I have a 3 yo daughter already, and have another baby on the way, and am giving a bit of early thought to childcare once I have finished my maternity leave. I don't know if what I am after is realistic, or fantasy. I would be looking for a Woman (or Man) Friday, who's primary role would be childcare, but would also do a little bit of housework and would be confident with animals as I would need various creatures from horses to ducks feeding if I am at work too. I only work 10 days a month, but when I am at work is can be for a couple of days at a time. OH works long days but is home virtually every night. I would want someone who has experience with baby care. Daughter would be at school by the time I return to work.
As I don't work many days a month, and my monthly working pattern varies widely and I only find out 2 weeks in advance, I would need someone flexible. I am able to request work on my choice of days though, so I can be flexible too. However, the nature of my job is unpredictable and I expect to be late occasionally - my job is particularly affected by the weather, especially in the winter - so I would need someone who understood and accepted that too. I would like a little bit of housework being done as I would hate to come back home after say, 4 days at work and find the house has no clean clothes, no food, no clean dishes etc! Feeding the animals speaks for itself - I can't let them starve! I do have someone who comes in daily and cleans them out so none of that would be required though. I am only on a part-time salary, so would be looking to keep to a budget, but as part of the package can offer a self contained studio flat and self contained stable unit if the person I employed was horsey.
Are there people out there who would want to work for just a few days a month, who would be able to make use of the facilities I have to offset pay? I could imagine it being attractive to someone who is younger and studying for further qualifications and needs time to study and a place to live, or someone with their own child who only wants a few days a month and would not use the flat unless it was one of the few occasionsboth OH and I were working late, and they used it as ad hoc accommodation.
Our surroundings are rural and lovely, but not too far from a town, but the person would need to be able to drive. It would suit someone used to a country life.
I really don't know what options there are out there for me. What I do know is that a standard Mon-Fri office hours childcare would not work for me with my lifestyle. I would be happy to consider someone soley for childcare and employ someone else to do the housework and animal stuff, but feel it would be easier to have one person to do the whole lot as it is for so few days each month.
So, any suggestions or pointers, or things for me to be thinking about? I have a year to get my act together!