Hope Skinner, founder Nanny Shecando

Supporting The Nanny Community Through Precious Partnership

Guess what, I’ve been holding out on you! Yes that’s right. You might recall that I’ve been hinting at this big, new, exciting, thing to be popping up soon. I’ve been keeping it under wraps whilst we all did ‘our thang’ behind the scenes (even though I did mention that something was coming up soon because I was just so full of excitement). And you might have seen me jumping up and down shouting to all who’d listen on the Nanny Shecando Facebook page last week, but for those of you who don’t see my updates (we’re not a big fan of Facebook lately) I want to share the exciting news with you here at long last!

It’s no secret that I’m pretty big on supporting the nanny community. I think for those of us working with kids, be it as nannies, as child care workers, or as educators, I really believe we need to band together and push the camaraderie. Because we engage in a role that is as equally demanding and confronting as it is rewarding and loving and inspiring. And in doing so, we share in something so special and unique that we really should share these experiences with others as we learn from them.

So when a Sydney (Australia) based nanny agency contacted me to arrange a catch up over coffee, I jumped at the chance. The result of which, I can finally announce, is a working collaboration to join forces and share the #nannylife stories.

I am going to be a regular contributor to the blog over at Precious Peeps website talking all things kids, childcare, nannies and education with a focus on playtime and adventure.

Precious Peeps is a nanny agency with a true passion for connecting those little precious people with equally precious carers. Bek Rokov, founder of Precious Peeps, has a background in childhood development. Once a nanny herself, she created her agency to meet the demand for trustworthy and diligent carers.

At Precious Peeps, they’re passionate about hiring the best nannies and maintaining ongoing support and training to continue to develop their skills and abilities. They’re passionate about matching the most appropriate nanny with families and helping them to together take on the daily challenges of child rearing and to go forth and conquer in shared understanding.

“Helping mums and dads find a Nanny or Babysitter for their precious little people.”

So as we begin the start of a new friendship and partnership, I thought I’d share a little bit more about me, my background, on Nanny Shecando and life as a nanny.

I am a nanny for a busy Sydney based family who require an extra hand to keep track of the where’s and the why’s, the what’s and the how’s. With two pre-teens, a 7 year old and a baby, I have my hands full each day.

Being quite partial to the well-loved and childlike activities of creating, imagining, dreaming and acting, I embrace my inner child and spend my days surrounded by kids. As a nanny I’m a big fan of craft and hands on activities, encouraging kids to seek enjoyment outdoors and capturing the educational benefits from structured and free play.

I’ve worked with children of varying ages and for a number of families and have learnt many things. For example, working with kids is not always easy. It can be messy, stressful, relatively thankless and comes with the burden of responsibility. Some times the days can seem endless, the invasion of personal space seem intoxicating and the constant nonsensical chatter seem draining. On the other hand, I can truly say that being able to see the kids grow and prosper whilst sharing in their lives is the ultimate reward and the best part of my job.

When I’m not driving kids to extra curricular activities, cooking dinner one handed with a baby on my hip and over seeing homework, I am soaking up the sunshine and attempting to live a healthy lifestyle on Sydney’s North Shore whilst writing a childcare and education oriented blog about the quirky observations of life from a child’s perspective.

Hope, aka Nanny Shecando.
xx

You can find more information about Bec and Precious Peeps at their Website and on Facebook.

This post appeared first in it’s original state on Precious Peeps. Photo credits to www.preciouspeeps.com.au

A Modern Day Nanny

I have something a little different to share with you today. Because I know I can get a little ho hum with the monotony of routine and normality, I figured I’d mix it up a little. Today I’m excited to introduce the very first guest blog post here at Nanny Shecando. I’m handing the reigns over to a fellow nanny friend to bring you today’s instalment. Did I mention I’m all about promoting the nanny community? Click this link for more details. Marika has some stories to tell and a different perspective to share about the #nannylife.

Marika is an Australian based nanny working for a happening family in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. With three kids under her wing she’s sure got her hands full! Like myself, she fell into this role as a way to escape the dull drums of the typical workforce. And after reading her post, I’m sure you’ll agree it’s safe to say that Marika is loving the change of pace. (Even if the #nannylife does have it’s share of ups and downs). So Marika, over to you!

Hello fellow nannies, babysitters, and au pairs. Or to put it more accurately, fellow referees, taxi drivers, UN peace keeping officials, nurses, paramedics, policeman and dictators. At this point, I’m sure you’re nodding along emphatically to the many titles we carry under the over arching umbrella of a nanny. And whilst we’re on the topic of worldwide recognised terms, I want to point out that they’re not always so accurate. Because sometimes these three main terms simply don’t properly describe the roller coaster ride of melodrama that is the life of a nanny.

Nanny or Babysitter?

Take the word “nanny” . Does the cliché of a stout uniformed lady, complete with thick Scottish or northern English accent pushing an old-fashioned pram around a manicured garden come to mind? Or do you think of Jo frost (aka SuperNanny) who seemingly solves a family’s entire issues within a single episode. She simply throws around her that’s unasseptabool catch-phrase and everything sorts itself out. If only, right!

Although, it’s true that within the first weeks of my current nanny job I was automatically and frequently screaming out unacceptable as a totally involuntary reflex. I’m certain that in a couple of hundred years time anthropologists and geneticists will conclude that the word must be imprinted on the nanny-survival part of our DNA. Please tell me you have a catch phrase you use on the kids too!

What’s more, suffice to say that unless you are looking after a small baby that sleeps like those precious angels in the Johnson & Johnson adverts, there is very little “sitting” in babysitting.

Oh La La, Au Pair!

As for the word “au pair”, it originates from the French term meaning “on par with” or “equal to”. This of course refers to the post WWII societal changes that led to those employed as joint child carers and housekeeps to be considered as part of the family. Yep that’s right, bye bye “The Help”, hello “Mary Poppins”. Except for the fact that in today’s working environment of time-poor 60+ hour working weeks, the term au pair more accurately describes your role as being a substitute parent.

What’s more, this definition is all well and good, except for the fact that in English the word “pair” has an entirely different meaning. In English, it connects to words like harmony, partnership, co-operation and the notion of matching up. If any of this describes your reality, can I please just strangle you in a fit of jealous rage? Or trade places. Either works.

My Nanny Life

So I guess you’re wondering who I am. My name is Marika and I’m a nanny. I’ve been with my current family for almost two years after making a major career change. The family of three kids, aged 6, 8 and 11 is a welcome change from the corporate rat-race and office politics that I’d been dealing with for years. Because I’ll be honest, dealing with kids was more appealing than dealing with immature adults acting like school-yard bullies who’d never surpassed their childhood counterparts. At least with my kids, when you get to the end of your tether you can put a stop to their misbehaviour with one simple yet effective threat. I’m talking about the classic “I’m cancelling x,y x”. Something that normally doesn’t get you anywhere in the workplace, or so I’ve heard.

Which brings me to my next point. Kids have come a long way in terms of brazen emotional manipulation. Putting frogs in pockets and pine cones on seats as a “welcome” hazing to the new nanny? Feigning tears of regret when passive-aggressively called out on it? Amateurs! These days it’s all about the mind games. Now it’s all psychological torture, drama, intrigue, and political double-crossing. And that’s just the car ride home from school.

Another thing, a spoonful of sugar does not make the medicine go down. In fact, a spoonful of sugar leads to another spoonful of sugar. Pretty soon you’ve got a drug like dependence to the entire snack aisle at Coles. Next up, predictable post sugar-rush mood swings, tears and temper tantrums. Fun times. By the way, you know those chocolate stains on the back seat of the car and mutated cheese sticks? Get used to them, they’re there to stay.

But as challenging as this gig is, I wouldn’t trade if for anything else right now. Because honestly, what other job gives you innocently unrehearsed and yet laugh out loud entertainment?

“Does she believe in God?” “I think she does… because every day she’s always screaming OH MY G…” or “She’s broke. That means she has almost no money in her account”. Well hey, at least they’re paying attention to what I’m saying. Or listening to the youngest singing a made up song in the bath, having clearly been taught the story of Easter during his religious studies in class: “Don’t kill Jesus… otherwise they’ll have to call the police…”

At any given moment you can hear fragments of earnest conversation like this (and most times it’s about yourself) that only kids can come up with.

The Take-Away

I think though, my favourite part of the nanny job is the ongoing supply of handcrafted gifts the girls make for me. My jewellery is well stocked care of these bright loom bands from Miss11. And my storage has had a modern update by way of this paper box from Miss9. Whether handmade or a simple sticker from their precious collections, they make me feel loved and special.

Those daily melodramatic dramas? Totally worth it!

Until next time, stay sane my fellow super nannies and parents alike!

What’s your perception of a nanny? Do you think Mary Poppins or Mrs Doubtfire? Have you ever employed a nanny? Oh and Mrs X in the Nanny Diaries sound a little far fetched, not at all!

For further enquiries, suggestions, or to express general expressions of empathy, you can contact Nanny McTreehugger via her name (all one word) at gmail.

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Prioritising Personal Time As A Nanny

The Nanny Life: Coffee & Socialising On Work Time – Ethical?

(Prioritising personal time) Life working as a nanny (just like most jobs where kids are involved) has its many good days and bad days. There are the days when you feel so much love, warmth and happiness you think your heart might burst. The days when you’re absolutely sure you’re doing exactly what you were destined to do and that things could not be more perfect if you tried. These are the days when the kids you nanny for, your ‘charges’, feel like your own kids. And happily so!

Then there are the days when the baby hasn’t slept all night, won’t eat, is resisting cuddles and fighting off all attempts to settle down for a nap. There are the days when the kids have gooey colds, insist on wiping their snotty faces all over you and think re-papering the floor in dirty tissues for you to pick up is a good idea. And there are the days when the 7-year-old fakes a ‘sicky’ from school, and in doing so foils your plans to get out for a run with the pram whilst bub is sleeping. Although still preferable to when bub is not sleeping.

Then there’s the days when you’ve scheduled to meet a friend for a quick coffee in between errands. The baby’s asleep, your to-do list is done and you’re out anyways. You’ve got a window of opportunity and regardless, you’d still be stopping for coffee. So if you’re meeting a friend, what’s the harm? Besides, a rare conversation with another adult wouldn’t go astray!

Except now you’re loaded with guilt. Because should you really indulge in a personal activity whilst on work time? Should you have told BossMum of your plans and cleared it with her first? Should you adjust your time sheet to account for a 30 minute break? Should you stay back late that night to make up for it? Or should you put forward that maybe the autonomy and freedom has gone to your head because you’re obviously prioritising your own needs over work demands.

It’s an ethical dilemma that I’m sure many of you have faced occasionally, regardless of the career and workforce you’re in. Whether it be running to the post office whilst doing office related errands or stopping at the bank whilst you’re out. It could be heading home early because you’re ‘not feeling well’ when really you have a hairdressers appointment, or simply going the long way back to work from your lunch break so you can window shop the latest fashions.The feeling of guilt is always going to be there, more significantly, it’s how you rationalise it that’s important.

For the nanny life, is it really a wrong move? Because let me tell you, being a nanny is not an easy job. Forget the parenting woes, the grumpy badly behaved children and the long hours, truthfully, one of the hardest and most challenging factors of being a nanny is that it’s isolating. And many others agree, see here, here and here!

As a nanny you go to work in someone else’s home, you don’t have colleagues, you don’t socialize outside of work and you don’t often meet new people. It’s just you and the kids, the house, maybe a pet or two and a constant list of chores and activities each day. Stay at home mums and dads, I feel you! Yes you’ve probably picked up some Spanish thanks to Dora, but unless you’re getting a meaningful two-way conversation regularly, is it really enough?

Not Your Standard Easter Egg Hunt

Before you say it, I know Easter seems like a long time ago now. Except, I don’t know about you, but I’m still clinging to the joy of long weekends and casual laid-back days. If you’ve been following the blog recently, you’ll remember I mentioned that the Easter school holidays were a busy time for us (and the days since have been equally challenging too)!

Whilst I did manage to tote the camera alongside and snap a few memories, time got away and I haven’t been able to slow down long enough to share them with you. That is of course until I found myself sitting in the garden with a cup of tea and my laptop. As autumn and winter are arguably my favourite seasons, I was enjoying the crisp autumn air and taking stock of the wintery changes we’ve been noticing lately.

So with the little one sleeping and a few spare moments up my sleeve, I thought it the perfect opportunity to share a few gems from the weeks gone by.

Easter in the nanny life was fun-filled, joyful and a mega long weekend of happy memories. Just to change it up a bit, we did the traditional easter egg hunt in the evening (I know, it’s not your standard easter egg hunt). We ventured down to the local park on dusk to find many bright colourful eggs had been left by the generous easter bunny. Originally Miss7 had been concerned we were going to confuse The Bunny by swapping the morning hunt to the evening but we were quickly reassured that The Bunny had indeed paid us a visit (and that he’d been extra crafty with where he left the chocolate eggs too)!

Armed with a flash light and a basket, Miss7 and I set off on a race to beat The Twins (and after a quick tête à tête we agreed we should forge our own discovery instead of following the older girls and getting sloppy seconds). After what felt like a few kilometres of back and forth to inspect tree branches and birds nest, of course accompanied by the standard excited squealing, we came out with a fairly sizeable haul of goodies. We even managed to come across a ‘baby friendly’ easter basket with squeaky turtle bath toys and (cheeky) grapes wrapped in pretty foil.

Unfortunately I was too caught up in the race to stop and take some photos of the night time search for chocolate, but I assure you there were smiles all around and plenty of family fun time.

I know it’s a while ago but how was your Easter? Did you go away? Did you break tradition and do something different from the standard Easter Egg Hunt?

This post is linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT.

The Weekly List

Hi lovelies! Well it’s been another busy week here. We’ve survived the first week back at school after a frantic (but enjoyable) school holidays, we’ve well and truly welcomed the arrival of the winter season, and we’ve been getting back on top of all of our extra curricular activities. Hello ballet, gymnastics, drama, music, french, jazz, japanese and horse riding. You’re all so much fun to do but sometimes I don’t know where we find the time!

I’ve also been busy working on a very exciting new project to be announced soon. Hopefully it will be the start of some great new resources for you and provide lots of fun new tips, tricks and info. I can’t wait to share so stay tuned for the big announcement!

On Friday I also had a quick trip to Melbourne to attend the Kids Business Bloggers Brunch. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet with some other bloggers and share our stories. There were some great brands showcasing some awesome new products to be released later in the year and a very inspiring story from Taryn Brumfitt of The Body Image Movement. If you’ve got a spare few minutes, have a read and get on board. I promise, you won’t be sorry! Plus, I’m still dreaming about the new products from Crayola and can’t wait to get my hands on some to road test with the kids!

My visit to Melbourne put me in a proper wintery feel good mood. The layered winter coats and scarves were warm and protective against the icy cold chill and these new boots were a much-needed retail therapy splurge! So now that we’ve welcomed the cooler weather to Australia, and heralded my favourite season, here’s a few favourites collected this week for The Weekly List.

The Weekly List Of Things I’m Loving:

Breakfast in bed and a sleep in sounds good but unrealistic? These DIY Fabric Photo Frames will do the trick for Mother’s Day next weekend!

I’m dreaming of this gorgeous Danish Modern house. It’s got winter luxury retreat written all over it. Love.

In need of some fun and easy craft activities to do with the kids? Check out my Crafts & DIY For Kids board on Pinterest.

Not sure what it’s like to work as a Nanny? Feel like you don’t understand the role your nanny has? This article has all you’ll need to know.

Think water is boring? Here’s why babies and toddlers don’t need fruit juice.

Do you like recycling and reusing. Quick Tip: use your leftover Jalna pots to hold your paints and craft things and give them a makeover too!

Dear Nannies: A Nanny’s best tool is herself is another great read from Nanny Magazine. If you’re not subscribed to Nanny Magazine electronic articles, you should be!

Living in Sydney and in need of a nanny? Precious Peeps Nanny Agency will provide you with a free consultation to answer all your questions and help to find the perfect candidate.

This collection of picture books about friendship will keep your night-time reading with the kids well stocked. Plus, pretty colours are always needed!

Some snail mail earlier this week brought the arrival of my newly designed business cards and reminded me that I’m on the way to making my dreams a reality!