if anyone remembers anything about my live in job...

[missiesparkles]

... its going really good so far

did 3 x weeks of part time before this week my first full time week.

me and the little girl are getting on great and we've had some fun trips out (science museum, greenwich park) and we've done a bit of baking too (easter banana loaf and the tiniest rice crispie choc cakes you ever did see!!)... and also a fun filled trip to staples for craty type things... whilst those things may sound expensive, I'll have you know I'm a very resourceful nanny and my expenses so far have only topped the dizzy heights of £17 in 4 weeks LOL

the housekeeping side of things was initially a shock to my system but they seem pretty pleased with my efforts and I've felt jolly good about myself having done it.

I'm also getting on really really well with the parents, we have a chat in the morning and various chats throughout the day and I feel they are very approchable... the dad also offered and made me a cup of tea the other day whilst he was off work and I was cleaning.

so thats my round up!!

glad all is going well and well done for being a resourceful nanny

oooh I'm envious of your resourcefulness Mine spent £70 in the last two days...

dear god

on what?

Mine spent £56 in one day but thats another thread!!!

jeez, what on earth do some nannies spend this money on?!! I have always in all my years as a nanny taken a packed lunch for days out, found any 241/cheaper deals etc for any bigger days out and I as for arts and crafts, staples is pretty good and has budget range. but then I'm quite a shrewd shopper anyway and can do my 2 week shopping for 2 people for about £25...

big days out like trip to london zoo, thorpe park etc can be costly, esp if youhave to pay for children, if not under 3/4yrs old

i normally go in summer, get bogof vouchers from woolwoths/tesco milk do vouchers,but do take a packed lunch etc to keep costs down

then next week have a cheap day out, picnic at park, go to beach (free)

Congrats! Things are going well for both of us - I remember we were both out of work at the same time. Glad to hear they're all nice. My new MB and DB are both lovely - I feel appreciated for the first time!

Oooh yes I was told the last nanny spent at least £20 on days out - I always take packed lunch and we have been to the British Museum and Coram's fields, The Science Museum, Kew (they are a member so it's free) in the last couple of weeks. I can't have spent more than £20 and most of that on travel!

Anyone got any good ideas for days out? I totally recommend Coram's Fields, it's a play area near Great Ormond Street with animals (sheep, goats, chickens) that are sometimes let to roam on the grass, play areas for various ages right up to teens I'd say - huge snake slides and a zip line / flyinf fox / death slide (you know what I mean) as well as a sandpit, cafe and I believe fountains in the summer.

Schoolies will like the Mummies and perhaps the Roman Mosiacs in the museum. Plus there's a Carluccio's in the new (vastly improved) Brunswick Centre should you "forget" to pack lunch!

cafes, restaurants, toys, play centres, grocery... i don't think she's interested in saving money. never occurred to me to ask at the interview whether she wanted to save my money or consider her job to be a big spending spree. yessss I know I have a problem.going back to op, I think it's great that you care about expenses

regmoney - think you need to sit down with your nanny and give her a kitty for the month and up to her how she spends it - if she spends it all in a week, then tough, children do enjoy trips out, but a day at the science museem(free) or friends round for play/picnic , playing at home, doing crafts etc are also fun

most nannies I know will always look on internet for free vouchers/get 50% off etc when we go to a farm/zoo etc

Glad you are enjoying new job, family sound nice, and great things are working out.

gosh, that corams fields place sounds amazing! I can't believe I've never heard of it before nice one niftynanny - am also glad we are now gainfully employed, I like to think everything happens for a reason and if it all pans out nicely in the end then its all good ... where abouts are you based? I throughly recommend greenwich park or if you are taking them anywhere central/SW next week, let me know and we could have a nanny meet up! the little girl I look after is 2.5 but she seems under the impression she's about 10 years old LOL

regardingmoney - I totally echo imanannys words, you need to nip it in the bud now or you will find it hard to deal with once her money spending has gone on for a while! a little 'expensive' day out is a nice treat once a month maybe (in my last job, we'd go to the museums every week but as a special treat once a month we'd have lunch at giraffe before we went - and even then I'd palm the 10 month old off with food from home LOL) but there are SO many free/cheap things to do in london and how hard is it to make a packed lunch? Evn if she does something different like cooking and chilling pasta and turning it into a nice pasta salad or oat crusted chicken keeps really well as a cold food etc etc... POINT HER IN MY DIRECTION, I'll sort her out!

Oat crusted chicken sounds good! How do you make that? Just egg, then dip in oats, and fry? bake?

yup, pretty simple! asda do a 6 pack of skinless halal chicken thighs for £1.88 so I always use thighs and it works quite well...but I whizz the rolled oats in a food processor and add some fresh rosemary then I bake it for about 40 mins on gas mark 6

tastes yummy out of the oven and tastes nice straight out of the oven too

when I'm not making it as a kiddie recipe, I add some course ground pepper, chicken seasoning and bbq seasoning and it tastes a bit like soutthern fried chicken but a bit healthier!

obviously, straight out of the fridge was the other bit... d'oh

Thanks for that - will try it next week! It sounds a lot healthier than my chicken nuggets (egg, flour with chicken seasoning and pepper, then deep fried ), although they are a very nice treat!

well anythings got to be healthier than actual fast food bought nuggets/fried chicken lol. and a little treat now and again never hurt anyone did it?

if it helps, I put one mug of porridge oats in the blender, 2 tbs each of chicken/bbq seasoning and course ground black pepper

my boyfriend and his flatmate go mental for it!