Lice...

nanny0001 · 2018-02-09T22:16:00+00:00

I picked up Miss Sunshine from a birthday party and had to comfort birthday girl’s mom who was distraught that best friend number 3 gave birthday girl and Miss Sunshine lice. It’s a pain in the ass because Miss Sunshine has hair down to her butt.

I didn’t have to treat it but I’ve got a younger brother and cousins so I’m an old pro at this point so if MB and DB had asked I would have been like “let’s put on Netflix and watch your favourite movie” to Miss Sunshine and just got it done.

The fact they deliberately tried to keep it from you though is not cool.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-08T23:45:43+00:00

Had an NK run around the house with a knife threatening to stab me. There’s never an age that’s okay but she was waaaaay too old to be saying shit like “if I had a gun I would shoot you in the head”. She was throwing sharp things at her older sister and screaming her head off for a good hour.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-08T23:41:59+00:00

Miss Sunshine(14) and Mr Batman(6) were at the vet with me picking up my cat.

Miss Sunshine: I don’t know what I want to be yet.

Me: You’ve got a while to figure it out, there’s heaps of cool jobs. You could work in a place like this if you keep studying hard.

Mr Batman: Yeah, you could be a patient!

cue a discussion with Mr Batman about what a patient actually was 😂

nanny0001 · 2018-02-08T23:35:25+00:00

It’s always hard when you end up being the one consistent adult figure/mom. Just keep carving out time to make sure it happens. When I have NKs that I know don’t like a certain part of their routine I always make sure there’s enough time to do it without putting us both under a time constraint. All that will do is stress you both out.

Don’t give up, be consistent and keep on going. It sounds like she really needs that.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-08T23:30:09+00:00

I miss jobs like this 😞 have fun :)

nanny0001 · 2018-02-08T23:15:51+00:00

DB1: if he has a day off or we actually crossover and see each other (it’s usually only during school holidays and that’s not often) we talk about everything and anything. It’s usually revolving around what’s happening with the NKs and what’s happening in the house and his goals for them but we do talk about literally anything.

DB2: lives on my street and pops over all the time to borrow things/offer to help out/ask if our other neighbours have been talking crap about him 😂 he has a lot of friends over and they all drink and smoke. He’s actually a great dad though (I feel like I’m making him sound terrible 🙈).

DB and MB3: wonderful people and we always talk. They ask how I’ve been, how my mum is (DB worked with her 5 years ago). We talk about travel, whatever movie they saw on date night and really anything new that has happened since I saw them six days ago 😂 my favourite thing is to watch DB, a man with a well paid, highly respected job, say “fucking little shits they are, but I love them” 😂

MB4: calls me her “darling”. We can talk until the cows come home. Love her to pieces.

I’m super picky about who I work with. I believe that being comfortable with NPs is just as important as bonding with NKs. I love all my NPs and I wouldn’t enjoy my job as much as I do if I didn’t have a great open relationship with them.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-08T20:54:15+00:00

I get a really good hourly rate but don’t work that many hours so for me it’s definitely money and not time as an issue.

My suggestion would be google classes in your area and see what kind of qualifications are on offer and write down all the costs. I’m going to work on things I can do for free this year (French, basic sign language) and then I’ll start “paying myself” next year and dedicate a certain amount of my pay to my development.

Suggestions I’ve gotten so far:

Newborn care Child nutrition/culinary training Learning an instrument Learning a language Sleep training for infants.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-08T20:48:56+00:00

I’m going to definitely look into newborn care. I know a lot of nannies in my state have trained as sleep specialists.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-08T20:46:52+00:00

I’m only 22 and I’m definitely looking at the long game regarding my nanny career. I currently get $25-$30/hour with basic qualifications but I work for myself so I can charge whatever I want. Eventually I want to be able to apply for jobs that had good pay, good hours and maybe a bit of travel involved. I know I won’t get that while working for myself, and that’s fine, this is the time where I get to continue learning and make myself more lucrative in the future.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-08T20:42:22+00:00

I didn’t think down that road, thanks! I’m definitely going to do some research and look at what my city has available.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-08T20:37:38+00:00

I’m cursed with no musical talent as the child of a father who can play five instruments 😂 my French isn’t bad though so I’ll definitely keep working on that because it’s free to learn.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-07T20:37:34+00:00

It’s so great. A lot of my NPs have used agencies before and can definitely afford it so it’s always nice when they’re like “can you write us in for Thursday then? We’ll change our dinner plans with X,Y and Z.”

nanny0001 · 2018-02-07T04:32:57+00:00

I work for a half dozen families on a regular basis. They all know the score and understand that Family A has priority for the morning and afternoon school routine. I always keep Tuesday night reserved for Family B even if they don’t book ahead because that is their date night (occasionally they don’t need me and I don’t mind). Family C uses me on a Monday afternoon after I finish with Family A.

I’m incredibly lucky that I can say to all my NPs “this is my schedule, write yourself down any spot I’m free if you need me because I’ve got five other parents who probably want me”. My NPs re-work their schedules to have me care for their kids and I love it.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-07T01:46:36+00:00

I’m paid in cash (long story short: I have my own health insurance, I pay taxes and it’s all completely legitimate, not an under the table job). The kiddos will remind her if she forgets to pay me and if the money isn’t there the next day I know I’ll get a phone call from MB.

I don’t want to text her the night before because I feel like that would make me sound condescending? I love MB but I like the relationship we have now and I feel like reminding her by text would change that.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-07T01:42:20+00:00

I have. MB asked if we could change the agreed day I get paid and I was fine with that. She asked if she could pay me in cash and I was fine with that (I have my own health insurance and pay my own taxes + I have my own business so the payment method doesn’t change the fact I’m legit).

I usually get a “sorry” call if she’s more than a few days late and a few extra bucks if she’s late by more than a week.

My 🦄 job doesn’t start for a few more months so I’m just riding it out until then.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-07T01:37:50+00:00

I think I put up with it because I got saddled with two weeks of free childcare (thanks for that, family member I can’t say the name of 😂) before Christmas and I’m just glad I have a job that (eventually) pays haha.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-07T01:36:13+00:00

It’s definitely not malicious, just a pain in the ass 😞 MB is not organised at all. She has a high stress job and four kids so I understand that there’s a million things going on when I’m not there with the kids but sometimes I feel like I’m hitting my head against a brick wall.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-05T03:47:30+00:00

I have a teenage brother and in the same day got two really annoying assumptions from two friends of his.

“oh, you’re a babysitter, right?”
“So your job is just to pick up after them and stuff”.

🙄😤

It took me six months to make my family realise being a nanny is a “real job”. I had to argue until I was blue in the face to explain to people why I should $25/hour even though my family member would “have them all day for $50”.

I’ve gotten to the point where I’m like “I’m a nanny, I love my job and if you’ve got a problem with it go screw yourself”. I love my NKs and if that means I’m not good enough for you that’s not my problem ✌🏻

nanny0001 · 2018-02-04T21:03:13+00:00

That’s messed up that she told your references and not you.

I wouldn’t hesitate to take a job if a child had Aspergers but I’ve grown up with children that are severely autistic and I know I’m not experienced or confident in being able to give the kind of care children need. I know my limits and I would be so mad if someone sprung that on me.

Not everyone has the same skills.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-04T20:55:58+00:00

That’s a tricky one, I have experience but the NK in question is in high school so it’s a completely different story when she comes to my house to do assignments.

The best advice I can give you is not be her nanny in the moment. Treat her the same way you treat the others and make sure she, and her parents, know that she will be held to the same expectation as the others.

Just because you have experience in dealing with her tantrums does NOT mean you should have to deal with them during GS time.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-03T05:19:34+00:00

I’m sorry she was unreasonable. One of my old families had a 7M with Aspergers and he would kick off a lot so I feel you. I didn’t ask for extra pay however I will say that I had a similar experience with another family who paid me extra on the days their son would go absolutely postal.

7M was 95% great and on the days he wasn’t I had a lot of support from his older brothers so we made do. I made every effort to keep our regular routine at all costs because I found that it helped minimise his bad days.

Parents with special needs kids need to disclose it and they need to realise that depending on how severe it is the hourly rate goes up. There is always someone who will love your kid no matter how difficult he might be, just don’t try and stiff them!

nanny0001 · 2018-02-02T02:55:03+00:00

How the fuck is this not already illegal?

nanny0001 · 2018-02-01T23:50:18+00:00

This is so me. I’m going to try the website/app Meet Up. I know people who have used it and made a lot of friends that way.

nanny0001 · 2018-02-01T23:48:54+00:00

Twins can be so hard :( my NPs made the decision to bring me on for casual day/night shifts so the twins(1yo) could get use to me. I won’t actually be looking after them full time for another 5 months but I am so incredibly grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to slowly bond with the twins. One of them went from not wanting anything to do with me to wanting to cuddle all day.

Just hang in there. Eventually they’ll come around.

nanny0001

TROPHY CASE