Can I find a teatime nanny?

[Easy]

Following my other thread, about ds fighting with Childminders dd, I'm seriously thinking about a different approach.

AM I mad? I want someone who can pick ds up from school and bring him home, give him tea and loving care for a couple of hours 3 or 4 days a week, and maybe help out 2-3 days per week in school holidays, taking him out, having friends round to play, that sort of thing..

I work from home, and am developing a small business IT support operation. So I can be flexible, but need some childcare.

Do you think it's impossible? Where do I look?

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I have an after-school nanny to do this. She picks DS up from school at 3.40pm and looks after him (including giving him tea) until I get home at 6pm. She is a post-graduate student, which means she can cover for school holidays as well. It works well for us. I found her through the website www.thegumtree.com.

Yes, a surrogate granny is just what I need. My mum would do it, but she lives 130 miles away!!

That sounds great, thats what we had when i was little. Like another granny. she used to pick us up, bring us home, do a bit of ironing for mum and tidy up. make us tea, get us bathed then mum came home about 7 and put us to bed. she was lovely. stayed for years. not a nanny though , no qualifications.

I used the term Nanny just as "someone to care for ds at home". I don't expect qualifications (altho' having had her own kids would be nice).

BTW, CM, with whom I am having probs, is a qualified NNEB!

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yeah quals are a waste of space. none of us have them and we're grrrrrrrrrrrrreat

yeah quals are a waste of space. none of us have them and we're grrrrrrrrrrrrreat

The proper name for this is "after school care" -- pretty much what you'd need if you were working outside the home. Try Simply Childcare .

I had something like this for a while, so that I could take my oldest child swimming without having to drag two exhausted and tearful younger ones with me (they couldn't go swimming themselves as the pool was being used for lessons). It is a job for an experienced carer, though, rather than an aupair or teenage babysitter, as the kids are at their grumpy worst after school. The person we used was the mother of a friend's nanny -- no qualifications, but plenty of experience and five grown-up kids of her own.

She now looks after my youngest three mornings a week, taking her to toddler groups etc. Like you I work from home.

Frogs, do they cover Nottingham?

Ah, no, I don't think they do. Being London-centric here.

But there must be a similar demand outside London, so you'd think there must be a way of tapping into it. Ad in the paper? Local childcare listings? Ad in GP's surgery? Local nursery training college?

A retired person is definitely a good bet, as it's a nice additional earner without the stress of a full-time job. And they're unlikely to go swanning off round the world.

Someone did this for us when me and sister were little after our Mum had died and Dad had to continue working. The lady that did it was a teaching assistant at a local primary school and being still single herself was looking for a bit of extra cash a week.

She used to pick us up from school, bring us home, give us tea and then stayed until Dad got home at 6:00pm. She was great and with us for a couple of years before Dad remarried.

When i was doing my NNEB traning 12 years ago i used to have 2 "after school" jobs looking after pre-school age children doing their tea, bath and bed.
You could try contacting the local college as this was how i got the job. It was good experience and useful on my cv.

This is something that I am interested too. I am convinced there must be quite a few older women out there who would like to get more involved outdie their own homes. I plan on exploring this later this year when we return to the UK. Have you thought about advertising in local church newsletters, local libraries and what about the womens institute?? Theses are my own ideas about how to find the same sort of person but I will watch this thread with interest going forward!!

Im a nanny and it would NOT be impossible for you to find someone to do afterschools and a few extra days in the hols.

The agencies seem to get 'these' jobs regularly, (tho i personally dont evene consider anything less than full time mon - fri, or at least full time pay so i am then on stand by while kids are at school for illness etc!)

Go to afew local agencies and ask them! Given you seem to willing to have a 'person' with their own kids then you will probably find it Even easier to get the type of person you are looking for!

As for those who think qualifications arnt worth anything.... would you rather a qualified plumber fixed your washing machine, or just Jo Bloggs? Would you rather a mechanic fixed your car...

In the same way there ARE 'bad' nannies who are qualified, there are bad mechanics / plumbers / teachers etc.
AND there are some unqualified people who will be able to fix a washing machine... your car etc...

What you choose to use is up to you, but the vast majority of the time the QUALIFIED person will be better!

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Ahem!!

I think what you want is after school care from a childminder, or do you want someone to come to your own home?

I've done after school (I'm a c/mder) and one of the mums told me she advertised for a "granny" type but no one was interested. I guess it depends on your luck..Maybe if you offered a few hours cleaning/ cooking BEFORE she had the kids it might make the job more financially viable for someone? Good luck and FLUM your "granny" sounded lively, I could do with one myself!!(wink)

NannyL

I don't think qualifications are worthless, I just don't think I need a qualified nanny to give a 5 year-old his tea and keep him safe for 2 hours a day. After all the vast amount of parents don't have any qualifications in childcare, but we seem to manage without maiming our children.

Also, when I said I'd like someone who had her own kids, I'm rather thinking of someone whose kids are now grown-up, not opening up my house for her to bring her kids here. I rather think ds would do better with 1 to 1 care after school.

And SSD, I don't really want a childminder. We are doing that now, and I don't think it is really ideal for ds, altho' my judgement is coloured by the fact that my CM is very inflexible, and my son is being bullied by her daughter. see here .

Easy - I put an ad on nannyjob and trawled through the cv s on that site for local people..for an after-school child-carer and have had a few responses, one of which was a local mum with 2 older children who is happy to do school drop off and pick up and look after kids till I get home..she has no childcare quals, but is happy to do a first aid course before she starts...and seems ideal - so it is possible.

yes this is possible!
try familiesonline.co.uk gumtree.com nannyjob.co.uk nannyselect.co.uk good luck!

Easy, there are often jobs like this advertised in the Nottingham Evening Post - have you tried putting an advert in there? Or in your local post office?

I'm absolutely sure you would already do this automatically but wanted to mention to be on the safe side....

If you don't go for someone 'qualified' and go for a granny type please ensure you get a full criminal background check from the police. x

Cheers all, this is looking more likely now.

I'm just investigating how to do a check now. Apart from the fact that I don't want anyone who will interfere with ds, the person concerned would have access to our home, with our belongings in it