Hope Skinner, founder Nanny Shecando

Economics & The Music Industry

A PopStar Wannabe

One afternoon last week as we dawdled on home from school, via the ice cream shop of course, Miss Charlie and I were chatting about money – dollars and cents and it’s value. It was a perfectly logical conversation to be having, seeing as she’d just finished a big Unit of Work on money at school and given that she gets ample opportunity to implement its application each afternoon when paying for her purchases. I’ll usually give her a couple of dollars, and throw in a random 0.60c here or there, and she has to work out how much change she’ll get in return. It proves to be a rather educative exercise considering that she can never seem to settle on the one ice cream and so each day it’s a different one and a different price. Variety is the spice of life I guess!

On this particular occasion Miss Charlie stumped me with a challenging request as she proudly pocketed the leftover change. And although I’m more than happy to contribute to her money-box savings, I did mention that she’s got a keen eye for “forgotten” loose change. Eyes of a magpie!

‘When we get home, can you please help me write a song?’

Of course I can, we’ll get started on it right away. She has piano and violin lessons at my house, hence the interest in music and her turning to me for assistance.

‘Yay! Let’s go to your place. We can use the big piano instead of my little toy pink piano. It needs to be a really good song. How soon do you think we’ll have it finished? Should we make it rhyme? I’ve got some dance moves to go with it. Do you think we should make it a happy or sad song? We’re going to be rich!’

Gosh, to be a 6-year-old again, full of creativity and busting at the seems to make it all happen without even the slightest hint of a doubt that it might not be possible.

Firstly, why do you want to write this song?
Secondly, why is there a rush on it?
Thirdly, I totes like the sound of some matching dance moves!
Fourthly, what are we writing/singing about? That might determine how we feel when we’re writing and therefore whether it’s happy or sad.
And lastly, wait, what. We’re going to be rich?

‘Because when I was with Mum and Dad we saw this amazing house that we like. But Dad said it was selling for AUD $5 million and that it was a little too expensive for us to buy. Even if I gave them my money-box savings!’

So I was thinking about it and practising my music really hard this week and I decided that I would write a really good song to sell on iTunes and YouTube. I’d sell it for dollars (definitely not cents) and make millions! Then I’ll give it to Mum and Dad so we can buy that house. But I think I need your help to make it really good. It doesn’t have to be ‘wow’, it just needs to be catchy and light and loud so that people hear it and can’t get it out of their heads.

iTunes? YouTube? Sell music? Make millions? How on earth does she know about things like this, she’s six! She’s subliminally caught on to everything that is wrong with our pop music industry! And I wouldn’t be so quick to turn down her money box savings either, she’s got half of my forgotten loose change stashed in her money box!

So, I only see a couple of issues with this here. Firstly, the pop music industry is a pretty tough one to crack into first go (even if it does suck). Secondly, it’s going to take a while to make our millions, especially if illegal downloads are anything to go by. Thirdly, I’m really not that talented. Incredibly flattered, even if it is blind naivety, but a pop star in the making I am not. Sadly.

That being said, in the interest of being a good sport, I shall facilitate her request. So listen up y’all.. I am now taking suggestions about how to be the next Katy Perry. Or to simply replace the existing. Did you catch her ‘sing’ at the EMA’s? Unfortunately I did.

You can drop an anonymous idea in the suggestion box (currently being used as a makeshift money-box) or you can leave a comment below. We’ve got $5 million to make, better get writing. Oh and also, I promise to credit all royalties where due. Not a word of a lie. See, and this is why musicians don’t make any money.

Do your kids get carried away with such great ideas? Do they also make it hard for you to support creativity and aspirations with plain old simple reality and physics?

And I’ll say it again: iTunes, YouTube. Sell music to make money? It doesn’t need to be good, just catchy?! Well this here is where the problem is at!

The Essential Coffee Ratio For A Perfect Coffee

The Essential Coffee Ratio

I would say that I have a love for coffee, but I think I must admit to it being an addiction. I first began drinking coffee when I was fourteen. It was my first job and the status of ‘dish pig’ in a café at $14 an hour seemed highly appealing to me. Before then I’d been slipped the occasional $50 from grandma (and made it last weeks and weeks) but always dreaded having to wrangle some cash out of dad before pleading to go to the movies with friends. The idea of financial freedom was it for me, it’s where it all started. Off I went every Saturday and Sunday to work from 8am to 4pm. To slowly introduce myself to the taste of coffee I would drink mochas, those horrible half cappuccino, half hot chocolate drinks. I then progressed to drinking a cappuccino and over time evolved to drinking a cappuccino in the morning and a macchiato in the afternoons. Such as the italians do.

After that first job as a very good but over worked and seriously under-paid dish-pig, I went on to forge a career for myself in the hospitality industry. Silly me, the over-worked and under paid problem was clear from the very beginning and it took me years to finally give up and move over to a more rewarding career. I guess I’m a slow learner! But I did learn a few valuable things in that time. Like how to manage a restaurant, and how to work with people you don’t like, and how to pretend to love customers even though you don’t. I also learnt how to make coffee. I discovered an important ratio. It’s a sturdy old reliable friend when in search of good places to keep on my ‘will return’ list.

25% coffee beans + 25% coffee machine + 50% barista = The Perfect Coffee

This essential coffee ratio reminded me of a note I wrote to baristas about the difference between a cappuccino and a flat white. Speaking of this ratio and places I will return to. I was discussing this method for getting the perfect coffee every time over my morning coffee at my favourite local café. It’s my favourite because it’s within stumbling distance in the mornings, it’s got a laid back vibe with friendly service, and they make great coffee. Which is saying something. I don’t come across many places that can get the mix just right. As with the ratio above, it’s not always easy to keep up a perfect average. With the slightest change in variable, your entire end product can be less than standard. But this café manages to serve it up every single time. So I go back, every day. Did I mention they remember my name and my order and know how to coax me into a fresh-out-of-the-oven muffin? Yep, they do. They’re that good!

School Yard Politics

The Mummy Snobs.

My important task yesterday was to go in search of some great new toys to keep Baby Viv entertained now that she’s becoming more and more active and engaged. Well, some more toys to make up for the rare times when I’m not throwing her around like an aeroplane and making her giggle that is. The two of us went off and popped into the shops to fulfil our duties. Now, I don’t really mean that we just popped in like it was nothing, in an out in a flash. Because anyone who’s had the pleasure of kids will know that when you’ve got a baby and a pram, the possibility of multiple trips back to the car to drop heavy items off and you’re arriving close to feed times, it’s going to be anything but quick.

Together we managed to find some great new toys – there may or may not have been this really awesome looking purple elephant with dangling thingy-bobbies (yes that’s a word, OK) that rattled and was so super cute that I almost got one for myself also. No really I promise, I’m not two-years-old, I’m twenty-TWO-years old… I even got Viv involved in the all important decision-making process. Each item was handed to her, anything that elicited a giggle and/or ended up in her mouth was appropriately vetted and deemed a winner!

Afterwards I needed energy to fuel my new title of heavily laden “pack-horse” so we stopped for coffee (and OK, guilty, it also became my substitute lunch. I’m defying the rules of The Summer Challenge. Naughty!) As we were waiting in line, I most surprisingly ran into one of the School Mums.

Ordinarily this wouldn’t have happened. Not because there aren’t any, or because there’s zero chance of us both frequenting the same places, but simply because most of the School Mums would not have made it possible for us to run into one another. That is to say, (most) of the School Mums seem to act as though I don’t exist. I am the invisible woman who drops off a child each morning and picks her up again each afternoon, complete with another child in tow. I’m also the invisible woman who just so happens to know the names of each of their children; their allergies, their food intolerances, their likes and dislikes and even the names of their imaginary friends. And yet, come 3pm pick up time, I’m the invisible woman whom you must not make eye contact with.

Source

So it was despite this (rather amusing) conundrum of school-yard politics that I was happy to have run into perhaps my one and only School Mum friend that I’ve successfully made. Like me, she also has a little one not much older than Baby Viv. Like me, she also has a vibrant and tenacious little girl in the same class as Miss Charlie. Like me, she is one of the last to arrive (frantically and rushed) at school each morning. And perhaps most significantly, like me, she seems not to pay mind to the fact that she is a “mum” and I’m a “nanny” and therefore in accordance to strict School Mum convention we must not associate.

We stopped and chatted over coffee, discussing the upcoming play that the girls were involved in, the extravagant plans for the Christmas concert that us “parents” are expected to help plan and joked that some day the school might lock the gate on us if we keep getting the kids to school after the first bell. That’ll teach ’em to dawdle at the pedestrian crossing!

I really enjoyed our shared coffee break. As a nanny, it can get a bit lonely at times. Whilst I absolutely adore Viv with the entirety of my heart (and the other kids of course!) their conversation can be lacking depth from time to time. Also, just an FYI, desperate conversations with the dog can be fairly one-sided too, just so you know. Given this, a little adult chit chat is very much welcome and appreciated and it was lovely to be able to lose myself for an hour or so in a tête à tête with someone over the age of 12. Shock horror I know.

Later, as I waited diligently for Miss Charlie to bounce down the footpath from her classroom, bidding au revoir to her teacher, I couldn’t help but wonder as to:

Why all of the other School Mums kept me on the outside?

Yes I know I’m (just) a nanny, quite a few years younger and that I don’t always share the same tendency to forego gym clothes and nikes for stilettos and designer sunglasses, but would it be so difficult to share a smile and make small talk? After all, I’ll likely be seeing you in a few short hours when I drop your kids home to you, kids who’ve been in my care, at (insert random sports practice) activity… Go figure.

Anyone else had to deal with the School Mum convention?

Conflict In The Nanny Workplace

(Conflict In The Nanny Workplace) Apologise and say sorry? But what happens when that doesn’t apply?

Contrary to the typical nanny cliché, it wasn’t between the Nanny and Boss Dad. Nor between Nanny and the kids. Not even between Nanny and a potential Helicopter Mum. Instead, the conflict had arisen between Nanny and the newly hired cleaning lady. And to clarify, from my perspective, it was very much the cleaning lady who had the issue. So what happens when there’s conflict in the nanny workplace?

The all important dynamic in our household had been uprooted, a dynamic that Boss Mum and I monitor and strive to maintain. Apparently, the cleaner thought it appropriate to muscle in on my job whilst neglecting her own duties. She wanted to express her opinions in regards to my ability to perform the role, and to express her own opinions as to the general running of the household and the children’s routines.

Needless to say, I wasn’t impressed, Viv wasn’t impressed, Miss 6 wasn’t impressed and most importantly, Boss Mum wasn’t happy. Long story short, this household is once again on the hunt for the perfect person to help me to keep the house in order so that I can focus on the (four!) kids. Crisis dodged.

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How To Negotiate Conflict In The Nanny Workplace

The recent conflict, I deem it a conflict when I find myself under interrogation and judged by my new colleague, got me to thinking.

1. What happens when you’re faced with conflict in the nanny workplace?

2. Just because a workplace is set in the home and not in a conventional office, does it make the conflict any different or any less crucial?

3. How should the nanny handle the situation to minimise the fallout?

I’ve always been a firm believer that we should pick our battles. That’s not to say that we should just step aside and let other people walk all over us. Simply that some times it really may not be worth it. At other times, times when we know that we’re not going to be able to live with the situation and that we shouldn’t be expected to, times when our carefully constructed code of morals and ethics are challenged, then it certainly calls for some conflict resolution management.

Conflict in the workplace can be stressful and unpleasant. In fact I find all types of conflict stressful and unpleasant. But hey, maybe that’s just me. Given that I hate (HATE) conflict and will go to extreme lengths to avoid it, I’ve had to learn the important and essentials skills to conflict resolution. I’ve also had to learn (at times through trial and error) how best to utilise them effectively. The key point to remember, and that holds me in good stead, is:

>>> Communication

Yep, that’s all there is to it. Of course there are different factors to consider, but when it comes down to the crux of it, communication is key. Calm, reasonable and coherent communication that is assertive and yet also conducive to a two-way exchange is the only method that’s going to achieve a positive result. As an aside, well honed listening skills also come in handy.

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As our rather trying week came to a close, I found myself longing for the weekend. I was envisaging two full days without kids and drama, plenty of quiet time and a chance to check in with the BF. But then I realised that this picture wasn’t right. Something was wrong here because that’s not me. I love my job and I love the kids. And whilst yes I love my weekends too, I never view them as my escape from reality. So instead I stopped to chat with Boss Mum and to check in with how we were all going. After a long chat over many cups of iced tea, interspersed with kid and baby chatter naturally, we reconnected and made sure we were back on the same page.

Crisis not averted, crisis overcome. Now that is an appropriate resolution. I even had the pleasure of Miss 6’s company chez moi for a Girls Night on Saturday evening. Even though I didn’t have an entire weekend away from kids and work, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Be sure when you step, step with care + great tact. Remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act. – Dr Seuss

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>>> Have you faced conflict in the nanny workplace?

Is the Tooth Fairy selective?

Outsmarting the Nanny. Again.

Charlie and I were chatting in the car yesterday en route to the shops. I’d brought her an apple to tide her over until we got to our destination which she was munching gingerly on – her first tooth is almost out. Yay! (She’s only the last one in her class to lose her baby teeth and has been waiting with not much patience for months now). She then asked me this gnarly question:

“Why doesn’t the Tooth Fairy come to adults?”

Stumped, I stalled for a couple of seconds, blabbering nonsense. How could I tactfully say that adults didn’t believe in the Tooth Fairy any more, so soon after I’d just successfully convinced her of their factual existence a few months prior!

Thankfully (or so I thought) Charlie jumped to my rescue: