nannies – Page 21 – Nannyjob blog

10 reasons to look forward to autumn

Here at Nannyjob we love summer, we really do, but lots of think autumn is our favourite season and here’s why.

1. Conkers. I’m never going to get over my excitement at finding a shiny brown conker and you can use them for so many things. Throw them, grow them, squash them, smash them. Conkers are great.

2. Dry leaves. One of my favourite things to do is to go for a walk kicking up lots of dry leaves. I hope this year it will stay dry so we can play in them.

3. Preparing for Christmas. I know it’s September but I love Christmas and it starts at the end of November for me! Christmas crafts, Christmas songs and plotting Christmas presents all make me really happy.

4. Dark evenings. Some people hate them but I like heading home in the dark and coming back to a warm and bright house.

5. Hot chocolate. Finally an excuse to warm up by drinking some hot chocolatey milky goodness whether it’s out and about or at home. I like to add ginger or cinnamon to mix it up a bit.

6. Pumpkins. I love carving pumpkins ready for Halloween and they taste pretty good too. One of my favourites is pumpkin pie from when I spent a year as an au pair in the US. You don’t even have to cut up a pumpkin to make it!

7. Cute hats and scarves. I love novelty hats on children and I crochet my charges a new hat every year. They’re going to be a frog and a bunny so if you see us, wave hello.

8. My Ugg boots. Banished for the summer they can come out from the bottom of the wardrobe. They’re probably the comfiest thing I’ve ever owned.

9. Apples. I know what you’re thinking, all the things so far have been really unhealthy. I even made pumpkin unhealthy! But in season apples are one of my fave foods, especially in a crumble.

10. Fires. At the risk of sounding like a pyromaniac I love bonfires. I love seeing the flames, hearing the crackling and smelling the smoke from a wood fire. Possibly best avoided with children, though…

Reasonable duties for a nanny with nursery or school-aged charges

“What are reasonable duties for a nanny when children are nursery/school?” This is a question which comes up quite a lot, and as some nannies will be finding themselves with some free time as of this week, we thought we’d look.

Looking after other children

If there are younger children in the family, it’s a no brainer. A nanny’s wages won’t go down because they only have 1 child during these hours, and they’re still on call for any illness or closures, plus school holidays. If there aren’t younger children it’s possible to set up a nanny share, and this kind of arrangement can work well – Family A get to keep their nanny and reduce their costs, Family B get some solo time and reduced costs too. Bear in mind that any such arrangement needs to be formalised, and a nanny should never be offered as a free babysitter to another family without checking first.

Nursery duties

Most nannies will do nursery duties anyway, but usually while children nap. As a child going to nursery won’t be napping any longer (although some do) and a child at school won’t, so a nanny can use child-free hours to do laundry, ironing, batch-cooking (especially useful for school holidays), cleaning children’s bedrooms and bathrooms and so on.

PA duties

One big advantage of nanny is having someone at home to receive urgent parcels and let in workmen. With a little negotiation a nanny may take on some PA duties for the whole family, such as shopping for birthday presents and other specific items (or doing research online), ordering and receiving a weekly internet shop, dropping off dry cleaning, going to the Post Office and a hundred and one organisational duties around the house.

Light housekeeping duties

Nannies go into childcare to look after children, rather than clean, but adding a little light housekeeping such as hoovering, family cooking or family ironing. Most won’t clean parent’s bedrooms or bathrooms or do family laundry (especially if it involves underwear). For that you would need to find a nanny-housekeeper.

The 2 week itch

When you start a job everything seems great. Your charges are great. Your bosses are great. The area is great. The new routine is great.

Then reality hits, and at the end of the second week you wonder whether you really made the right choice after all. Are these hours as convenient as they seem? Is their behaviour getting worse? Are your bosses really pleased with what you’ve been doing? Maybe they’re re-evaluating their decision, just like you’re re-evaluating yours? Maybe this job is doomed? Is it worth the money to be unhappy? Are you even really unhappy?

When you start a job everything seems great. Your charges are great. Your bosses are great. The area is great. The new routine is great.

Recognise this feeling for what it is and you’ll feel better. It’s a natural instinct to take stock once the initial excitement of a new job has worn off, especially if your previous job was a good fit and you felt very comfortable. Building up trust with a new family is a relatively slow process and things won’t feel the same for a while. It’s a good idea to persevere until the end of the probationary period so you know you’ve given it a good shot, and things will probably improve past the 2 week point anyway.

Addressing any niggles you have at this stage is vital to prevent potentially difficult situations from escalating. Hearing positive feedback will boost your self-esteem and your employers will be reassured that you’re making an effort to fit in with their needs and wants rather than powering ahead with the way you’ve always done things. It also gives your bosses a safe space to raise anything they aren’t happy about. Everyone makes mistakes and it’s almost inevitable that you’ll have done something differently to how they would do it but rather than letting it build up you should clear the air and find out what they want you to do in future, or explain why you’ve chosen to do something differently.

Isolation can be a big factor if you’ve just moved to a new area or your nanny friends have charges of a different age. Be proactive about going out and finding new friends or tapping into contacts your bosses have already made, and don’t lose touch with your old friends. Nannies need peer support just as much as anyone else and your previous nanny network can help you through a tough time even if you don’t see them as often as you used to. If you’re new to nannying then try to buddy up with an experienced nanny to mentor you through the transition.

Give yourself positive things to look forward to over the next week at work and out of work too – introduce your charges to your favourite activities or plan a fun outing and treat yourself to something midweek as a little pick-me-up. The more positive memories and feelings you have about a new job, the more relaxed and confident you’ll feel, and everyone will pick up on it.

If nothing seems to be working give yourself a timeframe where you’ll give it your best, and if you don’t feel any different make the decision to move on. There’s no shame in accepting that you and the family aren’t a good match and you’ll soon find a job that’s perfect for you.

What gets you a nanny job?

We’ve talked before about the importance of a good profile in winning you work as a nanny, but a CV – and your experience and qualifications – will only get you as far as the interview.

Imagine opening a mystery box of chocolates. You have preferences – for example you prefer milk chocolate and don’t like nuts – and you can make decisions about what you see on the outside. That’s what your CV is for, to help the family pick out the milk chocolates and discard the nuts. Other things you can only tell by biting into the chocolate and discovering the hidden nuts inside. Sometimes a really tasty-looking chocolate can be disappointing, and sometimes a chocolate that seems plain on the outside can have a surprising centre.

Once you actually meet the parents, what is it that will land you the job?

Remember that the interview is first and foremost a chance for you and the family to interact, so don’t sit there passively! Taking an active part in the discussion and asking well- timed questions will show that you’re interested in hearing about them and their expectations as well as being prepared to answer questions about your experience and approach to childcare. Respond to the family’s cues and where they ask you what you would do in certain situations you should answer the question and then reflect it back to them to find out what their preferences are.

Let your enthusiasm for your job, and children, shine through. A happy, animated nanny who is able to describe what they do on a day to day basis is much more likeable than a coldly, professional nanny who gives textbook answers. Also show enthusiasm for the children if they are there. Try to get to know your future charges by smiling, waving and asking them questions, getting down on their level and responding to any overtures they make such as bringing you a favourite toy.

You probably have a list of questions in your head (or on paper!) that you want answered and chances are some of these will be covered before they ask whether you have any questions at the end of the interview. Pay attention to what the family say all the way through so unless you’ve genuinely forgotten the answer (in which case you should apologise and just ask them for clarification) you don’t ask for information you’ve already been given.

Also make sure your questions don’t focus solely on hours, pay and holidays, although that is obviously very important ground to cover. Ask about the children’s favourite activities, how the parents like to communicate during the day and what their priorities are as a family. Taking an interest in them as people will also help you decide whether you feel able to work with them.

The main objective of an interview is to establish a good relationship between you and the family, so you both leave with the impression that you could work well together.

How Nannies Can Help Home Schooling Families

With a number of positive factors including flexibility, term-time holidays, child-led learning and learning at the child’s pace, instead of the pace of the class, home education (home schooling in the US) has seen a huge rise in popularity and it’s not surprising that nannies have been stepping in to help.

Think about it, a nanny who helps a home educating family isn’t a far cry from a governess. Back in the day, governesses were hired to educate and care for the family’s children which allowed parents to focus on work and other pursuits.

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How Nannies Can Help with Back to School

Back to school is often a nightmarish time for working parents. At a time of year where colds, illness, and head lice are rife, not to mention tantrums and an unwillingness to go back to school, it’s a time where your nanny can make the difference between a bad day and a great day.

We’ve put together our top tips for both nannies and parents to help with the back-to-school transition.

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What is Child-Led Play and Why is it So Important?

Child-led play is exactly what it sounds like; children choose what to play and the adults follow the child’s lead. The sole purpose of this type of play is to allow children to explore and discover independently whilst making their own choices and decisions about what to do.

We’ve put together some tips to help you encourage child-led play whilst also identifying learning opportunities:

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Why You Should Visit Your Local Library This Summer

The summer holidays can be stressful for parents and nannies alike. Trying to find new and exciting activities to keep the kids entertained every day is no easy feat. When you consider the many rainy days experienced in the average British summertime, you might find that you and your children are going a little stir crazy.

Over the summer holidays, libraries all around the country will be pulling out all the stops kids entertained by putting on various activities including hosting character visits and read-a-longs to craft or computer sessions, and much more.

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Double Trouble – How To Cope With Twins And Multiples

Having one baby is hard work, we all know that. The thing is, unless you have a multiple birth (or children very close in age) you don’t realise just how tiring and relentless (although extremely rewarding!) looking after two or more tiny tots can be.

So, as always, we have a wealth of top tips to help if you have your own, or nanny for, twins or triplets:

Routine is king. This, of course, applies in theory to all babies. You’ll find it is much more necessary with twins. Make sure you put the babies down to sleep at the same time, and try to feed them at the same time (or one straight after the other). Even of one cries for food whilst the other is sleeping, in the first couple of months it can really help to wake the other one to feed as well.

Togetherness. If possible, keep your babies together, whether this is in the same cot or just in the same room. Twin babies are almost always comforted by knowing the other one is nearby, and having physical contact with each other. They’ve had nine months of sharing everything, so it would be a massive adjustment for them to then spend a lot of time, or sleep, without the other.

Support system. It’s important to get as much help as you can as a parent of twins. If your partner has returned to work and you find yourself alone and incredibly stressed, pull in your support network. Ask relatives and friends or regular baby-sitters to provide relief, if you haven’ got a nanny. Remember that it will be easier for anyone to help you if you suggest specific tasks, such as feeding or bathing one of the babies, taking them out for a stroll, shopping, cleaning the kitchen, or preparing a meal.

Get some ‘me’ time. It’s important to have a little bit of time each day, if possible, to relax. Even if it’s a 20 minute bath when your partner gets home from work, or half an hour of reading before you go to sleep. It’s a fact that stress and anxiety are more common in parents of twins, so making sure you grab a few golden moments of time for yourself is key.

For more help and information on twins and multiple births visit Twins Trust | Twins Trust – We support twins, triplets and more…

Perfect Summer Holiday Activities for Children

British summertime is often unpredictable when it comes to the weather. It’s not unheard of to experience rain, sun, wind and even snow all in the same day. That’s why we’ve put together our top summer holiday activities for kids that you can do, no matter the weather.

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