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Paid childcare

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

should a nanny cook?

18 replies

74slackbladder · 08/11/2010 13:13

have just employed a nanny - first time - she is young and has only exp of working in a nursery not as a nanny.
she asked for a fairly low wage, and because of that i keep thinking i cant ask too much of her but ...should a nanny cook - for the children. so far i have only asked her to do simple things like reheat food and do cheese on toast and suchlike. however, having just spend a fair amount of my weekend prepping food for the kids for the week i am asking myself whether she should be doing that rather than me ... any thoughts ?

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drinkyourmilk · 08/11/2010 13:17

Of course she should. Has she actually refused to cook or asked you to do it?

Maybe she's just nervous. Even after 13 years I'm still nervous cooking for the first couple of weeks in a new position as the taste of food is subjective- i worry that the parents will taste it and think it's awful!

74slackbladder · 08/11/2010 13:19

the main problem is that i dont think she CAN. My DH had to demonstrate scrambled eggs and omlettes last week. I think my DS (almost 4) is better informed about how to cook things than her!

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drinkyourmilk · 08/11/2010 13:25

Maybe ask her what she can do - or better yet just ask her for a list of shopping she needs for next week. Honestly honestly - she will learn - and fast! Your lo's won't starve in the 3-4 weeks it takes for her to get her act together. My first boss was wonderful - I was so wet behind the ears i can't actually believe she hired me! She gave me a list of expectations, and made me get on with it - I was handed lots of praise and lots of organisation suggestions (and the occasional bollocking tooWink). I'd say within 2 months i pretty much had it down (and that was with a sn charge too).

74slackbladder · 08/11/2010 13:37

Maybe i am being a bit soft on her! i just thought on sunday morning as i was slaving over the cooker with my two DCs both trying so hard to get my attention that it didnt seem quite right....we went down this route to save the stress of drop offs and pick ups etc only to have taken on the extra stress we never had with nursery of cooking all their meals! OK.
Thank you, you have made my mind up for me - i shall chuck her the annabel karmel book and ask her to chose half a dozen things she can have a go at....my DS will gladly help her! he loves cooking so it will be another 'activity' they can do together!

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firefrakkers · 08/11/2010 13:38

IMO yes she should be cooking.

Get her a recipe book (look at student cook books - they're often very good at giving simple, healthy recipes) and do a weekly meal plan for her at first.

Pasta, tomato sauce from a jar, tuna from a tin, cut up some carrot and cucumber sticks = simple pasta bake with crudites
Chop up some vegggies, steam them, put a couple of chicken breasts in the oven, boil some rice = simple balanced meal
Chop up some veggies, shove all in oven, boil some pasta = oven roasted vegetables with pasta
Brown some beef, chop some onion, carrot, potato, add a tin of tomatoes and slow cook = casserole
Frozen breaded fish and frozen chips in oven, frozen peas + sweetcorn in a saucepan = fish and chips

Cooking is not rocket science and very few people expect cordon bleu standards from a nanny. Ideally preparation should be under 15mins and it shouldn't need too much looking after while it cooks. Not all food has to be from scratch every day too.

Does she know what's nutritionally appropriate for your DCs?

I think this is often one of the problems with ex-nursery nannies. They can be fab in many, many respects - lots of good craft activities, experience with lots of different children - but they rarely know how to cook/clean and aren't used to having to knuckle down and learn something because in a nursery there's often someone in your team who can fill in for you. She'll soon learn!

74slackbladder · 08/11/2010 14:01

thanks for that too. i will get her going on some simple stuff and see how she gets on

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nannynick · 08/11/2010 14:40

Get her started on some of the really basic things - Jamie Oliver has some really simple things on his Home Cooking Skills site, though does cheat a bit such as using crème fresh to make a cheese sauce.

I like many people I expect have learnt to make a few dishes then just use recipe books / internet sites to find other things to try.

The difficult thing I find is coming up with something the children will eat from the ingredients available. I did a noodle dish today... 2 year old didn't eat it... 6yr old did eat some of it.

www.mydaddycooks.com/ has videos of various recipes which could be tried - with a toddler helping! Children love to help cook.

lifeinagoldfishbowl · 08/11/2010 14:47

I think this is often one of the problems with ex-nursery nannies. They can be fab in many, many respects - lots of good craft activities, experience with lots of different children - but they rarely know how to cook/clean and aren't used to having to knuckle down and learn something because in a nursery there's often someone in your team who can fill in for you. She'll soon learn!

I was an ex nursery nurse turned nanny and find that insulting - I am a good cook who enjoys making fresh meals for my charges from scratch - I am also a competent cleaner who is able to fulfill household tasks that need doing.

nannynick · 08/11/2010 14:50

But Lifeinagoldfishbowl you are a Super-Nanny Grin

Some nursery staff have no idea about cooking, as nurseries have a chef. However some are fab cooks. It all depends on the person... there is always a risk that anyone who decides to become a nanny may not have much cooking experience. It is something which is often learnt from doing it... schools these days don't do that much cookery, do they?

Blondeshavemorefun · 08/11/2010 15:09

Nanny should def be cooking and regardless of being in a nursery beforehand she us an adult and ALL adults should be able to do basic cooking

Following receipes in a book is good to start off with tho I like to create Grin and add a bit of this,that&the other

74slackbladder · 08/11/2010 15:57

amazing how many 'young' people cant cook....i blame the parents!
however, as i said earlier, i am proud to say that my DS loves it and is very keen in the kitchen

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PaulaMummyKnowsBest · 08/11/2010 16:53

my dd is almost 12 and can cook, healthy balanced meals so of course you're not expecting too much from your nanny.

As a nanny, I am more than happy to cook healthy meals for my charges.

firefrakkers · 08/11/2010 18:48

Life - also ex-nursery before nannying. Never had to cook or clean there and there were many people who didn't know how! My point is someone with nanny experience is more likely to know how to cook and clean as a previous employer probably taught them if their parents didn't. In many nurseries there isn't the pressure to be a one-man-band so ex-nursery nannies (whilst surpassing nannies who have never set foot in a nursery in some areas) are more likely to have shortcomings re: the household duties part if the job. It's nothing to be offended over, merely an observation (and possibly a question to add during the interviewing process!).

My first employer taught me to iron properly Grin I could cook (grandmother taught me), clean (had to clean my room and bathroom), wash up, do laundry properly (fanatical mother with a System) but it took a nanny job to teach me to iron. After that job I was pretty competent in all the key household skills.

nbee84 · 08/11/2010 18:50

It does come down to how they have been brought up at home. If it's all been cooked for them then they don't have the basic skills. It is good if you are happy to sit back and let your nanny learn the basic skills. As others have said, get her a basic cookbook and ask what ingredients she would like so that she can try out some recipes. I do think that new nannies should have some idea of nutrition requirements of children - they really should take it upon themselves to read up on it.

In my first nanny job, the Mum took the children out for the afternoon, said I could finish early and asked me to cook a shepherd's pie and leave it in the oven before I left. I'd never cooked one before, thought I knew how to do it! I made the mash, fried the mince with an onion and put the mash on top - that's it, no oxo cube or gravy or anything. It wasn't until a while later that I realised I hadn't made it quite right Shock Mb never said anything Grin

I'm currently on mn while my 16 year old ds is cooking a beef stir fry for us all. My mouth is watering at the smells of ginger and garlic.

surpriseme · 08/11/2010 20:25

When I started my first nanny job at 18 I could barely cook an egg! But I got thrown into the deep end with sole charge of 3 kids aged 5(almost 6)yrs,2.5yrs and an 8mth old baby.It took a few wks but I got there.
Its not hard to follow a recipe book! I know I used to follow them religiously at the beginning but slowly got more imaginative as time went on.
But yes I really would reccommend encouraging cookery skills in all your children/charges.It really is an important life skill

Blondeshavemorefun · 08/11/2010 20:37

child labour nbee, i like it Grin - i have hubby labour at the moment

nbee84 · 08/11/2010 21:43

Was delish! Grin He cooks a mean curry too.

MJB66 · 11/11/2010 09:59

Cooking for Kids.. ISBN no 978-1-84956-204-1 is a good one it goes from basic stuff like boiled eggs and soldiers/cheese on toast to homemade fishfingers & chips to spag bol,toad in the hole, lasagne, meatballs and a few more.
or another Cookery for Kids by marks and spencer

or
Sam Stern - cooking up a storm this is 'written' by a teenager, a bit more advanced but easy to follow
or even
the Usborne Beginers Cookbook - basic
ISBN 978074603380-7

hope this is of some help, all books my kids and I use at home..

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