Fun Things to do With Kids

There should never be a time when kids are sitting around bored. There is always something fun to do...whether it is a craft, game, make-believe, or going to museums. Use your imagination to come up with fun things to do with your kids. The sillier the better as far as I'm concerned and kids love it when they see a grown up willing to get silly with them. Here are a few sites and books that I think are great resources for ideas. HAVE FUN!
Websites:

• List of fun things to do
• Family Fun Ideas
• Bonus games and ideas website
• Activities by state
• Fun kids site with monitored chat
• Traditional kid's games with instructions/rules

Books:

• Outdoor Activities for Kids: Over 100 fun things to do outside By Linda Dobson
• Art Fun (Art and Activities for Kids) By Kim Solga
• 365 Afterschool Activities: TV-Free Fun for Kids 7-12 By Sheila Ellison
• Sumer Fun!: 60 Activities for a Kid-Perfect Summer By Susan Williamson
• Weekends With the Kids: Activities, Crafts, Recipes, Hundreds of Ideas for Family Fun By Sara Perry
• Green Beans & Tambourines: Over 30 Summer Projects and Activities for Fun-Loving Kids By Jennifer Storey Gillis
• The Rainy Day Activity Book By Jennifer Rader

There is a plethora of books out there with children's activities in mind. Go to your local library or visit Barnes and Noble or Amazon for some great examples. *****Please use caution when you use the computer or internet for activities. Kids should be supervised when on the internet to make sure no "adult" material is accessed. There are predators on the internet and every nanny should be aware of that. ****Also, make sure the safety of the kids is your first priority no matter what you are doing together.

Nanny, Housekeeper, friend, family member, servant????

Through the interview questions, you should be able to determine what kind of relationship the family wants to have with you. Most times you will be living in the house with them and, whether they like it or not, you are a member of the household. There are plenty of families, and nannies for that matter, who want to have an employer/employee relationship and nothing more. Personally, that kind of situation is the farthest from a comfortable work environment as you can get. I have been pretty lucky with most of the families I have worked with. I have felt like a member of the family, not just the household but I've had my privacy too which is so important. The point is, there is a family to fit any nanny and do not settle for something less than you desire. If you do, you will end up being miserable and possibly out of a job. Honestly, families who can afford nannies are generally quite wealthy and unfortunately with that kind of wealth sometimes comes a superiority complex and all the fun personality traits that come with it. I kind of expect the parents to be somewhat condescending but when the kids follow suit, that is not the nanny job for me. Plenty of stories will follow about my experiences with such families.

Ahhh, the things we do for love....

For anyone who hasn't taken care of a baby, the thought of spit up, poop, snot, and various other yucky fluids that come with a baby seem pretty disgusting. However, I'm here to say all those thoughts of disgust disappear when you fall in love with an infant. All of the sudden, you can wipe the snot from a sick baby's nose with your hands, go around with spit up stains on your shoulders, and getting pee'd on during a diaper change becomes natural. It becomes especially fun when a baby learns to eat finger food and drink from real cups and straws. Aidan was pretty into learning to drink from a real cup...no more sissy sippy cup for him! Only, he hadn't mastered swallowing the food in his mouth before he took a drink. He would always empty the contents of his mouth into his cup and by the end of the meal, his cup had turned into a veritable stew with bits of peas, meat, and other question mark ingredients. I remember I took Aidan to lunch with me and a couple friends to McDonald's. We were all chatting away while Aidan was munching happily on his nuggets. I took a drink of soda in the middle of a story I was telling and quickly realized it was NOT my soda! It was Aidan's latest soup in a cup. My friends were pretty grossed out but Aidan and I just giggled and moved on. Although, it still kind of makes my stomach queezy.

Babies Are Sooooo Fun!

My second nanny job was for a 4 month old baby boy...remember Aidan? He was such a great baby. He was always laughing, only cried when he was hungry or needed changed, and I really enjoyed being a surrogate mother for the year and a half I was with this family. Everyday Aidan would learn something new about his body or his surroundings. It was so hilarious! One day, he was probably about 5 months, we were both lying on the floor. Aidan was on his little play mat with the miniature swing set above him kicking his legs and swatting at the black, white, and red mobile thing above him. He flipped to his side, facing me and in the midst of flailing and shoved his finger up his nose! The look on his face was priceless! It was fear, mixed with horror, with a hint of "hmmmm, what's that??" expression. He had his finger up his nose for the better part of the day...who knew there was a hole there?

Keeping a Journal

A lot of the nanny sites say that families may ask you to keep a journal of your days with the kids. I have to admit, if a family had asked me to do that I might have pouted about it. I love to write, but not when I'm being forced to. It's like when I was little, taking piano lessons. I used to cry through my whole big half an hour of practicing. I hated it and I hated that my mom forced me to do it. She finally got sick of fighting with me and told me I didn't have to take piano anymore. Eureka! As soon as she said I didn't have to I would sit for hours and play. Go figure. Needless to say, that little valuable lesson has been very helpful with rearing other people's children. Okay, back to the journals. I never did have a family ask me to do that. However, my second nanny job was with a 4 month old little boy who was the most amazing, good-natured baby ever! I fell in love with him and his parents immediately. Both parents worked in the city (NYC) and we lived in Jersey so they were gone a large part of the day and evening. I have had jobs before where parents would come home and just want to unwind but these parents were great with their baby who I will call "Aidan" because I really like that name, and I haven't talked to that family yet to make sure it's okay to use them on my blog. Anyway, they would come home and spend every minute with Aidan and make sure he knew they loved him and missed him. It wasn't too long into this job that I started to feel so bad for the parents. I was getting to play with Aidan and watch him grow all day and they were missing out on all the adorable things he would do every day. That's when I decided to start a journal. I used my creativity to make my entries humorous. When Aidan would go to bed at night, his parents would come down to the kitchen and read about Aidan's day and laugh their heads off. I know this made them feel so much better about missing all his firsts...steps, words, etc. I am so glad I did that for them and I know they appreciated it as well. I am working on getting a copy of the journal to post some entries on here to give you some ideas to get started on your own. I believe as nannies we have a responsibility to the children to help document their childhood. That is usually the parents' job but since they aren't around, it falls to us.

The Nightmare Stereotype Babysitters.....

I just have to say that after watching The Monster House this week...great movie by the way...I was reminded how many fictional and real life horrible nannies and babysitters there have been. The picture on the right is of the babysitter Elizabeth a.k.a Zee in this movie. When she arrives at the home of her babysitting job, she proceeds to speak loudly saying how she and the kid are going to have such a fun time and how many great activities she has planned. The kid then informs her his parents have left already, she quickly loses the act, and lets him know she's in charge of the tv, phone, and invites her drunk boyfriend over. Hmmm...kind of makes you realize why so many families get the infamous "nanny cam" after they hire someone to watch over their precious kids. Remember Louise Woodward? She is the au pair on the left who was convicted of second degree murder which was later reduced to involuntary manslaughter with time served. She was accused of shaking the baby she was taking care of enough to cause his death. I remember this case especially because it was in the news right before I applied for my first job. I remember feeling almost a guilt by association of sorts. I didn't have an opinion as to whether she really did it or not, but all I kept thinking is with stories like this in the news, how can any parent trust a stranger with the lives of their children. It is a tough thing to chose the person you think is the right one to take care of your children when you aren't present. I have always respected that fact and have expected the same respect for how difficult it is to take care of children like a mother in a strange house, new home, and unfamiliar surroundings. For me it has worked out well. I know there are unpleasant jobs and nannies working out there who aren't fit to care for children but I prefer to be optimistic and hopefully this blog will help. What helped me be optimistic is knowing that I was an excellent nanny who loved kids and had great experience and all the family I worked for had to do was sit back and observe and they would see all these things come through in my passion for the job.

Interview Questions...

The most important thing to remember about the interview is that there are no stupid questions. Really. The only way to make sure you are comfortable with a family is to make sure you aren't left with any unanswered questions about them. Sit down and write a list about everything you are curious about. Think about what you will and will not do with children, what your values and morals are, what you are willing to compromise on and what is immovable. Here is a pretty extensive list of questions I have asked or think may be useful to you. Remember, you have to make your list personal. Not all these will apply to you (or the age group of the children) and you may think of some not here. Please understand there are too many questions to think of them all and I don't think I could keep your attention that long anyway. A family's and a nanny's best side shows in an interview so think of questions which will give you insight into the family without them knowing. If they have very misbehaved children, they won't say that outright, but you can find out if you ask the right questions. You want to be happy with the family and they want to be happy wiht you so don't be afraid to be THOROUGH.
THE CHILDREN
1. How many children?
2. What are the ages?
3. Are there any special needs?
4. Are they in school/pre-school?
5. What if any extra-curricular activities are the children involved in?
6. What are their (the children's) personalities like?
7. What activities do they enjoy doing?
8. Do they have any dietary restrictions?
9. Do the children have sleep schedules?
10. What are their routines like? (i.e. eating, sleeping, homework, etc.)
11. Do the children have household duties? What are they?
12. Would you object to me (the nanny) giving them household duties?
13. Do the children get along with each other? Sibling rivalry?

PARENTS
1. What are the parents' names?
2. What do the parents do for a living?
3. How many hours/day do they work?
4. What are their personalities like? Likes dislikes
5. What are the ages of the parents?
6. If they are single/divorced etc., how involved is the other parent?
7. Any food restrictions?
8. Any health issues the nanny should know about?
9. What is the desired relationship between the nanny and the parents?
10. What are some things they like to do in their spare time?

DUTIES OF THE NANNY
1. Describe a typical day for the nanny?
2. What are my household duties? ASK FOR SPECIFICS
3. How much carpooling/driving is required?
4. Am I required to cook? For the family? For the children?
5. What kind of errands if any will I be responsible for?
6. What housekeeping duties will I be expected to do?
7. Do you expect the nanny to clean up after the children or with the assistance of the nanny or are they expected to clean up after themselves?
8. Do you consider a nanny an employee or a member of the famliy?
9. When one/both parents are home is the nanny off or do you expect her help?
10. If you are not satisfied with how I am doing something, how would you handle it?
11. If I disagreed with something you as parents were doing would I be able to speak to you about it?
12. During nap time/school time/down time is the nanny ok to talk on the phone, nap, get on the internet, etc.?
13. What are your disciplinary expectations of me?
14. How free am I to try new techniques with the children as long as we discuss them together?
15. If I establish some kind of punishment/reward/etc. with the children will you as parents support it?
16. Are there any overnights or weekends expected of the nanny?
17. If so, how much advance notification can be expected?

BENEFITS
1. What is the salary?
2. How often do I get paid?
3. Do I get paid on the same day/time every week?
4. How much vacation do I get?
5. Is it paid vacation?
6. Will I be provided a car?
7. Will it be a shared or private car?
8. Do I pay for my own gas? Gas used on the job?
9. What two days do I have off per week?
10. Do I get paid in cash or check?
11. Do you take taxes out of the pay?
12. Am I free to come and go at any time?
13. Do I travel with the family?
14. Do I get paid extra for weekend/overnight work?
15. Are there any famly memberships I will be able to take advantage of?
-gyms, libraries, country clubs, etc.
16. Do you pay for car insurance?
17. Do you pay for an auto program i.e. AAA?
18. Do you offer health insurance or a health insurance allowance?
19. How are sick days handled?
20. How much notice would you like when I need to request vacation time?
21. Do you pay for automobile maintenance?
22. Is there an entertainment/food allowance for when the kids and I go out?
23. How far am I allowed to take the car?
24. What is my room like?
25. Do I have a private or shared bathroom?
26. Is the room furnished/may I bring my own furniture?
27. Do I have a private phone line?
28. Who pays for the phone line?
29. Do I need to have a cell phone?
30. Do you help out with the cell bill?
31. Is there cable/satellite tv in the nanny's room?
32. Is there a curfew?
33. Does the nanny buy her own food or have a say in the family groceries?
34. Will my privacy be respected?
25. How is the nanny's off-time viewed?
26. Am I allowed to have friends over?
27. Am I allowed to have out-of-town visitors in the house?
28. Will I be able to take college classes?
29. What are the nearest colleges/universities?
30. How flexible can you be with hours worked each day?

There are plenty more questions to ask. Think about the parent/child relationship, health issues, what lifestyle the family takes part in, what is the background of the family, and make up some mock situations and ask them how they'd react. Don't be afraid to ask for references for the family that you can speak with. Believe me they will be asking about your references and they will be impressed with how serious and thouroughly you are taking your job search.

So You Wanna Be a Nanny...

I promise, I will get to the funny stories about the spawn of Satan folks are trying to pass of as children. For now though, more on the boring stuff...how to actually enter the world of Mary Poppins. Robin Williams did it, so can you. Though I wouldn't suggest cross-dressing during an interview. First, I want to share a web page that contains a ton of websites of agencies where you can begin to search for the perfect job. It is simply google.com with "nanny agencies" in the search engine. Oops, nanny agency might be a foreign word to some of y'all. Agencies are the prime avenue through which to begin a search for the perfect nanny job. An agency's basic job is to interview families, determine what they're looking for, interview nannies and make the best match between the two. There are plenty of great nanny agencies out there and in my experience it is a good idea to apply with several just to improve your odds. For the most part, there is no fee for prospective nannies. The families pay a fee for the ageny's services and generally it is a hefty fee. Another popular way to search for a family is the online agencies which allow the family and the nanny to post their information and do the searching themselves. Some of these sites require a membership fee and some are free. Greataupair.com is a great example of an online agency. The membership fee is quite high, but definitely worth it. There are tons of families on the site from all over the country and the world. You can post your information without paying the fee but you won't be able to contact any of the families. The application to be a nanny is pretty long. Be prepared to write some short essays on your discipline style, why you want to be a nanny, what you would do in certain child-care-related situations, what your childhood was like, etc. MAKE SURE YOU MAKE A COPY OF YOUR APPLICATION BEFORE YOU SEND IT IN. This is especially important if you are applying with multiple agencies. They all ask pretty much the same questions and it is a lot of writing that you don't want to have to start from scratch every time. Another important aspect in the application process is your references. Typically, you need to have at least three personal and three experience-related references. Reference letters are a good idea as well. Once again, make copies of all documentation before submitting. Some other things you need to have are a driving record, copy of driver's license, and criminal record and/or fingerprints.
Alright, after you have completed your application and have submitted all the necessary paperwork, now you wait. The agency will take some time to check your references and all background information and then they will go through their database of families and determine which fit your requirements and wants. Usually they pass your information on to the appropriate families and if the family likes what they see they will call you for a phone interview. If you and the family "click" and decide to take the next step you're on your way. If not, you call the agency and they will send your info out to more families until they find the right one for you. At this point, the agency is pretty much out of the picture. I have dealt with A LOT of agencies and they all claimed to be there for a support for me before, during, and after my job placement process. However, not all of them remained true to that promise. As a 19 year old just starting in the business this was very scary for me. I found myself homesick, alone, and uncomfortable in a new house living with strangers. The agency I went through the first time was not there for me after I was placed. At this point in my career however, I don't need an agency to help me out because I know the industries ins and outs and can function on my own. If it is important for you to stay in contact with a "friendly" agency, make sure you do your homework before you commit to a job. There are plenty of amazing agencies out there who really do care about their nannies and do everything in their power to make the girls feel comfortable so don't despair. Okay, so now that you know how to get started and have put in multiple applications, it is on to the most important step of the process: the phone interview. I will be compiling an extensive list of questions to consider asking during the interview with the family. Some will apply to you, some won't but all are worth considering. I wish I had this guide when I was searching. Meet you on the next blog...

What is a Nanny?

I find it interesting that when looking for pictures of "nannies and kids" on google images, I got several pictures of goats....hmm, is there a connection there? Let's hope not but give me a few days and I can come up with a witty, comical link between a nanny goat and what I do. Anyway, in short, a nanny is a babysitter who has more authority, experience, duties, etc. Nannies also get paid a great deal more than a babysitter. Also, the babysitter gets in her car and goes home when she's done with the job; this is not the case with a nanny. If the nanny is a live-in (lives with the family she works for) she is essentially at work 24/7. There are usually set hours she/he will work during the week, but her job is her home and vice versa. I'm getting ahead of myself though. Yes there are male nannies whom I like to call "mannies" and they have been excellent caregivers in my experience. There are several types of nanny jobs. The most prevalent are full-time, part-time, live-in, live-out, and nanny/housekeeper. A nanny's duties can range quite dramatically depending on the needs of the family.
Some typical duties are:
1. Child care
2. Laundry (children's and sometimes family's)
3. Meal preparation for children/sometimes the family
4. Carpooling to children's various activities
5. Light to heavy housekeeping depending on the job
6. Grocery Shopping/errand running
7. Some household management depending on the job

Along with the duties come some very nice perks as well. As with the duties, these are extrememly various and depend on what the family is willing to offer.
Some of them include:
1. Typically 2 weeks paid vacation
-usually after 6 months of employment
-sometimes one week must coincide with the family's vacation plans
-note that long vacation requests are much harder to accomodate than in a normal job
2. Use of private car/sometimes shared with the family
3. Car insurance is usually paid through the family
4. Typically nights and weekends off
-two days off per week is typical but not always Saturday and Sunday
-if more days/nights/weekends are needed family will specifiy prior to hiring
5. Airfare to nanny job and from, if contract is fulfilled
6. Some families offer health insurance (though I have yet to benefit from this)
7. Food is provided by the family
-not if you go out on the town, but basically eating at home is covered
8. Opportunity to travel with the family on occasion
9. Private quarters
-bathroom is private or shared with children
-basic furnishings are provided
-quarters can be in the house (usually basement, third floor, or somehow separated from the family's rooms)
-quarters can also be totally separate from the house as well
Starting salary can range pretty dramatically as well depending on experience, the family, the amount of work required, and the agency you choose to work with. A pretty base starting salary is $300/week. With several years of experience and great references however, you can make upwards of $1000+/week. It is important for anyone who is thinking of becoming a nanny to remember that every job/family is different and unfortunately, not all families are pleasant. As I mentioned in my introductory blog, being a nanny was a quick, free, easy way for me to get out of Utah, but I was only 19 and could have easily been taken advantage of because of my naivete. I do believe that being a nanny is one of the most rewarding, practically perfect jobs but you must still be smart about who you decide to work for and make sure they are the family for you. I have had jobs that paid ridiculous amounts of money per week where I was miserable and jobs that paid next-to-nothing in nanny standards and wouldn't have traded them for the world because of the relationship I had with the family. The perfect nanny job for you is out there, you just have to be prepared to search for it.

An Intro to the World of Nannies

Ever wondered what the perfect job is? Well, wonder no more. Welcome to the world of nannying. Granted, not everyone can fill the shoes of Mary Poppins and do it well, but if the shoe fits ladies and gents, wear it and wear it well. I started nannying shortly after I graduated from Pleasant Grove High School in Utah and have been doing it ever since. Not only did it provide a way to get out of Utah but being around kids 24/7 has kept me young, kept a steady flow of cash in my pockets, and provided me with a plethora of funny kid stories to share with the world. I am currently working on a book which will chronicle my experience as a nanny, provide some much-needed advice to would be nannies, and hopefully raise more appreciation and awareness into the world of families on behalf of nannies all over the world. I hope to do the same on this blog on a much smaller scale. I'll include anecdotes of my adventures, pose questions, post information for nannies/families and curious folk, and have some fun in the process. Anyone who has kids, wants kids, likes kids or even hates kids will get a laugh out of what I have to say so stick around. In my opinion, nannying is the perfect job. It can also be one of THE hardest jobs as well. However, in the words of THE nanny extrordinaire, "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and ...SNAP! the job's a game!" I have found the fun and hope y'all can benefit from what I've learned.