Video Blog: How To Find A Nanny In A Hot Market! 🔥👩‍👧⁉️

Posted on April 22, 2021June 25, 2021 by Admin Team

Happy Thursday!

Later today, I’m releasing the second installment in my video blog series titled, “How To Find A Nanny In A Hot Market!” and I wanted to share it with YOU first!

Many parents in the Seattle area (and in other regions of the United States) are reporting that it is taking longer than usual to find the right care provider for their family. I’ve been noticing this as well since about the beginning of March 2021 as I work with parents in our community or through our Concierge Service.

I put together my top five tips on how parents can quickly and effectively find a nanny when the supply of available care providers is lower than normal. Scroll down and click on the video to check it out!

Continue reading “Video Blog: How To Find A Nanny In A Hot Market! 🔥👩‍👧⁉️” →

My First Video Blog: Six Questions To Ask A Nanny Before Inviting Into Your COVID Bubble

Posted on April 8, 2021December 23, 2021 by Admin Team

Hi everyone!

I’m excited (and honestly, a bit nervous) to release my first video blog post, “Six Questions To Ask A Nanny Before Inviting Into Your COVID Bubble”!

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been writing and publishing blog articles to help parents and care providers learn more about the different aspects of in-home child care.

Most of the blog posts I have posted take a solid 10-20 minutes to read. If your days are like mine, you may not have that kind of time to sit down to read a blog article.

My hope in switching my written blog to a video blog is to make this information more easily accessible and enjoyable to digest 🙂

Continue reading “My First Video Blog: Six Questions To Ask A Nanny Before Inviting Into Your COVID Bubble” →

Childcare Pay Survey Results – December 2020

Posted on January 22, 2021December 23, 2021 by Admin Team

Over the past several years, we have asked our members and site visitors to complete childcare pay surveys to provide the parents, care providers, and agencies of the Puget Sound region a snapshot of the average pay for different child care scenarios (i.e. one child, two children, nanny shares, sitter, part-time, etc).

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

After deciding to place our pay rate surveys on hold for most of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are excited to announce the results of our December 2020 Childcare Pay Survey! A HUGE thank you to the over 700 people who took the survey!

Continue reading “Childcare Pay Survey Results – December 2020” →

Do You Need a Nanny Search Service?

Posted on January 18, 2021March 25, 2021 by Admin Team

Finding childcare can be stressful. Where to start? How much to offer? How much is this process going to cost? I need a nanny as soon as possible – is that even possible?

Nanny Search Service

Many more parents are working with a nanny these days than ever before (thanks, COVID-19). And many of them don’t even know where to begin. I created Nanny Parent Connection to bring all of the needed resources together in one place where you can learn about working with nannies and find your nanny (or your nanny share family!) as well.

A do-it-yourself search is a great option if you have the time to invest, don’t mind doing some research upfront, and have allotted at least several weeks (or even longer) for your search.

When should you hand off to a professional?

If you don’t have the time to invest in your search, you need to find a nanny in less than a month, or the whole process just seems to overwhelming, it’s a good time to consider having someone handle the search and due diligence process for you.

Continue reading “Do You Need a Nanny Search Service?” →

Year in Review by Melissa the Princess Nanny (and Member Discount to Ring in 2021!)

Posted on January 2, 2021December 23, 2021 by Admin Team

I can’t think of one person who is sad to see 2020 go. It’s been a trying year for us all. Thankfully, a new year brings a fresh start! Here is a message of hope from a member of the Nanny Parent Connection community “Nanny Melissa” aka, Melissa the Princess Nanny – reminding you all we will get through this together.

It’s the most wonderful time of year again! Then again, with everything 2020 brought, saying that it’s the most wonderful time of this particular year isn’t a big stretch. Last year was a really rough year for many, many people. To top it all off, most of us had a very different holiday season.

My family of four (including our puppy, Princess Buttercup) spent the time quietly at home, away from our loved ones, which we view as just one more sacrifice that we are more than willing to make to get to better times again. That doesn’t necessarily make it easier, though.

“We have been enjoying the beautiful city parks Seattle has to offer while social distancing this year”

In 2019, I was a busy full-time nanny and homeschooling Mom to a kindergartener. I was cosplaying as a hobby and form of therapy to help me work through my anxiety and PTSD, which led to me performing at kid’s birthday parties as Disney princesses on the weekends. In short, I was busy and it was a promising year!

Continue reading “Year in Review by Melissa the Princess Nanny (and Member Discount to Ring in 2021!)” →

How Much Does Nanny Childcare Truly Cost?

Posted on December 29, 2020December 29, 2020 by Admin Team

“What costs besides the hourly rate should I expect to pay for nanny childcare?”

This is one of the top questions I hear from parents who are new to considering working with a nanny. And with distance learning and care centers closed or at reduced capacity this year (thanks, COVID-19) it seems like more families than ever are throwing their hats into the “working with a nanny” ring.

My joke with them is that it’s the blog post I keep meaning to write. Well, the wait is over!

And the short answer is that the hourly rate is just the beginning. Today, I will walk you through the various line items of your “all in” cost for finding and working with a nanny for one year.

Continue reading “How Much Does Nanny Childcare Truly Cost?” →

Member Discount Alert: Amazing Balloon Arrangements for All Occasions!

Posted on December 22, 2020December 22, 2020 by Admin Team

It’s been interesting to hear the ways people are trying to make birthday celebrations during COVID times a little more cheerful – especially since we can’t celebrate with our friends and family like we would in a normal year.

And don’t even get me started on the time-honored tradition of blowing out birthday candles with COVID concerns. My favorite GIF to send to friends this year is below – very fitting for this crazy year!

balloon arrangements

I have heard a lot about drive-by birthday celebrations, which I think is brilliant. i have heard of some families going over the top with more birthday gifts than they would normally buy. One family I spoke with went all out on a fancy rainbow cake that they admitted they would never be able to finish up (but it’s all about the presentation, right?).

There was a time when I would go all out with themed parties (think a snake cake with the Reptile Man…)

… Or a volcano cake complete with dry ice in the funnel to look like smoke paired with a mad science themed birthday party.

balloon arrangements

Honestly, my bandwidth is not there right now (hello, distance learning and general anxiety about the state of the world), even for making those extra fancy cakes.

So, with limited bandwidth and no option to host friends, how could we make birthdays feel a little more special this year for the kids?

Continue reading “Member Discount Alert: Amazing Balloon Arrangements for All Occasions!” →

Guest Post: 16 Tips for Balancing Working From Home and Parenting

Posted on November 13, 2020December 23, 2021 by Admin Team

Raise your hand if you ever thought you would be working from home AND caring for your children AND trying to juggle distance learning as well?

I know I certainly didn’t!

It’s been difficult to manage it all to say the least. The pandemic has upended nearly every aspect of our normal routines, and perhaps the most difficult thing of all is that none of us know how long we should plan on doing this new normal.

Continue reading “Guest Post: 16 Tips for Balancing Working From Home and Parenting” →

My Secret “Socially Distanced Outings” Around Seattle: Sammamish Animal Sanctuary

Posted on November 3, 2020December 23, 2021 by Admin Team

This is the third part in a series of posts that I will be publishing in the coming months about my secret “socially distanced outings” that I have been taking our kids on recently (click here to read my first post and here to read the second post). Yes, we continue to visit places like Carkeek Park and some unique places for bike/scooter riding (more on these later) but with the reopening of local playgrounds and parks, the husband and I have begun to grow a bit uncomfortable with the number of people milling around places like Discovery Park, Seward Park, etc. As many of us have learned, it is very hard to stay six feet away from others on trails, beaches and open areas.

My childhood of climbing trees, fishing, building hay forts, swimming in the river, and riding horses on my family’s farm in Forks, WA couldn’t be more different than how my own children are growing up in Seattle.

I never felt this more than when my son recently asked me if a cow he saw had tusks!!! Needless to say, I love any opportunity I can give them to spend time in a farm setting (and obviously we need to do it more).

The Sammamish Animal Sanctuary is a place where neglected animals get a second chance at a happy existence. The animals receive any necessary medical attention, loving care, and in some cases are adopted out.

Continue reading “My Secret “Socially Distanced Outings” Around Seattle: Sammamish Animal Sanctuary” →

Nanny shares are a fantastic childcare option

“What costs besides the hourly rate should I expect to pay for nanny childcare?”