Nanny and housework

[BonaDea]

We are about to employ our first nanny to care for our DS (9mo). I know that most nannies state they are happy to do nursery duties (wash baby's clothes and bed linen, change his sheets, keep his room tidy), keep play room tidy (in this case out living room) and tidy up after themselves in the kitchen after making meals. Are there any other tasks which are basically seen as standard?

We have a cleaner 4 hours per week so heavy duty cleaning like floors, bathroom etc is covered and of course a nanny is employed to look after DS not clean.

But when I'm at home looking after him myself I keep on top of things like running the vacuum round the living room, giving the kitchen floor a sweep most days, emptying the bin etc. Is this stuff a no no for most nannies and / or would we have to be explicit or even pay more if we need her to do this?

They are all things that are outside of 'nursery duties' imo.

Floor sweeping - If nanny and DS have made a mess I would expect her to sweep, but otherwise no.

Bin emptying - nappy bin; yes. General kitchen bin; not really, how much rubbish are a nanny and a baby going to produce?! If she fills the bin, she should empty it, but you shouldn't allow it to be overflowing when she gets there on a Monday/in the morning. I wouldn't expect her to need to empty the bin.

Hoovering - again not unless she and DS have made a mess. Some nannies consider hoovering the children's bedroom/playroom as a nursery duty, ime most don't. Any other hoovering, definitely not. I wouldn't think the living room needed hoovering more than once a week? Do you have animals?

If you want these things done, that's fine, but you need to specify in your ad, at interview and in your contract.

I would include emptying bin, emptying dishwasher and you wouldn't need to pay more for this. I don't think any of our nannies have hoovered, but I'd ask them to sweep the kitchen if there was a lot of mess (we had a very bad moon sand phase).

I generally expect nannies to do less housework than I would if I were at home.

Hoovering once a week? Can people get away with only hovering once a week? How?

Anyway.. I would say the nanny clears up any mess that's theirs or that of the child during their care. But also some common sense things, like if the bin needs doing, rather than just adding to it, if the dish washer needs doing.

When I was a nanny I swept the kitchen floor, emptied the dishwasher, put a load of everyone's washing into the machine, then drier, ran the hoover over, emptying bins etc. nothing major but just helping out around the house, the children used to help too. I believe if children never see these chores being done, they think the fairies do them, which does them no favours in later life. It's just a normal part of being at home and growing up. My boss's never expected it, but were grateful for the help. Since joining mn I realise I am in the minority though.

Should add, both families had cleaners so it was never major cleaning, but just 'keeping on top of stuff' jobs we were doing.

As long as you communicate your expectations there is no reason that you shouldn't find a nanny willing to do these extras.

I personally am happy to empty the bin, wipe surfaces, sweep the floor, but looking after my charges comes first. My pet hate is not being appreciated for these things, and to come in on a Monday to an overflowing sink of dishes and a full bin.

I've had nannies in the past who have been asked to do very basic household chores when the children are sleeping- i'm not paying them for 2 hours in the middle of the day to do nothing. In the past i've asked nannies to take this time to load laundry into the washer, load the dishwasher and sweep the floor. Doesn't matter whose mess it is- i'm sure a nanny would be pretty annoyed if I said at end of play that she must stay to tidy up her mess if its a bit of muck on the floor and a plate in the sink. It works both ways.

If I had a nanny who refused to empty a bin, or wash the odd dish then I would be annoyed yes and that would be just laziness IMO. But if you expect your nanny to wash the dishes from the 10 course dinner party you had on Saturday night- that isn't on.

I honestly don't think it is unreasonable to ask your Nanny to do the odd chore. Especially if your DC has a nap in the middle of the day.

most nannies are happy to unload the dishwasher, empty bin and clean up after theirselves and child/ren

but again annoying to empty dw every day and arrive on a monday to an over filled bin thats been so stuffed that when finally get the bag out of bin it rips and crap everywhere

"I'm not paying them for 2 hours in the day to do nothing"

as a nanny, I bloody hate this attitude. do you not have lunch breaks or any other kind of breaks in your job? also, the nanny is lot "doing nothing" as they are there to settle the child, be around for emergencies etc. most nannies work 12 hour shifts and the naps on the only aspects that could be considered a break. and even then there's some stuff to do.

as it happens I have never met a Nanny who wouldn't be happy to empty the dishwasher and run a hoover around the main living areas etc. I always do.

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I agree with Objection that I dislike that attitude.

I can stick on a load of washing/drying while the children are about but I prefer to iron or batch cook while the baby is napping. By the time I've cleared up from lunch and sorted out the nappy bag/pushchair/snacks ready for the afternoon outing and then done some cooking or ironing I get about 30 mins to myself.

And yes, if the floor needs sweeping or the bins/dishwasher needs emptying then I'm quite happy to do so. Will also fill the washing machine with bosses clothes to make a full load. I don't think I would be happy to be expected to do these all the time or to have them in my job description though.

I agree with Objection. I never had a nanny but did have part-time help with childcare when my three were all very small. I was paying for someone to be fully responsible for our children when DH and I were not there. I don't consider that "doing nothing". However, I always screened people very carefully and only chose very emotionally mature people with experience so they usually cleaned up after themselves and the kids as a matter of course. You must be able to talk openly and be honest with each other. We always had great people working for us and I was very grateful for how well they cared for our children. If you don't take the piss, chose the right person and pay them properly than they don't take the piss either.

Another agreement with Objection here. I'd imagine most families hope to keep a nanny long term. Clearly communicated expectations, a give and take attitude, and an understanding of each other's jobs goes a long way.

JessMcL I'm so glad I've not met many employers with your attitude.

When my charge sleeps for two hours a day I cook and take a much deserved break. I feel sorry for any nanny you hire, everyone deserves a break and IMO they shouldn't be doing your housework or washing.

Because my boss is so kind and generous about me taking a break when my charge sleeps, I feel more happy and relaxed in my job and to do extra favours for her.

I keep my charge home clean and tidy but I am not and never will be a cleaner!

To answer the original poster....

I happily empty the dishwasher, change the bins and tidy around the kitchen if I see it needs doing. I like my areas to be clean and tidy. I think it's a two way street I help out the parents and they help me out.

Good luck with your new nanny :)

If it helps I also work in an office during the week and take exactly the same attitude their as I do as a Nanny; whilst it is not my job to clean, I will clean up mess when needed and make an effort to keep the place tidy.

Thanks for all the replies. We definitely wouldn't be leaving anything in a mess for the nanny - I was just referring to light 'keeping on top of it' type stuff. Will definitely mention at second interviews.

Btw - we don't have a dishwasher. Does anyone think this could be a deal breaker???

The dishwasher at my current family broke recently. It wasn't a massive deal, and a few mugs/breakfast bowls left in the sink was fine. I didn't mind putting away anything dry on the draining board either.

That said, washing and drying up will be more time consuming and also worth mentioning at interview.

I agree. I wouldn't mind putting away stuff on the draining board.
I wouldn't want to be doing the whole families washing up the next day though

The dishwasher thing, it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me. I would expect last nights dishes to be put away, but wouldn't mind putting away this mornings stuff. It's a bit of give and take I guess. If you leave dishes for nanny, don't be put out if she leaves dishes for you. I would expect to come into a reasonably tidy kitchen so would leave it in the same way.

It depends entirely on the nanny. I know of nannies who think that any kind of errands / shopping / housework is beneath a trained childcare professional (& I probably wouldn't hire them, but my dear friend is thrilled with hers - helps that she's a control freak and therefore wants to prepare all the food to the point of chopping up the children's fruit at 6am before nanny arrives).
In addition to what you list, if the bin is full, the nanny sometimes empties it. Definitely dishwasher and washing machine. Batch cooking is great for the two hours in the morning. Taking the recycling is a big one for us - they don't collect round our way and if it only got taken once a week at the weekend we'd be drowning in cans and plastic and paper. She does it on the way to school run so it's not like a seperate trip (which would rather defeat the purpose of recycling). She'll drop off or collect dry cleaning and library books or a child's birthday present / wrapping paper etc if asked.
plenty of other nannies go further than that, and do the weekly shop for the family but I couldn't be happy with handing that over. I know another nanny who arranges for the family cars to be MOT'd / serviced / valeted, gives the gardener and cleaner instructions, buys all the children's clothes using the family credit card, gets the lawnmower serviced, oversees builders etc etc.
There's a whole spectrum of it, and either extreme is rare I think.

Yes no dishwasher is a deal breaker for me - turned down a job once as didn't have one

Tho were 2 jobs with same ages kids same money same hours etc so chose the dw one :)

Love going food shopping on someone else's credit card and have taken car to garage for service etc

Most nannies are flexible but some parents take advantage or don't appreciate what we do or even worse start to assume we will do everything so we backtrack a bit

It's give and take :)

In a backwards way- the people who have disagreed with me have also agreed with me.

Jess - it's the attitude of "i'm not paying them for 2 hours in the middle of the day to do nothing." that most of us dislike. That attitude suggests that you don't realise what a good nanny will actually do during down time while children nap and that you think she will sit and do nothing unless you detail in her job description specific tasks for her to do. It also sounds like you would be resentful of the nanny sitting down for 30 mins for a coffee/bite of lunch/breather before it's all action again.

It's the difference in a nanny's attitude when you have a lovely easy going employer who trusts you to get on with it, or one who feels the need to leave you a job list to "make sure" you're busy.

A nanny who would normally be happy to empty bins and do a bit extra without expectation, is the same nanny who does only the jobs on the list and resents every last one.

I think it says something about your perception of nannying as a profession.