Question for those who have a nanny

[LouLovesAeroplaneJelly]

I am wondering what employers of nannies would do in this situation.

You are going on holiday for 2 weeks to your 2nd home in another country. You and your DP are both working while on 'holiday'. You have brought your nanny with you. She is there to basically cook, clean and run errands as the kids all play with friends as it is the holidays. There is not enough room in the house for the nanny. Do you-

a) put her in a hotel near to the house
b) put her up with neighbours she has never met.

Thanks

Cook, clean, run errands????

Is this her normal list of nanny duties?
If not, it sounds like hell to me, on the other hand if this is what she would normally do in her job sounds more like a mothers help.

Sorry I know thats not what you asked so....

From a nanny's POV, I would prefer a local hotel then at least I could go "home" in the evenings and not feel as tho I was on call the whole time.

Is she live-in or live-out?

As a nanny I probably wouldn't go on this 'holiday' with you. My nanny remit is not to 'cook, clean and run errands'

However, if you have talked to your nanny and she is ok with her duties and willing to go with you then I would have thought the hotel would be the best option, so that her time off is her own. Staying in house with people you've never met would be hard work.

not a nanny or an employer, but i would definatly put her in a hotel, if she was staying with neighbours she may feel she cant relax in there home, it it could be hell for her resulting in other problems. as magic says at least she would have somewhere to go 'home to, and relax for an evening before being on duty again.

Thanks for that. I wanted to get others opinions about this. I am the nanny in question and just wanted to see if other would think I was being selfish etc if I said that I refused to sleep in a strange persons house for 2 weeks. When I meant cook etc I meant for the kids. That is part of my job anyway and the errands are getting school stuff done etc.
Thanks for your input everyone.

i certainly wouldnt stay with a neighbour who i didnt know

so a hotel for me - but tbh bet many employers wouldnt fork out the cost of a hotel/B&B for 2weeks

tbh if on holiday with children, i would expect a bedroom in the house to myself and join the children up/make them share

then again i wouldnt go to my holiday house and make the nanny entertain/do errands - while i work - i would play with my children

doesnt sound much of a holiday for them or you tbh loulapj

It is normal. The parents work all the time. The mum has just been signed off sick for 8 weeks due to stress so instead of playing with her kids she is heading back to the UK for a week. There kids already share so there is literally no room for me. I just heard the bosses mentioning that I will be staying with a nieghbour this time. I think I will be putting my foot down if it does happen. Thanks again

LLAJ word of advice, speak to them and set the ground rules NOW with regards to your expected hours of work. I went on "holiday" with a family many years ago (older and wiser now) and I NEVER had a clocking off time.

Not saying your employers would take the P, you know what they are like so you may feel this is not needed in this instance, but if you think they might do then please consider it.

Hope it goes well.

I do have a finish time. That I make damn sure of! I have been before with them but have always stayed in a spare room (not a bedroom but an office now). They are away in France right now so that makes it difficult. I only found out about this as they were leaving so did not have the opportunity to say anything. Oh well I guess I just have to wait and see what happens. They may just book a hotel after all.

there is no way i would agree to staying with a stranger.

I would also be sure to stick to my usual nanny duties, which invlove me playing with and caring for the children.

I would require a hotel room, after all you are at work and so on your off time you need to be able to relax and unwind and it would be impossible to do if you stayed with your bosses friends. I have it in my new contract that when I travel with the family I get my own private room/bathroom and if they want me to share with the baby we have a suite. I'll be doing a lot of travelling and a lot of extra hours (lots of 24 hour care) so I want to make sure I can have adequate rest/privacy. I don't think it's unreasonable.

as a nanny employer i dont frankly think they should expect you to go on holiday with them somewhere there isnt room for you. failing that a hotel would be the least you could expect, as everyone else has said. if they are working at the kind of intensity you suggest, and can afford a holiday home, then i assume they can afford a hotel.

As an ex-nanny I understand the difficulty of approaching your employers. You should stay in a hotel. I would never expect someone to stay with people they didn't know! And staying with a neighbour this time is frankly not good enough. I'd refuse to go until suitable accomodation is found. Remember if their working this holiday it'll make it extremely difficult for them if you don't go!
Or why can't your employer stay with the neighbour?