aupair vs nanny vs what?

[puddle]

I am about to go back to work and have a bit of a childcare dilemma

I will be working full time, in the office four days to start and then down to three days with the other days worked from home.

I will need someone to drop the children at school in the mornings when I am in the office and then pick up and have them for probably an hour at the most (dp will get home 4.20 ish)

I have looked at after school clubs but they charge a flat rate (ie until 6.00pm rather han hourly) and it seems as though the kids will just be getting into the swing of being there when they will be whisked home.

Childminders are hard to find here - we have used them before and the kids not keen.

I wondered whether there is a half way house between the two - an au pair would be ideal but am I right in thinking they have to live in? What would be ideal is someone who can come to our house at 8.00 in the am and then take the kids to school, then can pick up and bring them home/ to the park and wait until dp gets home at 4.20.

Has anyone had a person who would do that and what sort of person were they?!

There are AP's who live out Puddle..but it really depends where you are If you are in London then this is much easier than anywhere else in the country. Why don't you put an ad on gumtree and see what's offered?

For live-out aupairs, you need to pay them more than the hourly cleaning or waitressing rate in your area, otherwise you might lose them to those jobs.

Do you know any mothers at your dc's school you can have an arrangement with? eg either an arrangement with payment built in or informal arrangement, like they do the drop offs/pick ups but you babysit their dc on weekday afternoons that you don't work or weekends.

Blueshoes I don't really want to get into reciprocal stuff. Mainly because when I am not at work I want the kids to be able to do what they want - chill out, have friends back, do something with me. And I want to spend time with them, not other children.

Thanks Ingles have had a look on GT and am thinking about an ad.

Fair enough. I don't like reciprocal arrangements either.

Other popular websites to look for aupairs, live in and live out, are www.aupair-world.net and www.greatauapir.com.

You can specify live-out in your ad. But be sure to check references - I would assume you have a greater chance to be able to do that as your candidate is more likely to already be in UK (as opposed to a live-in candidate which is likely to still be outside the UK).

what about looking at the local colleges for childcare students? not sure if timings would work or not

Gumtree. You are after a mum of a toddler who wants to make a bit of money by doing a school run but who doesn't want the whole childminder kerfuffle.

I was just going to suggest the same as you Ladymuck.
Its ideal for a Mum with a toddler. I was a nanny for 10yrs, i now childmind but did this in between (taking my son with me) and loved every minute of it....Only reason i changed to childminding was the family were moving back to NZ.

netmums.com has local areas - each area has a childcare board so you could post on there?