Guest post from Lexi Carr. Lexi is a freelance blogger with a focus on family and life experiences. When she’s not spending time with her nieces and nephews, she’s traveling with her partner and learning about the world around her. You can contact Lexi via email here.

In a world where pop culture is king, it may seem like a nearly impossible task to raise children exposed to “culture” – a term who many struggle with defining. According to the New Yorker, culture can mean the set of practices and beliefs that make up norms or may be used in a more traditional sense involving the arts and high societal activities.

Thanks to globalization and technological advances, culture today means much more than being “civilized” or “well educated.” To be cultured is to be exposed to norms that may not be the norm of your own, to be open to differences, and to be aware of the beauty in all forms of art.

Approaching this idea with kids can be difficult and overwhelming.

However, introducing children to culture locally and in the home are great first steps. And it is the responsibility of nannies as well as parents to take those steps with the children in their care.

Continue reading “Immersing Kids in Culture” →

Over in our Facebook group, there was a question recently posed by a nanny (I’m summarizing here):

“I’ve been a nanny for my family for over a year.  After what period of time is it appropriate to ask for a raise?  How do I ask for more paid time off and sick leave? How do I ask for overtime pay, when I initially said it was ok to not be paid that?”

The topic of a raise can be difficult for a nanny, or anyone for that matter, to navigate.  It is pretty standard to discuss any compensation changes with your nanny family after one year.  You may run the risk of things becoming awkward with your family.  The fear of rejection is real. What if they say no? Do you hold your ground and leave if they refuse (even though they are an otherwise wonderful family to work for)? Will they be open to negotiating?

But you know you are providing valuable service to your family.  Their kids are well-cared for.  You’ve never been late to work, or maybe you’ve never even had to call in sick.  You even go above and beyond in chipping in on household duties because you want to.  Making sure you are well-cared for and feeling appreciated is likely important to your nanny parents.  They may just not have thought about it, and may not in the future unless you bring it up!

Continue reading “Nanny Discussion: How and When Should I Ask For A Raise?” →

If you have been active in our Facebook community over the past couple of weeks, you probably noticed strange hashtags being used in some posts. What are these, what do they do, and how can I use them?

One of the issues with a large community such as ours is that it can be difficult to find certain types of child care using the Search feature of our Facebook group.

Example: While you may want to find nannies or families looking for “part time” care, not all members use the term “part time” in their post meaning that you may not be able to find those families or care providers.

In an effort to expand the results you see when utilizing the search feature, we have started to add #npc hashtags to posts to standardize certain types of care opportunities. 

Continue reading “Search More Efficiently. Use #NPC Hashtags!” →

Between school, playdates and activities, let’s face it – your nanny is likely driving your children around A LOT. Some families are able to provide a car for the nanny to shuttle the kiddos around in.  More often, however, nannies are using their personal vehicles for these trips. 

Check out these tips for parents (and nannies) before your nanny hits the road with the kids.

#1: DMV Records

I recently was helping a mother with her search for a nanny.  I was happy to receive a message from her saying she had found a nanny, pending a background check! 

Several days later, she let me know that they were continuing with their search ☹️

Continue reading “Nanny Driving the Kids? Step on the Brakes and Read these Six Tips!” →