Happy New Year All. I hope your
holidays went well and every one is off to a great start.
You may have noticed that the
December issue never arrived and I apologize. I was up to my
eyeballs in holiday preparations, sick kids and finding a nanny for
an friend in need. Yes, its true, this past November, I stepped up
to the plate, and agreed to find a full time nanny for a family in
need. And now, I have a new found appreciation and understanding for
agency owners. Trust me, the job is not for the faint of heart.
Between tracking down references at night, disappointing candidates
who did not fit the specifications of the family, and then having
one very qualified candidate pull a "no show" for her
appointment, I now have a much better understanding of what it takes
to run a placement agency.
I must say, I did enjoy the
face to face interviewing, since most of my work is via the web. I
actually met quite a few nice women with lots of experience who love
their jobs and the kids they care for. It was a wonderful reminder
of why I’m in this business to begin with. On the other hand,
getting over the disappointment when the family didn’t take to a
candidate that I really liked will have to come with time.
In any event, it was a fabulous
learning experience and one I will probably pursue in the future. I
hope you nannies out there take one tip from this little story, if
you decide you are not interested in a job, show the agency and the
family the courtesy of a phone call. The Agency grape vine runs far
and wide. You do not want the word to get out that you can not be
trusted. Be up front with an agency from the beginning. They do not
want to send you on an interview for a job you are really not
interested in. It does not make them look good and it wastes
everyone’s time.
Okay, on with the newsletter.
We have quite a few helpful tips in this month’s issue which is
dedicated to starting the year off on the right foot. I hope they
help you and yours do just that.
Safety
Tips for You and Your Nanny
Well, whether you have just
hired a nanny or have employed one (or been one) for years, the
following tips are good reminders for all of us on how to
stay safe.
Car
Place contact information on a
card in the glove compartment of the car that nanny uses to
transport the kids. If your nanny is driving and is injured in an
accident, a contact card will
allow emergency workers to
contact you quickly.
Be sure car seats are installed
properly and nanny knows how to adjust the seats properly.
Do not allow eating or talking on
the cell phone while driving and be sure to take your new nanny on a
test drive to point out the features of the car and what each little
knob, light and sound means.
Chemicals
If your nanny uses chemicals
while cleaning, do not assume that she knows not to use ammonia and
chlorine bleach together. If you have both in the house, remind her
that the two together can result in toxic gas. You don’t want
nanny passed out in the bathroom with no one home to call for help.
If hubby puts down mouse poison
or something else that could be toxic to the kids. Be sure nanny
knows about it.
Post the phone number for Poison
Control and other emergency numbers on your refrigerator. Here is a
free offer through The Council on Family Health for a Babysitter
Center poster and emergency stickers.
http//www.cfhinfo.org/drafts/Babysitter_Center_Ordering.htm
Stranger Safety
Every employer should have a
standing rule with their nanny. "Unless I tell you otherwise,
there are no repairmen scheduled to visit the house." And this
goes also for Nanny. Some nannies do all the repair scheduling. Be
sure to tell a temporary sitter or even your employers that this is
your rule as well.
This was a very helpful tip from a
police officer who spoke at the NAN convention. If someone knocks at
the door, do not pretend to be out. Be sure to come to the window of
the door. Intruders are checking to see if anyone is home. If they do
not hear anyone inside, their next move is to go around back and break
in. After you scare the individual away, contact the police department
to report a suspicious person in your neighborhood.
Get your nanny a cell phone. All an
intruder needs to do is to take one phone off the hook in the house,
and your nanny has no way to call for help. A cell phone will help you
stay in contact with her during the day, and will give her a way to
call for help should she have car trouble. Just be sure to emphasize
that she
is never to talk on the phone while
driving and try not to call her when you think she may be in the car.
Alarm System
If you have an alarm system, teach you nanny how to use it. If there
are features that could help her in case of an emergency i.e. a panic
button, etc. make sure she knows how to use them. If you want her to
set the alarm when she leaves, teach her the code and have her try to
set it.
Water Safety
If you are like me and you live in a town where almost everyone either
lives on the water or has a swimming pool, water should be a major
concern in your family. Map out your water safety policy with your
Nanny and make sure she sticks to it. If you live on the water or have
a pool, you should have safety policies that your children and nanny
live by i.e. the children can not be unsupervised in the back yard for
even a second. If the phone rings, let the machine pick it up. If you
have a dock and your kids love to play around it, lifejackets are to
be worn at all times or they aren't allowed on the dock. If a friend
has invited your child over after school and you know the friend has a
swimming pool, make sure an adult will be home with the children at
all times. The more your Nanny knows about water safety the more she
can teach your children about it. The
LifeWithNanny
website has more
information on Water Safety as well as Plant Safety and Library Safety
if you or your Nanny want to know more.
A True Safety Story
Phone Safety
If a stranger calls, I never under any circumstances tell them that my
employers are not home and here’s why.
Three months into my first nanny
job, both of my employers went out of town. Ironically, my employer
had just been written up in the paper for a promotion at work.
The morning after she left, someone
called the house and asked for her. The 12 year old, not thinking,
said she was not there, the man calling said , "well can I speak
to her daughter?" She said "Which one?" he said
"the oldest one." She put down the phone and called her
sister by name.
When her sister picked up the phone
upstairs, the man called her by name and said that he had her mom, and
she had been raped, she was ok, but he needed directions to where we
lived so that he could bring her home. He said "Tell me where you
live and go open the garage door so I can carry her in."
The oldest daughter was very smart,
and quickly said "Let me talk to her" the man continued to
say "Just tell me where you live." She put down the phone
and came for me, but by the time I got there the man had hung up.
We were all terrified. We did not
know who this was or how much he knew but we were fairly certain that
he did not have the mom.
I tried to no avail to reach both
parents (18 years ago not everyone had cell phones) My only thought
was to get the kid somewhere safe. I called my parents, packed up the
kids and off we went to my moms. We did have the neighbors watch us
out the driveway and to the highway to be sure we were not being
followed.
By the time we got to my parents,
the mom and dad had called and they were both safe but it was still
one of the scariest experiences I have ever had as a nanny. The man
continued to call for about a month until one day, he called and I
answered the phone. I pressured him to tell me who he was, and he just
kept saying he worked with the mom. Finally I said "Look, this is
Jill! (the mom) and I don't know you! and he hung up and never called
again, but it taught me a good lesson about how much information we
unwittingly can give out on the phone and I am always, to this day,
extremely cautious. I always say they are not available and ask for a
return number.
When I answer the phone, and
someone says "Who is this?" my response is always "Who
were you calling?" or "What number were you trying to
reach?" If someone is persistent about when my employer will be
home or available, I ask "Was he/she expecting your call?"
We also have a no call list here,
and if a telemarketer does call (which happens almost never now) I
simply say that we are on the no call list and if they call again we
will report them.
Many states have no call lists now,
check to see if your state has one and ask your employer if they would
like to be on it.
I do have a good reason for being
cautious with the phone calls.
When I started working for my
current employers I told them my story and warned them to tell their
friends that until I got to know them, they would not get a lot of
information from me.
Another part of this very long tip,
is that parents might want to talk to their nannies about how to deal
with the phone and unknown callers. Hope that helps.
By Stephanie Felzenberg, Editor of Be
the Best Nanny Monthly Guide
Whether a nanny and employer signed a
contract when the nanny started working for the family or not, the start
of the new year is a great time to discuss a pay raise and an annual
bonus.
In the January 2003 issue of the
nanny trade publication, Be the Best Nanny, Anne Merchant
of the online training program at www.professionalnanny.com
answered nanny questions about raises and bonuses. Anne explained that
it is never too late to bring up the subject of a raise.
Anne's best advice for nannies who
want to re-negotiate their salary is to convey to the parents their
level of commitment to the children. Nannies should discuss how they are
working to enrich their charges' lives. Nannies ought to show the
parents all they have done, planned, and implemented and be as specific
as possible.
Anne's suggestions for
re-negotiating your nanny salary are as follows
1. See what other families are
paying for nannies in your area. Compare salaries of in-home child
care providers with equivalent experience and education as yours.
2. Know what the salary or hourly
figure you are comfortable with. It's always better to keep a job you
like despite a little less money than staying at a job you hate that
pays more.
3. Understand how the economy is
impacting your employer. Consider creative ways to increase
compensation. Perhaps they can offer you more vacation time or
personal use of their car to show appreciation for good work.
4. Understand your feelings about
your job.
5. Address the issues your
employers might have.
6. List all of the things you have
done to improve your charges quality of life in terms of the parent's
priorities.
For more information and the
helpful forms needed to re-negotiate your nanny salary, contact Be
the Best Nanny Monthly Guide for one free sample of the
monthly newsletter at
Be the Best Nanny
PO Box 43477
Upper Montclair NJ 07043
973-783-3760
bethebestnanny@aol.com
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