Nannies - What Extra Duties Do You Do?

[nannynick]

What do you do beyond the call of duty?

For example... sorting out the plumbing (be it plumbing in a washing machine, fixing a leak, to unblocking the drains).

High Nick
cleaning out sewers
removing dead or live mice from home
sorting out maintanance(sp) for home appliances from beginning to end.
preparing their evening meal.
getting stuff from loft
clearing out all cupboards in home excluding his underware drawer.
shampooing carpets .Strange but I like doing this one .
None of it asked for just like to give value for money. LOL

blimey paros they are really lucky to have you

I used to do all sorts (15 years ago) and not because i was asked, it was because the baby slept all day and night and i was slightly bored
I washed cars, skimmed the pool, walked the dogs, payed bills.
It was more for my sanity than theres though

removing wasps from spare room (roughly 30 at a time ) while waiting for the pest control guy to come .

I keep telling my mum boss that I am her wife LOL .

removing dead or live mice from home

Oh that reminds me... I've done - exterminating rats (or trying to), and catching escaped chickens.

Shoshe - my current employers are both teachers, so only need me term-time.

Paros - where in surrey are you... I'm over to the West, near Woking.

Good lord. I wouldn't expect my nanny to do anything other than look after DD.

She's only part time with us now, as DD is off to school next week, but she has other parents who expect her to dump the babies/toddlers in their cots so she can do housework/bake anniversary cakes/get coffee for them etc. I'm always at this - she's not a PA/housekeeper/butler.

Hersham near Walton on Thames .

Power washing patio . Didnt realise how hard it would be untill I started and then I had to finish the bloomin job I started . LOL

hijack . nick why are you on mn so early on a sunday morning .

I'm usually caring for a child with autism around this time in the morning... thus my internal body-clock automatically makes me wake up early!

I've been through Hersham, did night-nannying once in Walton-on-Thames. Fancy meeting up sometime?

Oh just wondered why . Im always up early .I have to be up 630 on a week day to leave at 7 30 to take my DS to school and then start work .So weekends my DS dosnt lie in GRRRRRRR so I get up as its not fair on him if hes used to getting up so early on a week day .

Yeah ok to a meet up . why not, could be nice to meet up with a male nanny get a different perspective on things .

Sent you an eamil on your work address .

I have helped them move house/ pack and unpack etc

When the decorator was getting behind in the holiday house i spent an entire evening stripping wallpaper.... and another entire eveing in the shower removing the grout from over all the tiles of the mosaic sized tiles... took for ever

Take Dogs to vets / Doggy Hair-dressers
Dog sit when they are away
Feed dogs etc

sort out probs for builders

Drive tractor / Quad bike around their holiday farm

As a competetant yachts person have helped DB sailing his yacht... doing fenders, tying up the boat, taking the helm, winches etc.

Sort out the chickens, let them in / out / feed them and chase away foxes.

Im sure there are laods more things i have during the past 8 years that arnt conventional nanny duites.

Have youngest child live with me 4 nights a week when house got flooded . Do their washing at mine when said house got flooded . Its all coming back to me now . LOL

I do lots too, 99% of it is great fun so I don't mind at all! Many things are random but the most consistent things I do are:

-menu plan, write grocery list, cook family meals including at least one main meal for them to have at the weekend

• research all manner of things from holidays to strollers to preschools to effective ways to toilet train/get toddlers to eat veg, etc! Implement or recommend stuff based on my findings.

-have started thinking about a home school curriculum as my charges are v clever and love art/music/cooking etc so I'd like to foster that enthuseasm while it's there and start doing projects with them (plus the parents are v academic-minded and although I hate too-early academia as such, I do think a structured activity once or twice a day will be good for them)

-feeding and grooming and loving the cats (LOL that's therapy for me)

• keeping toddler twins from biting/hitting/throwing toys at each other when we are housebound cos of snow and/or -30 windchill

Plus I am at college too, as well as working FT. So I have relaised that I won't be sleeping til some time in 2012.

I love my life

This is unbelievable. Do you guys MIND all this? And how do the parents ask - are they at all abashed/tenative?!

It's not that i'm thinking of taking this up. My husband and I were embarrassed to ask our nanny to go and collect a package for us from the post office, but were forced to because otherwise it might have gotten sent back to Asia as we'd been travelling and couldn't wait to the weekend. This is the extent to which DNs have had to do something outside DD duties.

I'm not saying I'm a saint (not infrequently 20 min late at night) though. But this stuff is just an eye opener.

In my case they didn't ask... they just didn't sort it out themselves... and eventually I got fed up of asking, so I did it myself.

To what extent to do you think more experienced nannies are 'pricing in' this type of stuff to their rates - say, based on experience, that loads of parents out tehre seem to expect it even without expliciting stating it?

Don't think anyone does 'price it in'.

They never ask they just say thank you . The way I look at is ,shes a working woman and so am I so any help I can give I am happy to do it. Why should the washing machine be empty and her have to do it at the weekend seems crazy to me . Besides its a pain in the bum to seperate washing . The post office parcel thing is fine ,and shopping for presents and food . Some ones got to do it . I am 42. I have my own DS (8) and Dh so I run my own home ,I think I just think in a different way than the younger nannies, No direspect intended.