I've got my first kid on the way (at 41, I'm skeered ****less), and I thought I was going to be able to get away with daycare while the wife and I are at work. Doesn't look like I'll be that lucky. Mom wants a nanny. Anyone have any advice on finding one; if you have one, how did you find yours? What's the going rate? Is it advisable to try and find someone who can do light housecleaning as well? I've read that you should get references and do a background check, but it seems everywhere I look there are ads from people wanting nannies.........not from nannies seeking jobs. What else should I be worried about? (apparantly, having a kid makes you worry........well, at least it makes me worry).
When our triplets were born, we went through an au pair service and found a perfect one from Ireland. She ran into visa problems and it fell through. Who knew there was a strict quota for Irish temporary workers? I'm sure it's much harder now since 9/11. We then tried a nanny placement service out of Dallas and the girl they sent couldn't even hold a newborn properly and we fired her after two days. Our best luck came from my wife's Catholic church. They put us in touch with a middle aged woman from Honduras who we hired and she ultimately lived with us for about 18 months before we moved to Iowa. There was very little free time with triplet newborns, but she cleaned and cooked as schedule permitted. This was 15 years ago so I don't know what the current rates would be. I'd probably recommend this route based on our experiences. Before anybody asks, she was legal and we did all the proper payroll paperwork including registering as a household employer, paying social security taxes, etc. Good luck, Pole. It's a very scary experience at first trusting your children with a stranger, but if you find the right one, life is much easier.
She shall be named Socorro. She shall teach your kid Spanish. Your kid shall grow up wanting your wife to make Tacos and Caldo de pollo because Socorro made them, and they tasted so good. You shall thank Socorro with providing her with a home.
Find some old lady to do it. I know my grandma was a nanny for a while and so are all of her friends.
I can't remember if you are in Houston. Agencies are a good way to go as far as quality but they are very expensive - add an extra 2k or so a year to a nanny salary. In the Houston market that salary is about 10-15/hr with most being 12-13 if they have any kind of experience. What else? Did you know they get paid for every available day of the year? In other words, if you have one M-F then that would be 5 days for 52 weeks because they get all holidays, sick days, and vacation paid. You absolutely need background checks and references. Agencies will provide them (proof of SS#, DL#, criminal check) and there is also a direct service - care.com - that provides limited background. Au Pairs are cheaper but they have to live in - actually any nanny that lives in is cheaper...except for the fact that you will have to live with them and provide all of their meals, etc. Most nannies will do baby-related light housekeeping and perhaps grocery shopping and the like.
Congrats, man. Score one for the older guys! No reason to be scared. You may not think you know a whole lot about parenting now, but - much like your kid - you will learn as you go. At least that's what all my friends with kids tell me.
I forgot to add - you have to first decide if you are going to do it legally or under the table. If illegal (not paying taxes) then you can't use a nanny service.
a friend of mine just used some online nanny service. they do all the background checks etc., they just picked out the one they wanted. They are jsut starting with it but seem very happy so far Sorry, don't remember the name of it
I used to be an AuPair about 10 years ago and I loved every second of it! http://www.culturalcare.com/hostfamilies/default.aspx You can find a lot of information online regarding AuPairs. AuPairs do not clean and do laundry though, they are not maids.
I'm sort of in Houston...........a burb dweller right now. I live in Pearland, but on the Friendswood side (I could walk to Friendswood, while the "new" Pearland near 288 is a good drive from our house). I've seen some of the agencies, but I guess I got sticker shock. Also, four days a week would be the max that we would need someone. Although looking at it from their end, if I was going to be a nanny, I'd want to make sure I was working full time (in other words, I'm sure we're gonna have to pay for a full time nanny regardless). I wish I could find some old lady that was close...........that would make things easier.
I guess that kind of turns me off on the whole program. I guess this is the snotty American in me showing, but my house is my sanctuary from the outside world where I go out to labor for a better tomorrow. I consider my home--and being in my home--to be the best reflection of the standard of living my wife and I work to provide for our family. If I was going to bring someone in, pay for them to care for my child AND provide them room and board in my house, I would expect them to do at least light house cleaning. Obviously, if every Au Pair out there believes differently, then I would never reach an accord with any of them, and it would never happen.......... But, my expectations for what amounts to an un-skilled laborer given the opportunity to come to America (minus the one week of training they get) is a bit higher. I guess I'd be more amenable to the "an Au Pair is not a maid" attitude if the program was dirt cheap, but it isn't (at least in my eyes, but maybe I'm being unrealistic). In your defense though, I know the Au Pair's only see about half of the money we'd be spending.
No......I think I'm going to hold out for someone who will take care of the baby when he is awake and will take care of other things when he is asleep.
No.....we're just much more likely to consider one of the many nannies who offer to do housework on a website like this (http://www.nannylocators.com/houston.htm) than one of the Au Pairs suggested by Masters Flickvan (assuming they all have the same attitude about housecleaning).
wow, congrats Pole! I'd be scarred ****-less too. So, do you know if it's a boy or a girl, yet? What's the due date? Hopefully, before sweltering August.
It's really not my personal attitude about the issue, it's the standard set by the agency. I do think that "light cleaning" would be Ok, also "light laundry" (the laundry from the baby), but I was told to never, ever think it's Ok for my host family to expect me to do much more than that. I also lived in a pretty wealthy jewish family in Philadelphia and they had both cleaning help and fairly often a personal chef. I guess I had it pretty good compared to my other AuPair friends.
