Hope Skinner, founder Nanny Shecando

Should Nannies Take Sick Days

(Should Nannies Take Sick Days?) When you’re sick but you can’t really afford to take a sick day? Or you’re hesitant to call in sick last-minute because you know it will impact badly on the family.

What do you do? How sick is not quite bad enough to still be able to go to work, or so sick that you’re likely to give the plague to anyone who comes into contact? Do you risk affecting your work ethic by taking a sick day?

Needing to take a sick day can be a stressful issue for most nannies. Especially when considering the potential ramifications and the chance that Boss Mum and Dad may not take too kindly to being thrown in the lurch.

I work for two pretty amazing Bosses. Well, the entire family is pretty cool, but Boss Mum and Dad are definitely more friends than Bosses. Balancing the friend/boss dynamic and keeping personal information at bay is another issue entirely!

I’ve only been sick a couple of times since calling this family mine, and only with migraines and minor colds. Unfortunately, being in close contact with small children means that you’re at direct risk of catching whatever icky-ness they’ve got going on.

The plus side of not having been struck down with anything major is that you’re still functioning enough to pick yourself up and go to work. Not taking a sick day even when you’re sick means that:

1. You Still Get Paid

For those employed on an hourly rate and whom don’t have sick pay negotiated, you don’t miss out on a day’s pay!

2. Your Work Ethic Shines

Going in to work whilst sick means that you are reliable and can be depended upon. Your work ethic doesn’t come in to question!

Of course the downside to this is that you’ve still got to go to work. You’ve still got to go to work and deal with the same routines, the same expectations and the same kids; all whilst not being on your A Game.

Working with kids whilst on struggle street can really be a tough ask. I know that my gift of patience, my ability to see the amusement amongst the drama, and to willingly listen with fevered excitement to a made up unfathomable story already told numerous times is severely compromised during these times. Ok, I know, I’ll accept. Worst. Nanny. Ever.

How I Manage To Go To Work Whilst Being Sick

Because I have sole care of the baby during the days and the three other ratbags (I mean darling girls) are at school during the day, I usually cope pretty well when sick.

1. I Cat Nap and Take It Easy

At Boss Mum’s insistence, I take a catnap on the couch next to the baby when she’s sleeping, and I do a light superficial tidy up and leave the heavy-duty-disaster-zone-clean-up for another day. When you’ve got four kids to clean up after, how I leave the house in the evening is definitely not how I find it the next morning.

2. Fresh Air + Movement

I take the dog and baby out for a long leisurely walk, because fresh air always helps. Even if it’s just to improve my mood and positivity.

3. I Lean On My Contacts + Support System

The older kids get treated to the rarity of mid-week play dates at friends houses so that I don’t need to manage school pick ups in the afternoon.

4. I Make Sure I’m Always Prepared + Organised

I fall back on a “here’s one I prepared earlier” meal for dinner. To get away with taking cat naps and leisurely walks in the park all day instead of my usual routine, I ensure that I always have plenty of supplies in the freezer to take care of family meals.

Having the luxury of an ‘easy day’ is great, but it’s at the expense of maintaining a super organised and well planned household. Meals get pre-made, portioned and stored for later use, washing gets done when it’s there and not after it’s resembling Mt Everest and vacuuming is a daily occurrence.

Not all nannies take this approach towards the job, but as a ‘career nanny’, I see it being that there certainly are great perks to the job, however you’ve got to earn them first.

For most people, the drawcard to being a nanny is the flexibility of work hours, that no two days are the same and that usually (certainly in Australia) it’s well paid. However, the downfall is that this field can also be unreliable and unpredictable.

This job gives me the opportunity to be with kids all day, and to enable my self-induced Peter Pan syndrome. But it comes knowing that things like job security can change instantly. Here in Australia, most nanny’s are not employed on a contract. They’re hired on an hourly rate casual basis, with pay rate according to experience and capabilities. They’re rostered to work days that are subject to change at a moment’s notice, sick leave is not pre-arranged and holiday pay – what holiday pay?

This Christmas, I’m thankful. For the first time in my nanny career, I’ve negotiated an employment agreement and I’m given the luxury of job security. A minimum three-year contract, holiday pay, sick leave where appropriate and loads of benefits. Plus, I gain a second loving family. Living the dream!

So despite having won these benefits, I’m still going to work this week whilst sick. Because to me, it may be a job, but it’s also my passion. I have a relationship with these kids and their parents and I’m not going to let them down. Besides, a day at home would mean I’d miss out on all the family drama. Oops I mean fun.

You don’t always need to take a sick day if you’re organised. Negotiate your terms to take it easy. #nannylife

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>>> Do you think you should go to work even when you’re sick?

The Benefit Of Giving Books As Gifts

“Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book.” – Unknown

I’ve always supported this notion, and have experienced the benefit on many occasions. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been an avid reader. Growing up I could be found with my nose constantly hidden in books and with only half an ear listening to the conversations around me.

At certain times, my mum would have to ‘confiscate’ books so that I didn’t stay up until 4 am reading, and I can strongly remember reading books in class in high school after having finished my work early. I guess that didn’t win me too many friends with either the students or the teacher, not that it particularly bothered me.

I devoured various genres; the classics, the fairy tales, those set above my age and supposed ‘maturity’ allowance and the newest to sit on the Best Seller List.

Harry Potter was read so many times in quick succession that I’ve considered replacing my well-thumbed copies. Anything by John Marsden, Ian McEwan, Melina Marchetta, Alison Lester and anything remotely similar to ‘A Dinner of Herbs’ holds a special space on my bookshelves. Even much treasured kids titles are once again back on the shelves having realised that ‘one can never really grow out of books’.

Sadly I don’t get through many titles at the moment. My bedside table reading pile still features books placed there from last year’s summer reading. I find that the capacity within myself to read is strained, what with the year-long responsibility of arduous text books and any additional reading materials. I then endeavour to read things related to child development and anything else that pop up in electronic form via the various social media outlets.

However, as we begin to hit the cruise control over the summer period, I’m once again excited at the prospect of finding some time to wade my way through the teetering pile of ‘holiday reading’.

Reading is an extra curricular activity that I absolutely adore and treasure and consider to be of vital importance, both for adults and children. As a member of the ‘Book Worm Club’, I strive to promote the same membership to the children I care for.

Reading is an extra curricular activity that children should come to adore! #nannylife #literacy #reading

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Evening story time before bed is a routine that is never forgotten, no matter how tired the kids may be or how busy I may be, afternoon homework and school readers are essential and always done with plenty of time to focus entirely upon the story, and regular trips to the library and book shops are not only encouraged, but pushed until they have no choice but to get on board.

Giving Books As Gifts

As Christmas and Santa and the season of giving is almost around the corner, I’ve been frantically arranging little gifts for all of my children (there’s a whole tribe of them from various nanny jobs and babysitting nights). This year, as with all other years, I’ve selected books as gifts.

Each child has been given a book to suit their interests and reading levels. Something that will be of interest and hopefully spark a desire to turn that first page and to disappear into a world of magic for a little while. I’m aware that because of this choice, I’m at risk of losing my ‘coolness’ title. I’ve not given them the awesome gift they’ve written to Santa about for weeks now. But I am hoping that years from now, those books can still be found on their bookshelves, even when shiny toys lay broken and forgotten.

So here’s a little message from a fellow blogger and school teacher, Norah Colvin, about how to make sure your kids stay well read and up to date with literacy over the long summer break + the benefit of giving books as gifts.

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20 Suggestions for Maintaining Reading Momentum during the School Holidays

(Reblogged from Norah Colvin, you can find her blog HERE)

Please keep in mind, as you read the list, that the amount of support given, or independence allowed, in each activity will need to be adjusted to the individual child’s age and reading ability. Even young children who are not yet reading independently can be included in most activities.

1. Read to and with your child every day – continue the practice established throughout the year with special sharing times during the day or at bed-time — or both!

2. Demonstrate that you value reading by making time for your own reading, or setting aside a special quiet time when everyone in the family reads.

3. Visit the library and borrow to read, read, read!

4. Read poetry books, song books, picture books, joke and riddle books, crossword books, information books, chapter books (these can be read to younger children, or witholder children – taking turns to read a page or a chapter each) — what are your favourites?

5. Trade books no longer read for others at a second-hand book store.

6. When dining out, have your children read the menu and choose their own meal.

7. Include your child in holiday cooking and have them read the recipe – ingredients and method. Perhaps they could read the recipe book to select the meal for the day.

8. Suggest your child read the TV guide to find when favourite programs are showing and establish a timetable for viewing, rather than haphazard watching with random flicking through channels.

9. Provide your child with bookstore catalogues and encourage them to read book descriptions to guide their next selection.

10. Bestow upon your child the title of ‘Family weather watcher’ and have them consult weather forecasts in the newspaper or online to select the most suitable days for planned outings and activities.

11. Include your child in making decisions about holiday activities. Give them the guide, or read the guide together and jointly choose the activities.

12. Make the library, museums and art galleries high on the list of must-dos. Many of these offer a wonderful assortment of free holiday entertainment for children, and reading is an essential part of getting the most from each visit!

13. Engage your child in some craft activities which require them to follow written instructions. The ability to understand and follow procedures is empowering and requires the ability to read written, as well as visual, instructions.

14. Encourage your child to ask questions about every day events and phenomena. Help them to research in books at home, in the library or on the internet.

15. Provide eBooks as well as books in print. Good ones bring a new dimension to the reading experience.

16. When going out for the day, or journeying further away on a holiday, support your child in locating destinations on a map and in selecting an appropriate route. Engage your child in giving directions while en route.

17. Include your child when reading bus or train timetables.

18. When doing the family grocery shop, give your child their own list of items to look for.

19. Listen to recorded books on long car journeys, or have books for listening to or reading along with in bed.

20. Make the most of every reading opportunity that occurs throughout the day!

21. Give books as gifts!

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“The only thing worse than not reading a book in the last ninety days is not reading a book in the last ninety days and thinking that it doesn’t matter.” – Jim Rohn

Escape into the world of books and you could escape to anywhere. #reading #nannylife

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>>> Do you give books as gifts?

Home Alone: The Anxious Child

Anxiety and Kids – When they’re scared to be alone. Irrationally so.

I know that this conundrum is nothing new. And having looked after little children who have a tendency to latch on to my knee and get in under my feet, I know what it’s like. Hello, can I please just have 5 seconds in the bathroom. Alone?! 5 seconds, that’s all. So I’m well aware that having a perpetual shadow is just part of the job.

But is it still normal for a six-year-old to be doing this? To have grown out of the phase years ago and to now find herself revisiting it?

It’s a recently developed thing, but something that is growing steadily worrying, particularly now that the Summer School Holidays are upon us. Long days spent hanging with Miss Charlie that if not careful could slowly begin to undo my carefully crafted routine, my own sanity, and quite probably, that of her own.

So I sat her down and explained that she shouldn’t be worried. That she was at home, safe and sound and in my care. That all of the doors and windows were locked and the garage is security gated. More so, I assured her that I was not going anywhere; that I was there all day to look after her and no one was going to leave her alone. That Mummy was only down the street at work and knowing her, was likely to pop in for lunch. Even further, I re-explained that the house is approximately 30m down from a police station, that the street is lined with police cars coming and going and that I also just so happen to have my very own police officer on speed dial. I think we’re covered.

Even with this reassurance however, she still feels the need to call out to me every 30 seconds. From where she is on the couch to me in the kitchen, or the laundry, or the dining room and even, annoyingly, when in the bathroom. Of course I don’t just wander off. Each time I move I give her an update as to my movements, as if I am my own personal gps tracker.

Yet each time she still feels the need to call out, leaving me to answer with ‘yeah I’m here, what’s up?’. And she then says, ‘nothing just checking’ and that would be that until I move again. I think maybe someone forgot to tell me we’re playing marco polo or battleship. Yesterday, things escalated to tears and a meltdown when I told her I was taking Baby Viv upstairs to put her down for a nap. Needless to say I almost considered the idea that maybe an afternoon nap was best for Miss Six too!

Source

Such is the dilemma I’m facing with Miss Charlie.

I brought the issue up later with Boss Mum but she didn’t seem too concerned. She said it was likely just a phase she was going through and that a while ago they’d accidentally forgotten to tell Miss Charlie they were going to clean the garage. 45 minutes later they’re met with a frantic little girl who thought she’d been forgotten and left at home.

This anxiety that she’s experiencing, defined as being ‘apprehension without apparent cause’, is perhaps not anything out of the ordinary. Most children experience various forms of anxiety, fears and phobias from time to time. It can be a real challenge for parents to face and often invest much time into helping their children to work through these concerns.

So whilst being respectful to BM and accepting that it probably is just a phase, I’m also going to do my best to help Miss C with this over the school holidays. Because this seems like something worth investigating to me, and I know that she should never have occasion to feel anxious nor scared.

Little girls and little boys need to know that they feel safe and are being looked after at all times.

Anyone else had issues like this?
Any suggestions?

Why I’m Not A Fan Of The Electronic Babysitter

The Electronic Babysitter vs Real Life

Because let’s be honest: Real life is a baby-sitter in itself if you know how to tap into it.

Name an electronic device and you’ll quickly run out of fingers to count on. There’s video games, computer games, iPad games, iPhone games, nintendos, game boys, xbox, playstation, Wii, and television. I’m sure there are many other avenues for this mindless amusement that I’ve failed to list, but I’m more than happy to remain ignorant of them! The list is endless.

Given my ignorance, it’ll come as no surprise when I say that video games and I do not mix. We do not play well, we are not friends. In fact, we are anything but friends. I vehemently detest anything associated with them and so far they have been the single contributing factor of relationship distress in my own household.. boys and their toys.

I’m not a big fan of video games being prevalent in the workplace either. I don’t believe that they should be relied upon as ‘electronic babysitters’ nor should they be advocated as suitable activities for young children. Yes there are some great educational apps and activities available these days that are quite beneficial.

Despite this, I’m willing to say that these are the exception and should be used sparingly in certain situations. This is because all too often I hear, ‘my iPad has no battery.. I’m bor-rr-ed’ or ‘there’s nothing on t.v.. I’m bor-rr-ed’ or ‘she won’t let me have a turn on the game, that’s not fair! I’m bor-rr-ed’.

I hear these expressions and I find it very difficult to comprehend and relate to. As a child I could amuse myself for hours, happy to draw or read, or invent my own stories, or get busy with arts and crafts. I could be lost in the imagination of my own head for days, wanting to see out the characters and their story-line.

I did these activities often by myself, without adult prompting or guidance and often without direct adult supervision. Now an adult, I find that I am content in my own company and need not look to other people to stimulate my own amusement and satisfaction. Whether this is a product of my activities as a child I can’t be sure, but I’m willing to wager a guess and say that they would have indeed contributed.