Not sure if I'm keen on new Nanny!!!

[ziopin]

A new nanny started with us about a month ago, and although she is very good with the children, I must admit I'm not too keen.

She is spending on average £8.00 a day with activities, snacks & ribena drinks! This amounts to £40.00 a week that we fund in her kitty. She is also desperate to get away every night within 2 minutes of getting home. Also she is often late in the mornings (she starts at 8.30, but often doesn't arrive till 8.45)

Our old nanny (who we love dearly) is not happy in her new job, I am just wishing she would come back.

DO you think I should speak with old nanny or try to persevere with new?

HELP!!

What about making up drinks and snacks before leaving house?

Tell her you will take some of her pay away if she continues to be late

Have you expressed anything about her lateness?

No not yet, thought I would on the 3rd late morning.

Good idea about the snacks & drinks, will have to buy some new drinks bottles and made a big fuss of them with the kids

Thanks

Ziopin

not sure wanting to leave at end of day is a prob - do you hang around at work unpaid???

buy in snacks and water/juice - whatever you would normally do when you are with your kids and ask/tell her to use them. re activities - what did they do with their last nanny - can you make some suggestions whihc you would prefer?

seems like its just different ways of doing thingd - and if you loved your old nanny, the transition is bound to be tricky (why did she leave?). but you need to take responsibility for communicating about these issues - if she doesnt know, she cant fix it. unless these are shorthand for you saying you dont like her. which is a whole other thing.

lateness - just draw her attnetion to it, and ask her to be on time and see what happens. pay docking is a poss next step, although its not really the kind of atmosphere/relationship i would want with my childs carer

oke doke

How many children do you have?

If she was only late twice in one month I wouldn't be docking pay. I would ask her to try harder to get there on time though. Why was she late? Things like traffic can be unpredictable if she lives a while away.

provide drinks and find out where she is taking the children- if it's too much tell her.

Fair point about leaving at end of day!!

Children are 4 & 2.

Just thing I need more time to readjust. Our old nanny has become a really great friend of ours, but haven't quite connected with new nanny. Maybe that will come in time!!

Yes sorry every day late is right to take pay off

BUT not twice in a month

I misunderstood OP

yeah agreed- the not docking pay was in response to the waiting for a third time iyswim.

For 2 children £8 a day isn;t bad to keep them busy- ony £4 each per day. If it's too much you'll have to ask her to drop some activities though.

If I am late for work, I stay late at the end of my shift to 'make up' time. So, if the nanny is being late but still leaving on time, then she is being paid for hours she's not working, IYKWIM.

It sounds as if you haven't (yet) really bonded with the new nanny and now that you know there is a possibility that the old nanny might come back, you are looking for reasons to get rid of the new one. Being late twice in the first month doesn't count as "often", especially if she is new and trying to figure out a route, doesn't know where the traffic hot spots might be etc. When you say she bolts out the door when you get home, is she actually leaving before her contracted hours are up or is she just leaving on time. If the latter, then there's not a lot you can do. Sometimes I leave work later than usual but sometimes I have to bolt out the door on the dot of 5.30, regardless of whether my boss likes it on that particular day or not. If you feel you're not getting any kind of hand-over with the children or not getting info on how their day has been, you could perhaps ask her to stay a bit later on one evening a week or maybe you could get home a little earlier?

With regards to the expenditure, unless you have given her an idea of what is acceptable in terms of a weekly kitty, she may think you are quite happy for her to spend money in this way. Maybe this is what her last family expected of her? I think 40 pounds per week is on the high side so you might want to express to her that when possible, snacks and drinks need to be brought from home and also have a chat about what exactly they are doing as activities. My boys get out every day with our nanny but a lot of their activities are free - football, park, playground, library storytime and they also do a lot at home.

So yes, I think you should definitely speak with the new nanny, she'll never know what you expect otherwise!

Expenses
As a nanny I have a tight weekly budget. I doubt my employer will mind me telling you it's £20 per week.
This is to cover ALL activities for 2 pre-school children - similar age to your own. We do quite a lot of activities one way or another - though not all of them cost money! I feel your new nanny needs to learn to budget better and to do activities which don't cost a fortune. For example, indoor play centres may be great for some people, I personally dislike them and can't afford them often - they are a treat. Walking/Running/Climbing in the countryside/park is just as good physical activity and it's free.

Your nanny should not need to be purchasing snacks/drinks while out. With planning she can take snacks/drinks from home. My two tend to have a bottle of water with them much of the time when we are out. Tend not to take snacks, as want them to eat their lunch, though on occasion may pack some nibbles such as fruit, rasins, rice cake, bread sticks, carrot sticks etc. We also do Picnic Lunches when weather is suitable.

Late in the morning
This is BAD if it's happening on a regular basis and needs to be dealt with. If it's just on a couple of occasions then maybe it's traffic related and new nanny needs to get to know route(s) better. When she is late, you need to find out why. Perhaps she has trouble waking up in the morning! Reliability as a nanny I feel is vital. Also, make sure you return at the time you say you will. Lead by example... I'm sure you are already.

Leaving quickly at end of the day...
If you pay up to a certain time, then nanny shouldn't really leave before that time, unless agreed with you.
If you want there to be a handover period, then discuss that with your nanny. Perhaps it may be good to have one evening per week where you get home a bit earlier/she stays a bit later, so you can have a chit-chat over coffee, while the children watch a dvd or something (trouble with handovers, upon a parents return, the children will tend to want their parents full attention).

As you have had a nanny before, try if you can not to compare new nanny with the old one too much, as every nanny will be different and it will take time for you to adjust. I'm sure there are things about the old nanny which you didn't like... though also things you loved - so try to mold the new nanny into the nice bits of old nanny. Not sure about considering old nanny back again - would depend a lot on reasons for why old nanny left in the first place!

The extra £8 a day would worry me too and I'd try and cut on that.

Nannynick is spot on as ever.
I think that £40 a week a day for 2 & 4yrs is way too much.
Plus the kids will think that all entertainment has to be 'bought'.
Would suggest milk or water instead of Ribena for starters.

Lateness-you must discuss it and sort it out quickly.
I would be infuriated if it was a regular thing, plus I'd be late for work myself!
However if you say nothing, she may think you don't mind.If it's a very rare thing, I'd expect an apology, and an offer to say on (but I would never enforce it)
Our lovely nanny arrives 10 mins EARLY every day. As result, I often let her go early, but we don't have a clockwatching relationship. I would say that she is respectful of our time, and I am of hers.