Nanny Employers: Do you trust your nanny?

[Twims]

As a nanny it's nice to read this board and see the employers spin on things. So I have a question - do you trust your nanny obviously the answer should be yes but I just wondered what you're thoughs are on:

money - with your kitty do you trust* that your nanny uses this properly or do you expect a break down so that you can see she isn't eating cream cakes in a cafe every afternoon.

playdates - do you trust* that she is paying attention to the children in her care and not just hanging out with friends whilst the children flood the house, climb on the roof etc.

gossip - do you trust* the she doesn't gossip about you and your family, or say something that hasn't been decided yet etc.

paper work - do you lock up your paper work, lock the computer with passwords - or is she allowed onto the as you trust* that she won't read personal documents.

suitable activities - do you trust* that she plans activities that are suitable for the children ie cooking and painting against queueing up for concert tickets.

Some of these have been mentioned in the past couple of days but this isn't a thread about a thread - just a question

oh and obviously with the children too - do you trust* that she loves/cares for them or do you debate about having a nanny cam

I trust her absolutely - I am entrusting her with the 2 things that are the most precious to me in the world...

We have a relaxed working relationship - we did start out with a kitty (I never asked for receipts) - but gave up on this - and now I just give her money if I need smething/if I know she's taking the children out for lunch /tea...

I am relaxed on the holidays front (contract was 4 weeks - she gets at least 5 in reality) and I trust her not to abuse my good nature In return she works hard, is rarely off sick and is happy to be flexible with her hours.

christ, if i didnt trust her, i'd have to be mad to leave my ds in her care surely? we do have a kitty, she does keep receipts for me but i have never once looked at them (she knows that but carries on religiously keeping receipts). of course i supervise her to do playdates properly. i trust her not to gossip - i cant know this, but i do know she never gossips about her past employers, some of whom were quite interesting by all accounts, so i'm pretty confident about that. dont lock up my paperwork - she doesnt have access to our computer but that's becuase i cant see why she would need to and anyway with ds on the go she wouldnt get the chance. she does keep a diary but i dont think of that as checking up, more as a chance for us to swap information that keeps things running smoothly - ie if i know what she gave ds for lunch i won't unwittingly give him the same thing again for tea; if he was up in the night i can leave her a note so she knows he might be tired.
without trust in this relationship, you would go mad as a parent and im sure it would feel pretty lousy for the nanny.

if you dont trust your nanny = no matter what it is over, then she is not the right one for your family

I trust my nanny completely on all of those things. She does do things like get her hair cut or go to the gym on my time, but I don't mind and she knows that. happy nanny = happy mummy

I trust my nanny completely (and my au pair).

some of this is a bit tricky - my nanny hasn't started yet so I think I'd need to take some time to get to know her before I trusted her with all of this (eg just topping up kitty without looking at receipts - I can see how you woudl get to this position with some nannies). but the activities, gossip etc are something that is part of her contract and I hired on basis she would know what she is doing and i could trust her.

*money - yes. I don't ask for receipts. She does tell me if she spends a large amount e.g. petrol, craft stuff, but it's taken as read that I don't mind if she buys a coffee or a bus ticket
*playdates - I know she pays attention. I've had people comment to me on how engaged she is with the children when she's socialising with other people
*gossip - I've never really thought about it. I'm sure she talks about us. As long as it's not rude or libellous, I'm not sure I really mind that.
*paper work - nothing is locked away. I wouldn't leave bank statements and so on around, but not particularly because I think she will pry but just because I'm not in the habit of doing so. And she could access anything on our computer - no passwords there.

• suitable activities - unless she is engaged in a massive cover up involving faked photos and scrapbooks, I know she's doing suitable activities. Though I have absolutely no objections to her taking the dcs to the doctor with her if she needs to go, or visiting her parents or anything like that
• do I trust her? - absolutely. The dcs adore her, and I am completely confident that she will make the right decisions about looking after them. Everything I have seen her do in the last 12 months backs up that decision.

Absolutely, on all those counts.

very true athene

happy nanny=happy children=happy mummy

As said before-if you don't trust them with the minutiae of life-why would you trust them with your DC??

Trusted mine completely,totally and utterly-my Au Pair however . I really miss my nannies....

im pretty certain my bosses trust me

if you dont trust your nanny not to eat a cream cake everyday then how can you trust her with your children?

and if she did have a cake every day would ir really matter?

have the passwords for computers etc as i wouldnt dream of looking at their stuff and in the past have been asked to locate important documents from their files where they keep their important documents etc

would never ever look otherwise though

(and when the builders were in the important stuff was locked in the safe!)

agree if u dont trust your nanny then dont let her look after your children!