We always encourage parents to consider what their child care philosophy or style is when thinking through their nanny needs. Knowing your care philosophy is important because some of the best family and nanny relationships happen when everyone’s care styles are in alignment.

Not sure what your philosophy is? Below, we walk through the top four most popular child care philosophies. We hope you find this useful!

 

A strong letter of recommendation can make all the difference when a nanny is searching for their next family or when parents are vouching for a childcare provider they trust. In this article, we walk you through what letters of recommendation are, why they matter, how to ask for one, and how to write one.

Specifically, we cover:

What is a letter of recommendation?

Why are they important?

How to ask for a letter of recommendation?

How to write a letter of recommendation?

 

A family recently reached out to us with a question we wanted to share, because it comes up more often than you might expect when a nanny position comes to an end.

“Do we really owe our nanny $15,600 for unemployment?”

It is a tricky topic, and the answer often depends on where you live. Below, we walk through when a nanny may or may not be eligible for unemployment benefits, and what you should do if you receive a claim.

 

Many parents are confused (or just don’t know) about the nanny industry standard for paid holidays. Should you expect to pay your nanny for federal holidays? Which federal holidays should your nanny be paid for? And how does this affect overtime?

We’ve got you covered. Below, we walk through everything you need to know about offering your nanny paid holidays.

 

A common question parents ask us is: “Can I ask my nanny to help with the dishes?”. While it’s not a simple “yes” or “no” question, there are some job duties that are considered standard for a nanny position.

But there are other duties that can move the role more towards a family assistant position. When this happens, the nanny/family assistant will typically ask for a higher hourly rate to account for the additional job duties.

Let’s discuss standard nanny job duties and how to handle dishwashing duties!

 

Nannying can be a fantastic field to get into, as nannies are in high demand in urban areas and there is a high degree of flexibility in the industry.

For many, working as a nanny is a launch point to do more for a family. There are many ways that you can expand upon an existing nanny role in order to make yourself a more valuable asset to the family that you are working with. Below, we share how to offer more services as a nanny.

 

If you live in Washington state, the minimum wage is increasing on January 1, 2024.

Working with a nanny? It’s important to make sure that you are paying your nanny at least minimum wage. This is especially important for families working within a nanny share.

Don’t live in Washington state but want to see if the minimum wage is increasing in your state? Often, changes to minimum wage laws take effect on January 1st. It’s simple! Head on over to Google and search for “(your state) minimum wage” to check.

 

A nanny share can be a fantastic child care option. You receive a higher degree of personalized care than you might get from a child care center, at a more affordable price point than hiring a nanny on your own.

In this article, we walk you through the nuts and bolts of how to set up a nanny share. There are two ways to approach it, and below we cover the steps, pros, and cons for each so you can decide what works best for your family.

 

As the days grow shorter and you start thinking about indoor activities for the kids in your care, here is a fun, free idea worth trying. In this article, we’ll show you how to use ChatGPT to create amazing, customized stories about your children (or nanny kids).

Kids love seeing themselves as the heroes of their own story, and there is no limit to the tales ChatGPT can create. Does your child like the Berenstain Bears and superheroes? Build a story where the Berenstain Bears are superheroes with their own specific powers and your child joins them!

It only takes a few moments to set up. Here’s how it works.

 

The Barbie Movie is everywhere right now and has some great messaging about self worth as well as the world we live in. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out. It’s fantastic!

Working as a nanny can feel a bit isolating at times. You aren’t interacting with coworkers or peers on a regular basis and you may spend hours every day with a little person that can’t communicate with you yet.

That’s why we wanted to share four lessons that nannies can take from the Barbie Movie. We hope you find them fun and useful!

Remember, you are “kenough” 🙂