph and 4 weeks holiday plus bank holidays and Christmas week so we called and offered her the job...
She comes back to us saying she's changed her mind. She wants £14ph. Minimum.
Fuck.
We really like her so we write a long message saying that my oldest will be at school all day, My youngest will start nursery next year and the following year full time school, so as a long term job it will get easier and easier, the children loved you, we loved you but financially we just can't do £14... We can look to review it in 6 months but for now we can only do 12ph but we've got to look at some finances.
She comes back to us saying that actually, even 12 - 14 wouldn't be enough.
Back to the drawing board.
It must be me?! What are we doing wrong? Is this ridiculously cheap for a nanny? Is 4 days a week weird? Is the 2 meeting process odd?