The Multiple Narratives among Nannies and Parents-Part 1

When I started the Same Team online course project roughly a year ago now, I came at the project through the parent lens.  I had heard over and over the online nanny search fails and believed that parents were generally conducting their searches the right way.  As I reflected on my own 7+ years in working with nannies, researched the nanny industry, common cultural/standard practices in the professional nanny community, and listened to countless stories of many career/professional nannies, I realized as a parent I had my blind spots.  The first, most important distinction I made was that not all nannies are the same.  Nanny communities generally fall into two camps: the starter, novice, summer, or “bridge” (between two professions or seasons of education, etc.) nannies and the career/professional nanny.  The majority of nannies you will find posting on the self-search carefinder sites (care dot come, FB search groups) are generally from the first camp: more entry-level.  It’s not always true that career/professional nannies work with nanny agencies, but many times they do.

The more starter, novice type of nanny may be just learning about the nanny world, or using the nanny title with very little experience doing the job.  On the other hand, career/professional nannies often have many years experience, different kinds of nanny-related education, a seasoned “Nanny Practice,” knows just what to look for in job interviews, and can generally hit the ground running in new positions.  Career/professional nannies often charge a much higher hourly rate than beginner nanny for many of the reasons listed above.

In general, there are many kinds of narratives that unfold relative to the experience, background, education, and “level” of the nanny you may be interviewing or talking with.  I can also say this as a parent: unless we have been nannies ourselves, or own a nanny agency, we are often very clueless on the different kinds of nannies and how we might approach working with them.  It’s time we get better informed so we can all have better in-home caregiving experiences!

So I point out differences in the types of nannies out there, and where a parent may find them, because many parents are not sure this differentiation exists and it influences their expectations.  For example, a parent may use the care dot com calculator (which often comes on low re: estimating an hourly nanny rate) and think “ok great!  I can work with a professional nanny of 20 years to take great care of my kiddo and have x, y, and z parts of my household addressed as well.”  Errr… you probably won’t get past the messaging phase with a professional nanny of this status (yes sometimes professional nannies do job search on carefinder sites as well).  So there is the first narrative… a parent’s expectations are almost totally off the mark because they haven’t figured out that pay matches up with the role, responsibilities, and experience the nanny may have.

Other common narratives I’ve observed unfolding:

-An entry level nanny who believes she should earn professional/career level nanny pay because demand for nannies is very high

-A parent who doesn’t know what the standard nanny role is and beyond that involves increased pay (more on this inside the Same Team course)

-A parent who believed they were crystal clear in the work agreement and what was agreed upon upfront simply isn’t happening

-A nanny experiences the “job creep” (increased responsibilities/duties) without it matching up what was initially agreed upon

-A great working nanny/parent relationship where both sides win and feel mutually respected

What has been your narrative or experience as a parent or nanny?  I’d love to hear (and even feature it in this blog!)  Feel free to email me:  [email protected]