It’s seven o’clock in the evening when you hear a text message come in. Your nanny lets you know she is sick and won’t be in the next day. You feel panic rising up in your body…your husband is on a business trip and you can’t miss work tomorrow. You madly scroll through your contacts and message anyone who might be able to help. No luck.

It’s six o’clock in the morning and you wake up feeling like you had waaaay too much fun last night…only it’s flu season and your carefree partying years are just a vague memory now. Ugh. And your other half can’t miss work. How will you EVER keep up with your two spider monkeys – I mean, kids – AND avoid getting them sick as well?

These are actual scenarios that have happened to me. I was thankful to have Nanny Parent Connection as a resource to find last minute child care each time. But I’ll admit, I was a little nervous and stressed because like most parents, I don’t just let ANYBODY watch my kids.

As a parent who regularly needs last minute fill-in child care (because honestly, who wants to tote three children along to a doctor appointment, or to a pedicure or lunch with a friend), I found myself wishing for an option that made me feel more comfortable with the person caring for my children in a pinch.

I’m SO excited to announce that we will soon be launching our VERIFIED Last Minute Care Service!

Continue reading “Launching Soon: VERIFIED Last Minute Care Service!” →

Note from Laura: This week, the Seattle City Council passed a hastily organized Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights. Despite the best efforts of nannies, the language in the bill is muddled, and may be interpreted in a way that runs counter to industry standards and established law. More specifically, parts of this bill leave nannies open to being misclassified as independent contracts or salaried employees. This bill could NEGATIVELY impact families that employ nannies or other household employees.

Please take a moment to read the below message written by nannies and join me in signing their petition to Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan calling on her to hear the collective voice of nannies across Seattle. You will find the link to the petition at the end of this post. Thank you in advance!

As you may have seen in the news, the Seattle City Council unanimously passed the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights. This bill, and the laws that it just enacted, seek equal rights for domestic workers such as home caregivers, house cleaners, and nannies.

Specifically, the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights will:

• Ensure domestic workers are paid the minimum wage
• Provide guaranteed breaks
• Make withholding of identity papers (e.g. passports, gov’t issued immigration documents) illegal
• Stipulate overtime pay regulations
• Require 24 hours off for every six consecutive days worked for live-in domestic workers
• Create a standards board where federal and state laws can be upheld for domestic workers

Continue reading “Help Nannies Be Heard! Sign Their Petition Today!” →

My husband is a tad obsessed with technology. While we currently have both an audio and video baby monitor to keep an eye (and ear) on the twin babies, he wanted to make use of the Amazon Echo Dots that we currently have scattered across our house to monitor the children.

I’ve tried this out and it works GREAT! An excellent idea for parents not wanting to shell out $100+ for a new baby monitor and for nannies and sitters that might want to keep an ear on what the older kids are doing in the other room.

If you already have Echo devices installed in your home, this will literally take about three minutes to set up.

Continue reading “Pro Tip: Use Amazon Echo Devices As A Baby Monitor” →

Note from Laura: With the start of the school year just around the corner, many parents are considering the different types of child care for their little ones. As our family has grown, my husband and I have had countless discussions about what type of child care is the best for introducing our children to the idea of community, peers, and decision-making.

If we hire a nanny, do our kids miss out on peer interactions that are vital for their development? Is it better for our children to be surrounded by their peers in a preschool or daycare environment? Read on for an incredibly insightful post from certified parenting coach and local mom Beaven Walters.

As parents of young children, you have many decisions to make during the first several years of your child’s life.

Cloth or disposable diapers?

Homemade baby food or store bought?

Co-sleeping or a crib in a separate room?

Return to work or become a stay-at-home parent?

There are so many choices before you and so much conflicting information to wade through. As modern parents, you want to make the best choices for your children that can help them on their road to maturation and reaching their full potential in life.

When it comes to choices around socialization, you may be weighing the options of a daycare, a nanny/nanny share/au pair, a preschool, toddler classes, or playgroups. You may fear that if you are a stay-at-home parent or if your children are in the care of a nanny or au pair during the day, they may not have the same opportunities to become socialized as compared to children in daycares or preschools. However, that is one fear I hope to alleviate because the reality is that peers and peer friendships are not the key to your child becoming socialized.

Continue reading “Guest Post: Do Young Children Need Peer Interaction to Become Socialized?” →

This excellent post is by Jason King – a male nanny (or manny) and member of the Nanny Parent Connection. Find out more about Jason at the conclusion of this post.

How fortunate are we to live in a city where a collective striving toward open-mindedness, inclusion, and equity is commonplace?

Undoubtedly, there’s still much room for improvement on all fronts, but nonetheless, when all is said and done, we’ve got it pretty good up here. I’m always heartened to hear stories of individuals who’ve uprooted from a rather difficult life elsewhere in search of solace, acceptance, and community here in Seattle.

I’m so grateful that, in the place we call home, most of our friends and neighbors are of the belief that diversity inherently produces a richer, more nuanced, and more dynamic society. Beyond mere acceptance, many of us yearn for and deeply appreciate any opportunity to challenge our traditional notions of class, race, gender, orientation, etc., and we pride ourselves on the willingness and ability to navigate this often treacherous terrain.

So it’s for this very reason that I find it all the more perplexing and confounding that there are still so few male nannies employed in childcare (as mannies), and even fewer represented as birth professionals (midwives, birth/postpartum doulas, childbirth educators, etc).

Continue reading “Guest Post: Why A Male Nanny?” →