Anyone use an after-school nanny while working from home?

[Gameboy]

DH & I both work from home in an annex part of the house, and since DS2 started school last Sept we've been juggling the after school care.

We've come to the conclusion that it's not really working - neither of us REALLY wants to do it. I think we both really would prefer and need to invest the time into our businesses. The rationale is then that we wouldn't need to 'catch up' in evenings/ weekends, and we could have more undivided time with the kids then.

However it sort of feels a bit strange to imagine a nanny/ carer around if we were still elsewhere in the house? WOuld she be able to keep the kids occupied and away from interrupting us?

Does anyone else do this - work from/at home, yet have a nanny?

I've been an after-school nanny, with a parent working from home. It was not ideal, but did work out in the end. It took quite some time to get the children used to me being the one in charge, and Dad (in this case) being in charge once they had officially finished work. If dad made an appearance to say make some coffee - the children would try to get his attention, but with everyone being consistent, the children did grasp the concept that Dad was working and was not to be disturbed and that I was in charge, not anyone else.

If your office is within the house, then make sure the door can be locked from the inside - so that once you are in your office, the children can't get to you.

You will be disturbed - that is reality. You can not expect your child to be as quiet as a mouse because you are working... when children get home from school, some will chill out - others will rampage. Sound travels, so unless your office is fully soundproof, expect to hear noise.

It only really worked in my case due to the children having a hectic schedule of ballet / dance / drama classes - thus we were often out of the house. The less time the children were in the house at the same time as dad was working, the better. You may want to try to do the same sort of thing, especially if your house has thin walls!

If your annex can be completely sealed off from the rest of the house - by locking doors and perhaps soundproofing a wall, then it could work. If you can hear very little of what happens in the main part of the house, then it should work out. The noise element is the issue - once that is solved (or if it isn't an issue at all), then by locking doors and being consistent with your children, you can soon get them to understand that when in the Annex you are working and nanny is in charge.

I up until quite recently did this every day after school 3-6pm. The Dad in this case worked actually in the living room and it worked really well from the Dads point of view. From my point,i did find it difficult sometimes as i felt the space was never our own.
The family were very laid back New Zealanders and the Dad seemed to work through the noise somehow!
I also took my little one along who was 8mths at the start and it worked really well, until by 10mths he was running everywhere! So by the time he was 14mths i found it too much with my little one and registered to childmind and took the boys with me! It was fine until they left as the boys wanted to be at home more (they were aged 5+11), so they found a lovely new nanny as i didn't want to go back, as it was only time before my little man had a nasty accident...
Lovely family and gorgeous children!
Sorry lost the plot there slightly!
Main point is it can work out!

Thanks for these replies. The annex is pretty separate and sound-proof to some extent, so that wouldn't be the main problem.

How does it work out pay-wise for an after school nanny? DO you just get paid for the 3 hours per day, or what?

Pay is between you and your nanny. It may be quite hard to find a nanny who is prepared to only work a few hours per day. Therefore the cost may be quite high.

Nannies are usually paid an annual salary, rather than an hourly wage. You may want to break down the cost so that it is described as being a weekly amount, daily or hourly amount, however I feel you really need to agree an annual salary which is for a specific number of hours worked. As the position is for a daily nanny, you will need to pay at least National Minimum Wage and if it is for 5 days per week, then I would anticipate that you will need to register as an employer as you would be paying above the threshold amount. You will need to factor in Employers NI payments into your total cost calculation.