I was recently speaking to a single mom who was sharing her struggles with finding reliable childcare for her son during the school year. Over the past year, the mother had been dropping her son off at a generous friend’s house.

This arrangement had been working well for them, but it would not be an option for the next year. School wasn’t even out for the current year, but already the mother was stressing out about how she was going to find reliable before and after school child care for her son for the next year.

after school child care

I was in a similar position back when I moved to Seattle as a single mother of one. I was able to find a home daycare for my son – but it didn’t open until 8 am. I had to be at work at 6:30 am each morning. How was I going to find care for just two hours each day, and find someone reliable and trustworthy?!

Continue reading “Seven Tips To Find A Nanny For Before and After School Child Care”

 

The Mr. took our three year old boy and our 11 month old twins (boy and girl) to the Woodland Park Zoo earlier this week. He wrote this great post about what the kids enjoyed the most, and what they found to be kind of “meh”. Enjoy!

Our three year old boy has been asking me to go to the zoo for the past couple of weeks. Earlier this week, we loaded up the twins and trekked up to the zoo.

If you have ever visited the zoo, you know there are dozens of activities and exhibits to visit. It’s hard to see it all if the zoo is busy or it’s getting close to nap time. For this visit, I wanted to put together a list of what the kids enjoyed the most so that next time we visit, I know what to prioritize.

To accomplish this, I enlisted the help of my three youngest children. I explained to the three year old boy that I wanted him to tell me what exhibits/activities he liked the best via thumbs up. We came up with the following scale:

👍👍 – Awesome, amazing, “the coolest ever”

👍 – Pretty cool, “I’m tired of this Dad. Let’s go see the elephants”

🖐 – Okay, meh, “Wow, look at this – a leaf!”

Note: I know that there are no longer elephants at Woodland Park Zoo but he didn’t believe me. Despite about 17 attempts.

The twins don’t talk yet so no “thumbs up scale” with them. Instead I determined their level of interest in an exhibit/activity based on whether it seemed to capture their attention or not.

Without further ado…

woodland park zoo

Continue reading “Woodland Park Zoo: Top 12 Things to See and Do | Kids’ Perspective”

 

I frequently get emails from new parents who want to have a nanny care for their child, but they don’t know what the norms are for working with a nanny or where to start. Nannies often reach out to me as well, with questions about their working relationships with their families or compensation for the work they do. To offer a different perspective, I invited Amy Martino – a seasoned, professional Seattle nanny to offer some insights about these things from a nanny’s point of view. Thanks for this great post Amy!

The Nanny World

Seattle is booming! New families are moving to the area at astounding numbers – and with them comes their need for child care. Parents face long wait lists at daycares and in turn start exploring the idea of hiring a nanny.

Nannies are moving here too, lured by the prospect of good pay, and are often weighing multiple offers.

nanny's point of view

Continue reading “Guest Post: A Professional Nanny’s Perspective”

 

Over the last several months, we have asked our members to complete pay surveys to provide the parents and care providers of our region a snapshot of the average pay for different child care scenarios (i.e. one child, two children, nanny shares, etc).

You can find the results of those surveys by clicking here.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we decided to give SurveyMonkey a try with our June 2018 Two Children Nanny Pay Rate Survey (not a nanny share).

The results are in! Thanks to all of you who spent the one minute and three seconds (the average time) to complete the survey!

As you can tell, there is a lot more information below versus our previous surveys. I very much want to hear what you think about these new surveys. Are there other questions you would like asked? Would you mind if the survey was a bit longer? Comment below!

Continue reading “Seattle Area Nanny Pay Rates – Two Children | June 2018 Update”

 

summer camp

Member Discount Alert

Discounted Summer Camp Offer from the Pacific Science Center!

Save $30 When You Register for Summer Camps in June

Summer is less than three weeks away – have you made your childcare plans for the end of June? Keep your child engaged and learning this summer in Pacific Science Center’s Camps for Curious Minds!

Use the special promo code to receive $30 off when you register online for any camp during the week of June 25-29. Spaces available in Seattle, Bellevue and Kirkland for kids in grades Pre K to 8th grade.

There is something for everyone! Check out this link to see the schedule and other details.

Valid on new purchases only. Cannot be applied to a previous purchase.

Members – for instructions on how to redeem, click here!

Not a member yet? Sign up today! Memberships start at $2.99/month for care providers and $8.99/month for parents. Click here to sign up!

 

If you are someone who is around small children often, you know all too well that accidents happen. None of us are immune.

nanny insurance

Employing a nanny carries with it some risk of accidents happening – both for the nanny AND for the family. When an accident occurs while on the job, the family is usually liable.

Examples of risks to the nanny involve driving the children around in the car, accidents during outings (like being bitten by a dog while visiting the park), etc. Some scenarios of risks to the family may include any liability involving the nanny getting into a car accident while on the job or having another child injured in their home (as with a nanny share situation).

Most families attempt to reduce the risk of these types of events occurring by thoroughly checking the care provider’s references, background, driving history, etc. Another way to lower this risk is by ensuring that adequate insurance coverage is in place.

Imagine the following scenario:

Continue reading “Are You Covered? Top 5 Nanny Insurance Questions Answered”

 

Two Children Nanny Pay

Over the last several months, we have asked our members to complete pay surveys to provide the parents and care providers of our region a snapshot of the average pay for different child care scenarios (i.e. one child, two children, nanny shares, etc).

You can find the results of those surveys by clicking here.

Several members have taken issue with these pay surveys as they feel they could be more accurate if variables such as location, duties, experience level, etc. were taken into account. While we agree, our intent with these previous pay surveys was to provide a rough idea of the average pay across our region for different types of child care, which we believe was accomplished.

But we have been listening…

As we begin refreshing the results of the initial round of pay surveys, we are going to try something a bit different. The embedded Facebook polls we have been using were very limiting – we could only ask members to respond to one question at a time. Moving forward, we are going to give SurveyMonkey a try and see if we can generate more refined results for those parents and care providers that are interested.

So, without further ado, we present our May 2018 Caring for Two Children Nanny Pay Rate Survey (wow, that’s a mouthful). The survey is very short and you should be able to complete it in about two minutes:

Care Providers – have you provided child care for two children from the same family in the past year? Parents – in the past year, have you employed a nanny to care for two of your children? If so, please complete the survey below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/F5VZYJ6

The survey is now closed. The survey will be live for about the next 10 days. The results will be posted to this blog and our Facebook community.

Finally, I would love to hear what you think about this survey. Was it too long? Are there questions you feel should be added? Please comment below!

 

Ah, spring time in Seattle – the time of year where you can see the cherry blossoms in their full glory at the University of Washington, baby ducklings at Green Lake, convertible owners with the tops down on a sunny 60 degree day, socks with sandals (because it’s not really warm enough to just wear sandals) and a year’s worth of seasons in a single day.

sunscreen

We have had some amazingly warm, sunny days recently. I love it that the kids can get outside so much! In many ways I am extremely ready for the nice weather, but at the same time it can catch me off guard. If you’re anything like me, your recent activities may have included furiously scrubbing the water table or kiddie pool out, digging through a box of  clothes to find sun hats, and crossing my fingers that last year’s shorts still fit!

The recent sunny weather also left me scrambling to find some sunscreen leftover from last year.

Continue reading “Is Your Kids’ Sunscreen Really Protecting Them? Top 5 Seattle Parent Recommended Sunscreens and Tips”

 

Beginning in October 2017, we started polling our Facebook community of over 18,000 members to get a better sense of nanny pay rates for the greater Seattle area. Over the past two weeks, we resurveyed the members to gather current data on pay rates to care for one child and to compare them to the results from October 2017. The results are in!

The first graphic below shows the results from our most recent poll followed by the graphic detailing the results from our October 2017 survey. As you can tell, the average pay is virtually unchanged.

As the graphics below state, please DO NOT use this as a definitive guide to nanny pay rates in our area. We did not ask respondents to include variables such as benefits, # of hours worked, job duties, the specific location in our area where the care occurred, etc. Use this as a rough snapshot of current trends in the Puget Sound region.

As you can tell, there is a vast difference in nanny pay rates across our region. Parents – what do you pay for a provider to care for your little one? Nannies – what are you paid to care for one child? Comment below!

Continue reading “Seattle Area Nanny Pay Rates – Caring for One Child | May 2018 Update”

 

I remember the thought that popped into my mind when my firstborn was placed upon my chest immediately after he was born…

“Things” just got real

I thought I was prepared and really grasped what it meant to have a newborn. That moment I held my baby for the first time made me realize that nothing could have truly prepared me for that moment. I was fortunate that my mother-in-law was a retired NICU nurse – she showed me everything I needed to know about caring for a baby.

what does a postpartum doula

I have heard many parents express worry about caring for their newborns. How will they know what to do? The good news is, a lot of it is pretty intuitive. Also, babies are fairly resilient! They are experts at knowing what they want and fussing until we correctly address their need.

I hear tales of magical unicorn babies who are great sleepers. I always wonder if it’s just the nature of the child, or something the parent does? That said, none of my four babies have been great sleepers. The first few months were especially tough with the twins!

Continue reading “What Does a Postpartum Doula Do?”