We have not had much luck of late in retaining nannies having gone through about 3 in last 18 months or so.
We have now had a discussion with our nanny/housekeeper in which it has been agreed that she will start working notice and before advertising for her replacement i wanted to get some soundings from MN on what might be going wrong or what we may need to add or drop from our list of exepctatoins/requirements.
This is what we need and why:
1 Cover from 7.00am to 8.00pm 5 days per week. The reason for the long hours is that I leave the house at 7.30am and dh slightly earlier. Our nanny has to therefore get the children ready for school and take them.
Long hours at the other end as after school I am ferrying the children to various activities and tutors ( some have special needs etc) and by the time I am home to stay it is 8.00pm ( some of the children are older).
2 Evening babysitting about 3 times per week including one weekend night. We are very flexible on this and for the last few montsh have foregone this completely as our current nanny goes "home " on weekends even though she is "live in " ( we did not know she had another home when interviewing her but that is another story!).
3 Cleaning during the day done. Our dcs are all at school during the day between 9.00am and 4.30pm ( I do school pick up so no-one at home barring child being ill between these hours). Therefore , despite the long working hours the vast majoirty of these are childfree hours spent doing 3 hours cleaning and otherwise free. We do not advertise them as "free hours" as they are technically not in case child is ill or repair man /gas man etc coming but nanny knows that provided 3 hours cleaning is done ( this is how much we have worked out we need per day to keep the house clean and tidyish ) she is free to relax /watch TV etc as she wishes.
4 Playing with the children/ very friendly and poistive attitude. Part of the reason we are letting our current nanny go is that she is unable to interact wit the childrne at all and prefers just to sweep around them but will not, unless literally forced by me , colour wiht them or play board games.
5 A basic ability to supervise homework. Basic is key word here and I would really only expect/like help with homework for 5 yr old and 7 yr old which any competent nanny should be able to manage ( basic reading and maths skills). Again, its something I've forgeone wiht current nanny who is simply unable to do this.
We have 5 children aged between 3 and 12 yrs. We are a fairly messy and disoragnised household. I find organisation quite hard and am forever running around at the last minute. Kids are also v messy and as a result we all as a family spend most of weekend tidying and clenaing - we seem to sweep the floor about twice a day alone!
Kids do a lot of housework. For e.g. one washes and one dries dishes aft4er supper and one lays table and one sweeps floor. All ( apart from 3 yr old ) put away their own washing . So trying to bring them up to be largely responsible for the house and the mess/play that they need to clear up .
Children are not cheeky to nanny and are always polite an dfriendly so no issues there.
Is this acheiveable - to have a nanny who is great with the kids and can keep them entertained on school hols and after school ( games and colouring - not looking for clown type entertainment!) but who can also keep house clean tidy and organised during school time or am I asking for too much?
Any tips on how to phrase adverst so as to acheive this would be greatly appreciated.
Oh and we pay £350 per week after tax live in and we live in an outer london suburb.
Thanks