If you have a nanny housekeeper, what housekeeping does she do?

[dancingwitch]

I am considering re-jigging our childcare arrangements as our existing wrap around care isn't really working. Part time wrap around nannies seem like hen's teeth (understandably IMO) so I thought of getting a nanny housekeeper instead. But there are 15 hours a week to fill with housekeeping (this already allows an hour lunch and a leisurely walk to & from school).
I was thinking 30 mins to "get straight" (clear breakfast dishes, quick tidy of DC's bedrooms) each morning, six hours cleaning (how long our current cleaner comes for), 2 hours ironing (current cleaner already does DP'S work shirts & bedding in the 6 hours so 2 hours should be more than enough)... but that leaves at least 5 hours to fill.
I keep thinking "it would be nice for her to sit down & have cup of tea" but then remember I would be employing her to do a job & my employer certainly doesn't pay for me to sit down & have a cup of tea! !

If you have someone in your house all day I think a few cups of tea are allowed!

15 hours of housekeeping isn't that much. Are you including stuff like keeping on top of internet shopping?

I fully expect my nanny/housekeeper to have cups of tea!
Just like I do when I'm at home all day and do childcare and housework…

Mine is brilliant and my house is far more clean and tidy when she's been in than when I've been left to my own devices

I have never broken it down in hours like that hough. She has 2.5 hrs 4x/wk during which she has not children at home and in that time she hoovers, dusts, does laundry and tidies as she goes along.
We have an informal rota wrt changing beds/washing towels etc.
She does not do windows (we have a window cleaner separately).

It works brilliantly well and we all love her - I think the right person is more important than that you fill every minute of every days tbh.

So that leaves about 1 hour a day? For stuff like shopping or doing/receiving unpacking the Internet shop, running errands (dry cleaners, post office, buying party presents/cards, organising your children's parties, checking clothes still right fit for children and getting new if needed) sure there are other child/home related jobs you can come up with.

Food shopping, cook a family meal, change bedding, do a big job on rotation (fridge, kitchen cupboards, under sofas etc) run errands.

Laundry and putting away - the laundry can be done alongside cleaning but allow time for filling the washing machine etc. I would allow more time for ironing. I reckon I spend five hours at least on laundry a week. Putting away Internet grocery shopping etc takes 30 mins. Can you ask him/her to change all the sheets etc in the house? Prepare dinner for everyone?

If I had a nanny housekeeper, I would contact all the people I don't like leaving a message them for them to call me at noon, and then have the nanny/ housekeeper answer the phone, 'I'm sorry, lazybones is out right now, I'm the nanny/housekeeper, can I take a message?'...

I reckon that would take about an hour a day...

Sorry, this is the wrong topic to be childish. I'm very envious. A nanny housekeeper sounds awesome!

*lazybones, no, I don't disagree with you: my lovely nanny/housekeeper spends at least 3x20min talking to my mother on the phone - my mother lurves her even though she has never met her . And I am v grateful and do not mind paying for that time; money well spent IMO. I love my mother but being on the phone with her is hard work...

Depending how many children you have, laundry can be an endless task.

Sewing badges on uniforms, sorting out plumber/electrician visits and anything else to do with home maintenance.

Shopping for anything the family needs. You may do a weekly online shop but there are often bits needed during the week, especially as children get older and start needing things for school last minute.

I've not got a cleaner / house keeper etc but I'd go with all the stuff I never get round to - reorganise drawers / pull out furniture and clean behind it / take down and wash curtains etc

Meal plan / shop / batch cook

Will he / she do some basic gardening? Windows? After school clubs? Play dates?

The nanny/housekeeping positions I've had have never involved deep/heavy cleaning.
Dusting/vacuuming/ cleaning bathroom (so long as you tidy up your own mess in the toilet bowl) is fine. Ironing/changing sheets/laundry fine. Food shopping/family meals/running errands fine. I wouldn't be doing windows/washing curtains/cleaning out the fridge etc.
Please remember that in holidays/sick days etc your children will be there full time. Decide in advance if you want the children entertained/played with or normal housekeeping done.

Its also worth noting that not all nannies will do all housekeeping jobs. Best be honest with what you expect from the beginning.
I loathe ironing. Won't do it unless its very light (kids school shirts )
No problem with anything else though. Many won't clean bathrooms.

Personally I would still get the cleaner to come for x3 hours a week to do the heavy cleaning.

A nanny/ housekeeper generally doesn't do the main cleaning. Ie they will run Hoover around/ keep kitchen sides clean and dishwasher emptied etc, but really you need someone else to scrub the shower/ deep clean the cooker etc

Bare in mind the whole schedule will be different if children off sick or during holidays. So during 6 weeks holidays she will prob be able to keep up with laundry and basic day to day stuff, but otherwise surely you will want her taking children to the woods and swimming

The day to day errands out of the house like buying party gift, dry cleaning, buying school stuff, sewing name tags, post office, etc will prob easily use up those extra hours

Housekeepers don't generally do a 'big' clean ime. You might want to keep the cleaner on for a couple of hours a week.

A nanny/housekeeper would normally do;

tidying and light cleaning
all laundry (including any sewing)
change beds
family cooking (batch cooking/having a family meal ready/getting everyone's packed lunches ready for the next day)
shopping (both big shop and top-up shop)
errands (walk the dog/go to the post office/collect dry cleaning etc.)
household management (organise a window cleaner/plumber/electrician and stay in for them/deal with them when the get there)
deal with the children's social diary (buy birthday presents/sort afterschool clubs/playdates, make sure they have the right equipment for school)
keep the children's clothes/toys tidy and be responsible for sorting through things that have been grown out of.

Rather than trying to fill every minute of the day, you'd be better off thinking about what you need done and how much you can/should pay for those tasks to be done. You may get a really efficient housekeeper who ends up with spare time, but does it matter? If the jobs are being done for what you consider a reasonable price, it doesn't matter how much tea she is drinking. It's also a good idea to allow for any emergency/unusual jobs that might crop up.

Cooking and garden maintenance - plus seasonal stuff like effing present wrapping would spring to mind.

Think it depends what you want done and what you say at interviews

The nanny/hk who took over from me does everything. When I was there we had a cleaner who also ironed. Now nanny/hk does it all

So yes she hooves dusts cleans the house including kitchen and bathrooms - agree scrub your own skid marks!!!!

Think heavy duty stuff like curtain cleansing is too much but fine to wash windows inside

You don't need to plan every hour for her and agree what happens when holiday or baker day or sick child - she won't be able to do it all

I'm a nanny whose charges are at school all day and prepare meals during the day. I love cooking and have everything for tea ready for the mad rush after school, I bake a cake or a dessert on a Friday for the weekend.

Sorting out the recycling could be a job under the housekeeping role.

I have spare time in the day when my charges are at school but this term I've had to goto school twice to pick up poorly children and also then had them off school ill. As my bosses don't have jobs where they can't leave work to pick up ill children they are paying for me to sit and drink tea and be available for if that happens.

All of these responses have really given me food for thought, both in terms of what they may do & what they may not do and getting the perspective of those who have done the job and those who have employed them. I won't be starting the hunt until the new year so the Christmas holidays will no doubt be a useful chance to see what sort of things I could delegate and then I will have to be very clear in the ad and the interviews what I am looking for.

I'm a Nanny housekeeper. Slightly different job as I have a toddler with me through the day so my focus is mainly on kid related things, but I do a lot of laundry, ironing, cleaning the fireplace and setting it, hoovering the rooms used most, steaming the kitchen floor and changing round guest rooms.
I also run errands, wait in for parcels, cook meals, sort out toys in the garden, water plants in the summer, go fruit picking with charges, walk the dog, feed the cats and they join us on walks too!
I also do big organising days of kids rooms/spaces and playroom, one of my charges in particular is very "creative", so her room and study need full reorganising about once a month and that can take all day of its been left for a while. Her brothers room is much easier but will still take me a good few hours to clean top to bottom. Toddlers room takes a while to tidy too if I'm going behind furniture.

I take regular "breaks" with my charge and tbh, I need them. She has a drink and I have a tea or coffee and we sit quietly for five /ten minutes. Probably do this a couple of times in the morning and then once in the afternoon though more if the fire is on and is cold outside! :)

Pixie I would expect a nanny with a toddler to do at least that. If someone doesn't have the DC at home with them though and i have already allowed them an hour of doing nothing each day, then I would want them to be doing things for most of the rest of the time.

There seems some snobbery around cleaning from some. What is wrong with cleaning the windows and why is it deemed beneath some compared to emptying the dishwasher or a soiled piece of kids clothing? Do these people not clean their own oven?

Dancing - really? I would expect a nanny with toddler to spend the day in woods, swimming, reading, baking. Not doing constant chores

Dancing: I'd have mini breaks even without the toddler though, my boss is perfectly happy for me to have ten minutes to sit quietly.

Art: its not constant chores thankfully! A lot of it is things that we do as part of our normal routine, like going outside in the mornings we get a lot done between playing :)the more strenuous tasks are usually done whilst she has her long naps. Not sure what will happen when she drops her naps though!

I don't mind the odd cup of tea here & there but don't want to employ someone to be in the house all day if they are going to be sat around for much of the time. I think my problem is that, if we employ a nanny housekeeper, I will be making very little profit from my job once nanny salary, taxes, incidentals (food, heat etc), my commute costs etc, so, if someone is going to sit around and drink tea in my house, it may be worth throwing in my job and doing it myself.

Pixie - it has been niggling me all day that I singled you out earlier and was probably a bit aggressive. Sorry. I meant to address the point you and others had raised about taking a break.

Art - my nanny isn't going to have a toddler. She will have two school aged children and therefore six hours a day without any charges. During that time, I don't really want to be paying her to go swimming or reading!

Nanny's free time in term time is your insurance policy. You're paying for that.

My nanny/housekeeper is not sat in my house drinking tea all day. She is riding her horse and walking her dog. Her pay reflects the light duties in term time - if I had toddlers I would need to pay her more.

(though I am slightly distressed that I pay her enough to own a horse. I understand they are not cheap to run)