Child Care Live-In Nanny

[darklord700]

I am thinking about hiring a live-in nanny for my kids. I hear the salary is about $1800 minus room and board which comes to about $1400 or so. The daycare costs for my two kids are more than that already and the salary to the nanny is deductible as Child Care expenses just the same.

Anyone has a live-in Nanny at home? How would you describe your experience? I'm a little hesitant because I don't like living with a stranger.

[GGG]

How is your house set up? Are you able to provide a clear separate living space for them. The closer it is to a basement suite the better. If you are just providing them a room and they will eat meals with you you are essentailly adding a family member. If you have a basement suite then you are far more separate.

I have never had one but several friends did. The ones that worked out had clear expectation of days off (Do they babysit evenings for your, weekends when you get groceries, do you pay extra for this), behaviour in the house (houseguests, boyfriends), responsibilites (do they cook for your family or are they off when you get home).

The less defined these items are the more issues you will have.

If your kids love the nanny it is a pretty significant break up for them if you have to get rid of them more so in my opinion then changing daycares.

[darklord700]

I have a room ready upstair for the nanny. It'll be a big help if she can pick up and drive my two kids home everyday. Cost wise, it's still cost about a few hundreds more having a nanny at home than otherwise. But it's the experience of having a stranger at home that I'm mostly concern of.

[oilyfan]

Originally Posted by darklord700

I have a room ready upstair for the nanny. It'll be a big help if she can pick up and drive my two kids home everyday. Cost wise, it's still cost about a few hundreds more having a nanny at home than otherwise. But it's the experience of having a stranger at home that I'm mostly concern of.

We have a live in nanny, she lives in the basement and has her own bathroom downstairs. So that separation helps. She gets the evening and weekends off, of course, but if we need her to fill in during those times we pay her her age. There is no time and a half overtime requirement for nannies in Alberta.

Our son loves the nanny and will spend time with her in the evenings after she is done work too. We try to make sure she gets her weekends clear so that she gets a break though. We like having a nanny as she cooks, cleans, washes and iron clothes. Even will take our son for swimming and soccer (takes the bus right now till she gets her license). We eats dinner with us, and we invite her family gatherings and she attends sometimes, no pressure on her.

If you have the wherewithal to do it, I highly recommend it. My wife and I both work and find it really helps keep our life organized and more fun. The weekends we aren't running around trying to get the house clean or do laundry, we can just hang out with our son or go out.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by oilyfan

We have a live in nanny, she lives in the basement and has her own bathroom downstairs. So that separation helps. She gets the evening and weekends off, of course, but if we need her to fill in during those times we pay her her age. There is no time and a half overtime requirement for nannies in Alberta.

Our son loves the nanny and will spend time with her in the evenings after she is done work too. We try to make sure she gets her weekends clear so that she gets a break though. We like having a nanny as she cooks, cleans, washes and iron clothes. Even will take our son for swimming and soccer (takes the bus right now till she gets her license). We eats dinner with us, and we invite her family gatherings and she attends sometimes, no pressure on her.

If you have the wherewithal to do it, I highly recommend it. My wife and I both work and find it really helps keep our life organized and more fun. The weekends we aren't running around trying to get the house clean or do laundry, we can just hang out with our son or go out.

Is there any other 'privileges' you (or your wife for that matter) get?

[Titan]

I am just imagining the call to the agency: "Hi, this is DarkLord700 and i would like a live-in nanny please. Hello? Hello"

[oilyfan]

Originally Posted by pylon

Is there any other 'privileges' you (or your wife for that matter) get?

No other "privileges" for me ;-). She will take care of our dog if we go out for the weekend.

[prarieboy]

We have our third nanny now and I can honestly say my life will take a turn for the worst when we don't need one anymore.

I also had your concerns about someone living in the house with us but frankly I don't think nannies in general want to spend all their free time with the family they live with. Typically at the end of dinner she goes to her room or out with friends. She is away on the weekends most of the time.
It costs us just under $2100 out of pocket per month after room and board are deducted. We pay her $12 per hour.

The extra money over day care is well worth it. We don't have to pick or drop off the kids, cook dinners, make lunches, do laundry or clean the house. We have found a great lady that is happy working with our family and that is key. I've heard some horror stories as well.

If you have any questions please let me know.

[MoneyGuy]

We had a live-in nanny for a year or so. It worked great. She became part of the family and a friend. It's best if her room is as far away as possible, for her privacy.

[AMG_G]

We have a live in nanny also, we developed our basement so that she can have her own bedroom and washroom. It was a bit strange at first having another person in the house and eating at the dinner table but after a couple of days it all felt normal. She helps with the clean up after dinner then goes to her room. On Fridays, she leaves and doesn't come back until Sunday night or Monday morning. She gets along with everyone so she is part of the family now.

[prarieboy]

We know someone in Fort Mac that used to have a nanny. When they would go away (with their kids) she would have her friends over and drink their booze.

[The Ditch]

What's the point in having a kid if you're just going to have someone else raise them? Am I missing something, why not just have a dog or a cat.

VVVVVVVVVV
I just assume part of raising a child and being active in their life is doing all the ####ty stuff because that's part of having children.

[CaptainCrunch]

Having 1400 bucks left over after room and board is pretty good for someone who's young.

By the way Rebecca DeMornay is probably looking for work

[Aeneas]

Several friends of ours have them. One couple had a smokin' hot young lady working there. I was surprised the lady of the house signed off on that.

They are in the process of getting divorced now.

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Having 1400 bucks left over after room and board is pretty good for someone who's young.

By the way Rebecca DeMornay is probably looking for work

I'm not sure what picture you were showing, it didn't show up at work

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by oilyfan

No other "privileges" for me ;-). She will "take care of" our dog if we go out for the weekend.

Gross!

[CaptainYooh]

We had three LINs in the past. A few suggestions:

1. You are referring to the minimum wage for a LIN. You will have a hard time finding a Canadian worker in Alberta for this wage.
2. Foreign LIN can be found for the minimum wage. Once you find a person you want to hire, you will need to go through the two-stage application process with HR Canada (Opinion Letter) and Immigration (Temporary Work Permit & Visa). This process takes time (up to one year). You will need to sign a contract on a standard form recommended by the Government. You will also need to sign accommodation statement.
3. You can avoid the above Step 2 by advertising and hiring a foreign LIN that is already in Canada on a permit.
4. Having a LIN in a house will take some time to get used to, especially when you go downstairs at night for a glass of water in your PJ's.
5. Overtime is a big deal. Anything over 44 hrs/wk or 5 days/wk is overtime even if you agree that it is not. You should be fair and pay for OT hours at an OT rate.
6. Sleeping next to a child doesn't count towards OT hours but being "on standby" could be.

Good luck. Let me know if you have more specific questions.

[BigNumbers]

Bump

So we have a 18 month old and are expecting twins - so we literally need a nanny - When I am at work my wife won't have enough hands to get them all up and down the stairs. Given that we're going from 1 to 3 (surprise!) kids, we are also out of extra rooms, and my wife is (currently) anti-nanny (after all the jokes we made about friends with 1 kid having one... karma!) so we want to go with a 3-4 day a week nanny (family/me helping the other days)

Can anyone suggest how we go about finding a part time nanny for the above situation? I am a bit lost on where to begin....

[edslunch]

We went through a nanny service to find our first one - we used Child Development Service but I'm sure there are others. Part time is harder to find, but we ended up sharing one with another family who had a different schedule so it can done.

As far as having a nanny at all, it worked really well for us. The kids got more attention and outings with the nanny, we were able to focus more on work and/or life maintenance, but then we had more time for the kids after work than we would otherwise.

We don't have family in town so instead of the kids spending time with Granny or Auntie we 'hired family' instead. And the nannies very much became part of the family.

[newts]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

Bump

So we have a 18 month old and are expecting twins - so we literally need a nanny - When I am at work my wife won't have enough hands to get them all up and down the stairs. Given that we're going from 1 to 3 (surprise!) kids, we are also out of extra rooms, and my wife is (currently) anti-nanny (after all the jokes we made about friends with 1 kid having one... karma!) so we want to go with a 3-4 day a week nanny (family/me helping the other days)

Can anyone suggest how we go about finding a part time nanny for the above situation? I am a bit lost on where to begin....

Buy a bungalow. Problem solved.