Since
Sage was born, I’ve realized that it’s difficult for me to get anything
house-related (or work-related) done at home while both boys are awake, even if
my husband is home. I decided that we would try to find someone to bring into
the house once a week on Saturdays to help with wrangling the boys so Mike and
I could get some things (such as cleaning) done. Once Mike starts teaching
again in September, it will be super helpful to have someone here with me so
that I don’t lose my sanity. We also wanted to find someone to watch the boys
so that we could go out with our friends – previous to this, the only people
who have watched the kids were our
friends. And you can’t exactly hang out with them if they’re, you know,
watching your kids.
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| Watch that baby. It's sleeeeping. Upside down. |
I
posted an ad on Care.com (and am in no way endorsing that site through this
post, but that’s the site I used) and received over twenty emails from
potential caregivers in two days. I have to say I was a little overwhelmed by
that, but I figured out pretty quickly who to email “No thank you” and who to
set up an interview with, and I thought I did a pretty good job (giving myself
a pat on the back). After viewing their application emails and profiles, I emailed
five women to set up interviews.
If
you follow the blog on Facebook, you’ll know that we had our first interview
two Saturdays ago and I joked with the folks in the online community that we
were having the Nanny Olympics at our house and the first interview was the
prequalifying stage. The first woman I asked for an interview was actually the
first person to respond to our ad, and she did so within five minutes of me
posting it. In my ad I had purposefully put in some jokes (OK, what I thought
was funny) and in her email she responded to the jokes with jokes. She had a
professional photo and her descriptions of her experience seemed accurate (as
opposed to blown out of proportion). She seemed down to earth so I was excited
to meet her.
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| I sometimes wake up cranky. No I'm serious. |
She showed up for her hour-long interview wearing a long-sleeve
cardigan, which, since we live in Texas is kind of odd. I answered the door in
a tank top and she could see my tattoos. She came in and saw Mike had a lot of
tattoos as well, and you could see her visibly relax. “My Mom told me I needed
to wear a sweater or I wouldn’t get the job,” she tells us as she’s taking off
her cardigan and revealing two full arms of tattoos. Right off I had good
feelings about her. But then I left her and Silas to hang out and puttered
around (a.k.a. eavesdropping). Mind you, Silas had just woken up from a nap
“hard” (meaning he was a crank ASS) so I figured this was a great challenge to
assess her. She matched him toy for toy, game for game, talked to him, sat with
him, played with him (not around him) – it was awesome. I was super pleased.
After her Silas time she and I talked about her experiences and how often she
wanted to work. She told us she was 14 weeks pregnant which made me sad
(because she’ll probably leave sooner rather than later and not nanny anymore)
but also excited because I knew that her experience at our house could help her
feel more comfortable as a first time mother when her child arrived. So
Candidate #1 was in and hired. Now I needed to find two or so “backup”
babysitters in case she wasn’t available (and hopefully to take over once she
had her kidget).
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| My response to some of these candidates. |
I
looked through all of the other potential folks and developed some criteria –
they had to have checked that they’d do light housework, have their own
vehicle, have references available, and they had to have experience with little
littles like Sage (9 weeks). Infant CPR and first aid certs and Spanish
speaking made a candidate that much more attractive but weren’t deal breakers.
Now I’m not a mean House Manager, I don’t want someone to come in and clean my
house AND maintain my children’s safety. I want someone who’s going to clean up
after themselves, put dishes from lunch in the dishwasher, and wipe down the
kitchen table. I’m not asking for them to clean my carpets, you know? So any
candidate who emailed me whose profile didn’t say they’d do light housework got
the boot. No transportation means you can’t possibly pick the boys up from
school in a pinch. Das boot. I can’t ask others about your previous work? No
thank you. And you don’t know that an infant needs their neck supported until
they can hold it up on their own? I’m not teaching you that.
I
set up four interviews over the next two weeks with potential childcare
providers via email. I gave them my cell number and a date/time, and asked them
to call or text me to let me know if that time worked for them (assessing conscientiousness
I was). One called, two texted (I have no preference for either call or text
honestly), and one didn’t respond at all. The one who called left a voicemail,
so I called her back and left her a voicemail, and then she butt dialed me
twice and never called to apologize (or to talk to me). So we were down to two
prequalifier candidates, and they both were scheduled for Sunday (August 19).
The first one (11 a.m.) showed up at 11:15 because she got lost because there’s
construction on my street (which I had told her about previously and suggested
she arrive early because of). The second one (4 p.m.) nsnc’d (no show no call).
Wow. Really folks?
Having
been a nanny in graduate school, I would like to share some secrets (hopefully
they’re not so secret honestly) about how to get hired as a nanny. The first
question people may have is “what’s the difference between a babysitter and a
nanny?” Well, here’s how I think of it – a babysitter makes sure your kids are
safe for the time that you are out of the house, while a nanny may be asked to
serve “in the place of the parent” by, say, dropping off/picking up from
school, assisting with homework, preparing meals, cleaning, doing laundry, and of
course entertaining children and making sure they’re safe. Usually there’s a
pay difference too – if I hire a babysitter for the night who’s going to sit
and watch TV after Silas goes to bed (and Sage sleeps through their entire
visit), I’m less inclined to pay them a higher rate. We pay $8/hour for
mother’s helper (I’m here, you’re just playing with Silas) and $10/hour for
“you’re in charge” childcare by the way (and I put that in my ad). If the woman
we hired is asked to do nanny-type tasks (grocery shop, pick up the boys from
school) then I will pay her a higher rate per hour for the time it takes to do
that, especially if she’s grocery shopping with two kids in tow (that will be
$45 per hour please…).
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| I expect you to like our dogs. No, for serious. |
Many
House Managers (i.e., the person who’s hiring you to do the childcare, usually
Mom) will tell you what they want you to do (and if you’re a babysitter or a
nanny), but if they don’t, it’s important to ask about expectations when you go
to an interview. If you’re responding to an ad online, be sure to read the ad
fully and see if you feel like you fit with what the House Manager wants. Don’t
just respond to every ad asking for childcare. When you respond to the ad,
write professionally – use proper capitalization, spelling, and grammar. If I
see one more email with textspeak I swear to someone I’m going to hit a nanny.
If the writer of the ad uses jokes, then joke back, but if they don’t then
simply highlight the skills you have that they stated they were looking for. If
you’re responding via phone, again, be professional. Make sure your voicemail
sounds…professional. “You know what to do heeheehee” is not professional.
In
all of your interactions with families make sure to represent yourself
accurately. Don’t tell Mom you have experience with infant care when in reality
you held a baby at a party once. If someone says they have experience, then I
expect them to know their shit and feel comfortable handling, diapering, and
feeding an infant. Parents will have their own little quirky “ways of doing
things” and they’ll know their kids best, but make sure you don’t lie about
your experiences. Get to know what the parents want/like by observing them and
asking questions (but more so by observing them – I think a lot of times if
potential nannies ask too many small specific questions that they’re not
confident in their own abilities and that’s a big no thank you – babies and
parents are like dogs, they can smell fear).
Make
sure you have your listening ears on (sorry, I’m a toddler parent) when
interacting with parents – if I say “No TV,” I’m not kidding, I’m not joking,
and this is MY kid. Now of course, I don’t say this because Silas loves him
some Thomas and Friends, but parents are asking you to act as them for a time
(and paying you to do so). The least you could do is follow their rules. Now
I’ve seen the Beverly Hills Nannies show (OK I’ve watched a few previews) and
some people are, like, whoa crazy parents. If you see that at an interview, run
and hide (unless you’re just in it for the money – then stay there because I
don’t want you at my house). Crazy families will find someone crazy to take
care of their kids – crazy attracts crazy, no worries. But I’ve seen some of
those parents and you don’t want to work with them.
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| Silas say, "If you can't have fun, don't come to my house." |
And
that’s the thing – that’s what you’re doing – you’re WORKING. Be professional.
Be punctual. Focus on your work (i.e., the children), not your phone and
Facebook. Have fun with kids. Sit on the floor and play. Sing. Dance. Make up
silly stories. If you feel uncomfortable doing these things with kids, I’m
pretty sure that childcare is not for you. Little people are amazingly creative
and fun – if you can’t enjoy that and let your adult guard down to do some
HotWheels cars in the dirt play, then being a nanny is not in the cards for you
my friend.
Have you looked for a childcare provider/nanny? What did you find? I want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly.
