would you let your nanny/au pair ask a friend over, when babysitting?

[mrsshackleton]

Our live-out nanny is living in with us over the summer while she waits for accommodation to become free. She was babysitting on Friday and asked if she could have a friend (male but not boyfriend) over to sit and watch TV with her. After deliberating, dh and I said no - to male or female friends with the proviso we might (but might not) be OK if it was someone we'd met. WIBU?

The wanting to meet them first is weird imo.

I can see the point that she's at work and you don't have friends visit you at work. I don't agree, but I can see where you're coming from.

What will meeting them first solve? 'Oh they didn't come in with a stack of porn under one arm and a meat cleaver in the other, they're fine' or 'I was suspicious that your friend came with a bong...'. Or are you planning to hook them up to a lie detector at this meeting? Ask for references? I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you can tell diddley squat about someone from meeting them once! If you could, the majority of rapists, child abusers and murderers wouldn't be friends/partners/trusted people to their victims.

It is possible that people who are perfectly good at their jobs enjoy socialising in their free time with people you would prefer not to and on balance without getting to know them better you'd prefer you'd kids not to ir have hanging about in tour house. I don't think the judgement call one makes about a nanny covers every possible area of their lives. How can it? Who doesn't have work colleagues who are great at their jobs but have friends or partners I wouldn't want to get to know better I'd create a precedent for having in my home on an unlimited basis. The 'logic' if just because you trust them in one area/see eye in all doesn't apply.

And as fur babysitting being so extremely boring anyone heard if Netflix? I'd dare I say it Mumsnet? Amazing his the time flies by. Start a wedding thread.

It is your home and you can say no to any guests you dont want to receive.

I don't think you are being unreasonable at all, especially if you have not met the friend. The problem is that she, by asking, puts you on the back foot and makes you seem unreasonable by saying no!

She is being accommodated, paid and is therefore working during this time. So, she can watch telly, read, knit or build card-houses if she likes, but ultimately it is your say-so.

Yes of course. If you trust her with your children, you're trusting her judgement in doing the right thing by them.

LadyHarriet I don't think anyone is saying that a nanny might not have some 'unsavoury' friends, more that she wouldn't bring them to work. If you trust her judgement, then it follows that you trust her to only invite the friends that she knows could be trusted in your house, with your children.

I may have a friend who swears like a sailor, let's call him Bob, as you say I can be perfectly good at my job and still enjoy socialising with Bob. If I were allowed to invite someone to visit while I was babysitting, I wouldn't choose Bob because I'm good at my job, because I have good judgment. If I did invite Bob to visit me when babysitting, I would not be good at my job, I would be making a bad decision and it follows that you would question my judgement. Either someone has good judgement and can be trusted or they can't.

Surely the bottom line is that you are paying the babysitter/nanny to look after your children, not to socialise? I don't think she should have asked. It's not that difficult to stay in and watch a movie or read a book on your own while being paid, really, is it?
Once I had a babysitter who came with her boyfriend (who I knew) and I felt uncomfortable speaking to the babysitter about the children in front of the boyfriend. He obviously just couldn't wait to get the DVD on. The lines between childcare and socialising were a bit blurred.
It's nothing to do with trust, more to do with setting boundaries and making it clear that while of course it's fine to watch a movie, read or whatever, the reason the babysitter is there is to look after the children.

Yes, of course unless I didn't trust her in which case she wouldn't be in the house anyway.

I think in the OPs case where the DC are up late it's different to normal babysitting. I don't have a problem while DS is younger but when he's older I'd just rather not have unknown friends coming round where DCs might come into contact with them. At 21ish they may not be used to being around children/aware they need to watch their language/etc.

It's nothing to do with trust, more to do with setting boundaries

^ This.

I am not saying that I would always say no but that I am rethinking my policy of always basically saying yes, which is what we've done previously. Particularly when it comes to male visitors.

Blueshoes - Cheeky? Why?

Either someone has good judgement and can be trusted or they can't.

^ See I don't totally agree with this, particualrly with a younger childcarer. I think things can be more nuanced than that, particualrly when it involves luuurve, and while a childcarer's friends are not necessarily 'unsavory' maybe I just don't feel like having them hanging around my house for several hours regularly. Them feeling an automatic entitlement to do this.

I'm not going to go on about it here anymore though because at this point it's a hijack.

But as to the OP I don't think you're being unreasonable imposing some restrictions.

"Cheeky" because the nanny is supposed to be working (and paid for her time in doing so) rather than having a social time. There is nothing to stop the nanny from declining to babysit. But to accept on condition that she gets paid to relax with a friend? Interesting what my boss would think if I made a request like that.

I can see that lines are blurred because the nanny is living in her employer's house whilst doing childcare. As an employer, of course I would like to keep my employees sweet, but let's be clear this is ultimately a job involving very hefty responsibilities, not a hobby or a favour.

When I used to do shift work, many years ago, it was perfectly acceptable to bring a friend in from time to time. They would stay in the staff room. We didn't take them into the machine room - that wouldn't have been appropriate. Nor would we have invited friends in during the day shift.

This was for 3 separate companies, so quite established as the normal way of going on. Management trusted us; we didn't abuse that trust.

I see no difference here.

Shift work where you bring a friend into the office is hardly like allowing a stranger into your own house to socialise with the person you paid to look after your children who are sleeping upstairs.

Employers rules anyway. It is not difficult to find babysitters so no reason to cater for such requests if the parents do not feel comfortable - many of the nursery workers dcs' nursery as well as aupairs living on the same street would welcome babysitting. I imagine shiftwork might be a lot less attractive to employees so employers feel they need to accommodate such requests to sweeten the deal.

I just find it totally bonkers anyway, the idea of a grown adult needing a friend to keep them company while they are paid to be working, in any context.

Have to agree with branching - I love babysitting for nice families that the children sleep as means I can watch tv in peace without oh talking through my fav progs

Or I can catch up on Fb and mn or read a book etc so does seen weird she wants a friend to talk to

I mentioned shift work because some posters were saying it was a place of work, therefore unacceptable.

In fact, it is perfectly acceptable in many places to bring a friend into your place of work out of hours.