WHAT IS A NANNY? (Nanny Job Definition and Description)
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT NANNIES
A nanny is a person whose primary and sometimes only function is limited to caring for the children. A nanny is not there to care for the parents or make their beds or do their laundry, or scrub their toilets etc. Yes, some nannies agree to add a little something to their job description. But, certainly not all of the above. A nanny - yes, even a live in nanny has hours during which she works and hours during which she does not. The maximum number of hours for a live in nanny is 5 -12 hour days or 60 hours total in five days. A sixth day is not included in the 60 hour spread. A live out nanny, works not more than 50 hours, and often less. Nannies are people; nannies are young, mature or in between, they are HS grads or college grads or even have masters degrees. Nannies are short or tall, thin and heavy, white, black, brown, ……… Nannies may be from all religious or no religious backgrounds. Nannies may be athletes or scholars and sometimes both. Nannies may or may not be musically or otherwise talented. There are many things that make any individual what she is. The nanny that is right for you may be the worst for your neighbor and vice versa. Matching is the key to making the right placements. A family has to be right for the nanny and a nanny has to be right for the family.
What is a nanny?
For one thing, nanny is probably one of the most abused words in the English language. Let’s look at what a nanny is not.
A nanny is not a maid, a nanny is not a general housekeeper, she is not a family laundress or the family cook. Might a nanny do some cleaning or some laundry or some cooking? Absolutely, that will be discussed below.
More than half the callers we get at America's Nannies tell us they want a nanny. Then the caller starts describing the job to us and we quickly realize that a nanny is the last thing they really want. What they really want is a maid who will watch the children.
A nanny is there to care for your children. Depending on the ages of the kids and the nanny job description, that might include loving nurturing infant and toddler care, creative activities, scheduling and encouraging play dates, attending story hours, reading books (with or to the children), helping with homework, driving to and from after school activities, even encouraging and supporting the kids in those activities etc. The list goes on. There is no finite description of what a nanny is, but there is as noted above and below a finite description of what a nanny is not.
Families who are seeking quality care for their children, whose (real) first priority is the children will hire a nanny. Others will rationalize and find excuses to hire just about anybody. That is why one reads in the papers, hears on radio and sees on the TV stories of people whose children have been abused by caregivers often mistakenly identified as nannies. In many, in fact most cases, the people are unscreened, unreferenced, non- English speakers and often illegal aliens. They are doing full housekeeping, and many other things, yet parents expect quality, gentle, competent care for their children. That will not happen. That is precisely why America's Nannies does not accept such job descriptions nor place such individuals. We place nannies, nannies and only nannies. Professionally screened and referenced, carefully matched. There is a difference!!! That is why America's Nannies has been around for more than twentyfive years. That experience is only one of the reasons why our placements last a much longer time on average than other placement agencies. That is why many of our nannies stay in touch with the families that employed them for years and years. In fact, we have had some families who have paid for the weddings of their nannies when neither the nanny nor her family was able to do so.
What other words or job descriptions are confused with nanny? nanny/housekeeper or housekeeper/childcare are in first place. In either case, at best the job is 50% child care and often less. When full housekeeping is involved, the position is not a nanny position.
What is an aupair?
In second place is aupair? An aupair is a person here from another country (more than 50% are illegal) and the legal ones are only here for limited times, with far more limited hours and job descriptions if the program is followed correctly. In fact, aupair agencies describe an aupair as alternative child care. A nanny is an American or legal alien, expecting to work. An aupair is here on an educational and cultural exchange program. More than 50% do not speak fluent English. Place a nanny through America's Nannies and you can be assured that 100% of them speak English. They are also legal, drivers, fully referenced etc. That is NOT the case with all aupairs. One need only read some of their literature to see that they readily admit to the fact that the above statements are true.
What is a baby nurse
A nanny is NOT a baby nurse. A baby nurse works with newborns only for periods as long as 24 hours per day for several months with a day off here and there. They naturally earn a tidy sum for those hours. A nanny does not do that. If your nanny is working all day, she will not be responsible to get up at night. Might she share such a responsibility for a few days with a busy mom. Yes, she might, but she is going above and beyond and should be compensated accordingly.
Nannies who work with school age children often do much of the shopping and in some cases some cooking or laundry for the family. However, any job that includes full laundry, cooking, housekeeping, bed making for mom and dad, etc. is NOT a nanny job.
America's Nannies wants to work with you if you want the best in childcare for your children. We carefully guide you through this sometimes stressful process and we are available for you after placement - both for the family and the nanny. We know what it takes to make the process work best for nanny and family.
Families
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Nannies
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