The Nanny Diary
Being a nanny is no easy task. Most people underestimate the difficulty of being a caretaker, especially one who takes care of multiple children or a child with a behavioral issue. There are many things I have learned being a nanny, and will take those lessons and apply them to my adult life. One of which is learning to deal with your employer, aka the parents. For my first segment of the nanny diaries I want to give some advice on dealing with complicated parents. Without much experience there are times that parents will take advantage of your time and patience.
For instance, there will always be parents who feel that by hiring a nanny they are doing YOU the favor. That is not the case. Yes they are employing you, but having a nanny is a luxury, so if they are not going to treat you right, then they can send their child to a daycare.
Story time: Once upon a time I had a parent tell me that while their child napped, they didn’t want to pay me. No, that is not acceptable. There will be times you need to stand up for yourself, do not let parents push you around. My response? I told them I will not take the shift unless I was paid for the full amount of hours. Their response? They don’t feel they should pay me when I am not doing any work. This is how you should respond:
Dear ______, I understand that you feel you should not pay me because I am not “interacting” with your child during this time period, but unless I am physically aloud to leave the house and go run errands or get lunch, then I am technically working. What if the child wakes up early? What is they are fussy and won’t go down? I should not be deducted my pay when I am there to respond whenever your child needs me.
If the parent/s do not understand at this point that you should be paid, then do not do the job. Most likely you will run into more problems down the line. Save yourself the stress. There are many more situations and stories I will talk about down the line, but my next few posts I just want to talk about common issues that sitters and nannies will run into with their employers and the best ways to resolve/handle the situation.
Remember that your time is just as valuable as theirs.
Til next time,
The Nanny