Temporary nanny help...

[GavinH]

<r>I am a single parent to 2 wonderful girls (7 and 17). They have recently come to live with me so that I can provide a loving, stable and predictable environment that their mother could not. <br/>
<br/>
I have a very good job and career in IT management with a good company. My job required that I travel about once a month, being away from home for 2 to 3 nights. For the last 6 months I have been able to dodge, re-assign and skirt this responsibility however pressure is mounting for me to resume this activity. My 17 year old is very responsible and can manage the 7 year old, getting her to school and doing homework but I am not that happy about doing that once a month as she also has a full plate in her senior year. I have no family in the country and do not have close friends this I feel I can impose on. The older daughter will also be going away to college in 2013 leaving just me and the little one.<br/>
<br/>
Ideally I’d like to get a nanny / sitter / au pair that I pay to provide this service. They should be prepared to stay at my home while i am away and provide adult supervision. It needs to be the same person every time so that they don’t need to be trained and the kids build a trust and comfort with this person. I only have a 3 bedroom townhome so accommodations will be another issue to address ….<br/>
<br/>
The big challenge is that I have no idea where to begin or if this kind of service even exists and how to ensure that the kids are safe and well cared for while I am away. So, once again I turn to the valued opinions of the people on this forum for help.<br/>
<br/>
Thanks so much …. <br/>
Gavin<br/>
&lt;E&gt;<EMOJI seq="1f615"></EMOJI>&lt;/E&gt;&lt;/r&gt;

 

[IADad]

Hmmm, I don't know your geopgraphy, whether we're talking suburbs, big city, small town. I think the answer makes a difference.

It seems to me tha tif continuity of care is important to you, you may need to set something up for more than 2-3 days a month. Maybe you need this person to be there once a week after school, plus the travel days, something so they have an on-going commitment from you and so that they are involved with what's going on with the kids. It'd be incrdibly hard to jump in and out of a family's life for 2-3 days a month.

The two thoughts I have are: 1 is there maybe a home they could go to for those days? i.e. find and forge a realtionship with another parent of a school friend, and maybe you trade out some other reciprocal care (like you take their kids for a weekend once a month.) 2: what about an older sibling of a school friend? Maybe on e of your girl's school friends has an older sibling in college who's looking for a little extra cash in exchange for an occasional job. It seem like through parent referral rather than agencies is the way to find this, but again, that depends on locale (I think)

As for accomodations, if you find option 1, it's not an issue, Option 2, you'd just provide whatever you do for a houseguest (i.e. your girls bunk together for the time or you have a sofa sleeper for the nanny, something flexible. It's only 2-3 days, not like you're setting up "maid's quarters."

 

[GavinH]

Hello IADad

I am in the suburbs but very close the Charlotte NC.

I really wanted to steer clear of the friends and neighbors route to avoid the kids having to adapt to their routine. Before the kids came to live with me their mom was unable to provide a predictable routine and they were continually up late or eating at odd hours. I believe firmly that routine and predictability is important and we have been working hard to establish and maintain a schedule and routine. For this reason I'd prefer to have someone come in ad adapt to our schedules and routine. Paying for the service also makes it easier to 'fire' them if it doesn't fit or something undesirable happens.

On the accommodations side - I can manage that by making sure that the master bedroom will have clean sheets and I am pretty fastidious on cleanliness anyway.

Exploring an older sibling of my older daughters friends is an option I had not thought of and is definitely worth digging into. I agree that having them there for after school once a week is a great idea to maintain the continuity. This will also allow me time to get to the gym or go cycling.

Thanks so much for the quick response ... looking forward to others weighing too.

 

[jessicams]

there is a great website out there that allows people to search for caregivers in your area but I don't want to post it unless a mod allows me.
I do agree with IADad that you should get someone to come in at least once a week as well as the travel times.

 

[IADad]

there is a great website out there that allows people to search for caregivers in your area but I don't want to post it unless a mod allows me.
I do agree with IADad that you should get someone to come in at least once a week as well as the travel times.

I think there are a few such sites. I've never been comfortable using them, but maybe that's just me, and afterall it's just getting the name, the due dillligence and interviewing is still all on you. Jessicams, I think it's best not to post the site, perhaps you can PM it to Gavin.

 

[hannah31]

If you are based in Ireland, the best option is to use agency services as they will do all the necessary checks for you. We are running one agency... However feel free to choose the one that will meet your requirements.

 

[Xero]

Sorry hannah31, we do not allow outside linking to products or services.