Nanny News

Annotation of Nanny Search Services Online, Jobs for Nannies, Nanny Help-Wanted Classifieds, Nanny Background Checks, Nanny Screening Service, Nanny Agency, Au Pair Agency: 4nannies

Link: Annotation of Nanny Search Services Online, Jobs for Nannies, Nanny Help-Wanted Classifieds, Nanny Background Checks, Nanny Screening Service, Nanny Agency, Au Pair Agency: 4nannies.

Celebrity Nanny Television Show is Born

   






by Anonymous

(ContentDesk) July 12, 2006 -- With so many celebrity babies in the news, from Angelina, to TomKitten, to Jennifer Garner, seeing Hollywood through the eyes of a unique Hollywood Nanny and a Hollywood Kid, is sure to be a reality show television hit.

                                          

You could call this a diaper's-eye view of Hollywood celebrity.

"It is a unique show that will reveal to viewers what really happens in a celebs family life from the inside," says Maria Gomez, Executive Producer. "You could call this a diaper's-eye view of Hollywood celebrity." The new Celebrity Nanny television series will give viewers an insider's look at Hollywood from a Hollywood Kid and Celebrity Nanny's point of view. This is a glimpse into a Hollywood Kid's surreal celebrity life --Hollywood kid friends, making it on the Hollywood Kid A list, being invited to The "IT" kid Parties, which designers Hollywood Kids wearing, see Hollywood kids and their kid friends playing at the right playgrounds, seeing the right 90210 doctor and more.You'll also see the view of the Celebrity Nanny having to run the celebrity kids to the Hollywood neighbors house, school, ballet, while juggling homework duty, piano lessons, french tutors, jetting off to meet up with the parents in exotic places, and more. Hilarious and addictive, this chronicle of a Celebrity Nanny will reveal what really happens in the lollipop trenches of Hollywood.

Celebrity Nannies interested in applying for the lead in the Celebrity nanny series please log on to: http://www.celebritynanny.com.The series has been under development for over 2 years and will begin filming Fall 2006. Talks with networks are underway to find a home for this project.This is a Mark Sennet Production television production..

Celebrity Nanny Application.....!

Best Nanny Cam and 10 Reasons Why

All Around Best Nanny Cam and 10 Reasons Why
by Paul Smith-Goodson

 

Nanny cams come hidden in all sorts of household objects and appliances: tissue boxes, humidifiers, teddy bears, plants, clocks, books, clock radios, and more. Out of all the choices, my favorite is the wireless 2.4 GHz clock radio nanny cam, which just happens to be the best seller at our store.

Here's the reason I like the clock radio so much:1.) This Nanny Cam has three great uses -- It's a nanny cam, its a clock, and it's also a fully functioning radio! 2.) When the clock radio nanny cam is plugged in, the camera is always on, even if you turn the radio off. 3.) The clock radio has natural "Domestic Camouflage" - in other words, it blends into a room without being noticed, even by people familiar with the room. If you put up a new wall clock or put a new teddy bear on a bedroom shelf, people will immediately realize that something new has been added.

On the other hand, a clock radio nanny cam will go unnoticed 9 out of 10 times. 4.) The wireless clock radio nanny cam is "Location Neutral" -- This is just a fancy way of saying that you can put this camera anywhere! How about on a kitchen countertop, or in the family room, or on a bedside stand in the bedroom? See what I mean? There are very few places where a clock radio looks out of place. 5.) A clock radio that has a Sony CCD camera gives you a crystal clear image. I prefer a CCD to a CMOS camera because of its superior performance. 6.) The clock radio, providing it has quality components, has enough range to transmit video through walls to the far end of your house without compromising image quality.

7.) A clock radio with a lux rating of 0.05 or lower performs well under low light conditions. A nanny cam with a lux rating of 1.0 or higher produces a poor and grainy image in dim lighting. Let's face it; a nanny cam that won't allow you to see what's going on in a room with low light is almost worthless. 8.) A good clock radio nanny cam is usually equipped with a 3.7 mm lens which provides a great wide angle view of the room. 9.) A clock radio can be placed almost anywhere in the room which allows you to position it for the best view.

A teddy bear, book, humidifier, or any of the other nanny cams have natural restrictions on where you can place them. 10.) This Nanny Cam uses a.c. power and looks natural plugged into the wall. No need to disguise power cords or worry about batteries. In most instances you'll be using the nanny cam for extended periods of time.

Batteries usually only last about 2-3 hours. To use a teddy bear cam or a book cam for this length of time you have to use the a.c. power adapter. Don't you think an "Electric Teddy Bear" might look suspicious?.

Hiring a Nanny

by Wendy Sachs
June 07, 2005
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Hiring a nanny to care for your children falls in the category of "daunting" when the necessary skills and experiences are absent from your repertoire. Because the position is unsupervised, scrutiny is a must. To follow are some tips on how to go about hiring this all-important person.What to look for when hiring a NANNY:1.Experience. Examine and explore the nanny's work history (including child care) life experiences and education.2.Compatibility. Do you concur on child rearing and discipline philosophies and approaches. Are your habits similar? (i.e. neatness, organization, timeliness, flexibility vs. rigidity, food choices, priorities)3.Qualities. Does the nanny applicant have a natural inclination to connect to and understand the needs of children at each stage of development?4.Common Sense and Patience. A nanny needs an extraordinary amount of both.What to look for in an REFERRAL AGENCY:1.Screening and Background Checking Methods. Know specifically the depth of child care reference checks and applicant interviews they perform. How selective are they in screening nannies? How many nannies are in their pool of candidates? 2.Availability of nanny agency personnel. Do you get an answering machine when you call or is there someone in the office during business hours?3.Breadth of experience and reputation. If the referral agency has been in business a short time expect them to be short on experience in screening applicants and counseling on hiring a nanny. If the agency has been in business a long time expect more experience in the ability to detect the more subtle red flags that only experience can define. Word of mouth reputation is important. Agency fees should reflect agency's expertise.If hiring a NANNY on your own:1.Ask DETAILS about background and work history since high school graduation.2.Check ALL childcare jobs and verify ALL employment.3.Contract to do a state criminal check, DMV check and social security number verification..

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Wendy Sachs, owner of The Philadelphia Nanny Network, Inc. since 1985, is also a founding member and 4-term President of the International Nanny Association. A nationally recognized expert on the nanny profession, she has given over 500 interviews to network TV, magazines and newspapers. She has appeared on NBC,CNBC and CNN, including Today Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show. A mother of two children, she is a veteran nanny employer.

Will Cell Phone Video Be A 'Wireless Babysitter?'

Will Cell Phone Video Be A 'Wireless Babysitter?'

Streaming video on cell phones could become a babysitter, helping parents keep kids content while they're traveling, a researcher predicts.

By Mobile Pipeline Staff ,  Mobile Pipeline
June 23, 2005
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=164902275

Streaming video delivered to cell phones could become an "electronic babysitter," helping parents keep their kids content while they travel, a report released Thursday by IDC predicts. And, the study concludes, it is an excellent example of how new wireless services evolve.

The study notes that Verizon Wireless included video clips from Sesame Street in its V CAST video service that it launched earlier this year. Scott Ellison, an IDC program director, noted in a statement that Verizon has reported higher-than-expected use of that particular bit of programming.

"I have offered my own V CAST phone and service to parents of young children at airports and on airplanes," Ellison said in a statement. "(It resulted in) a near 100 percent success rate at tears and tantrum avoidance."

This is one example of how delivering services such as video to mobile devices can help vendors such as wireless operators create new markets, Ellison said. In this case, applications aimed at kids and their parents addresses real need and is a natural offering by wireless operators and content providers, the report noted.

Such additional offerings are what will drive development of the wireless content market, the study notes.

Needing Nanny

Why American parents are desperately seeking some sort of supernanny to save them from their stress

By Kathryn Hopper

Special to the Star-Telegram

She's smart, nurturing, well-dressed and totally together. She's the modern-day supernanny -- think Mary Poppins with a laptop and Excel spreadsheet detailing the week's play dates and soccer schedules. And she's coming to the rescue of overworked parents and underachieving kids.

Just watch Jo Frost (left), star of ABC's January-launch reality show Supernanny. Frost's mission is "saving America one family at a time." After rolling her eyes at permissive parents who let kids run amok, Frost (who previously starred in a British show of the same title) quickly whips the clan into shape with daily schedules, menu plans and stints on "the naughty step."

Frost is the latest example of a growing American pop-culture obsession with nanny-to-the-rescue, a trend that seems to have been firmly kicked off by 2002's best-selling The Nanny Diaries. The novel, written by ex-nannies Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin, tells the (hilarious and somewhat frightening) tale of a young woman charged with caring for the child of a self-obsessed, social-climbing Manhattan mother.

We've seen the nanny obsession grow with television's Supernanny and Fox's similar show, Nanny 911, (which debuted in November and is set to return with new episodes March 14). ABC's hit show Desperate Housewives also gave the nanny-mania a nod with the recent appearance of Claire, who reined in frazzled Lynette's out-of-control kids.

Our nanny love continues on the big screen: In Spanglish, Mexican maid Flor (played by Paz Vega) provides a soothing alternative to the hysterics of the hypermom played by Téa Leoni. And later this year, look for Emma Thompson in the title role of Nanny McPhee, a governess who tames the wild brood of a beleaguered widower played by Colin Firth.

The question all this new nanny affection demands is simple: Why nannies now? What is it about the idea of a Mary Poppins-perfect nanny that is once again capturing our collective imagination?

Perhaps one cause for the infatuation is our collective exhaustion. Pooped parents appear willing -- even desperate -- to welcome anyone who can help them juggle frantic schedules, mounting workloads at the office and ever rising loads of laundry and dirty dishes at home.

"So many families need help," says Jo Lambert, president of "We Care" Nannies & Beyond, a placement firm in Euless. "Shows [like Supernanny] have nannies coming into families where the children are in control and helping the parents change the dynamic so they can enjoy their family life more."

In a recent Newsweek cover story dubbed "Mommy Madness," writer Judith Warner documented American moms' exhaustion and depression in trying to keep up with ever-rising standards for parenting. The story is an excerpt of her book Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety (Riverhead Books). In the book, Warner recounts having her first child while she was living in Paris. There, she said, parents routinely left their children at home with state-subsidized child care to join friends in the evening for dinner or to go on dates with their husbands. When she returned to the States, she was stunned by how much American moms were left to go it alone. In her interviews with 150 moms, many longed for a nanny, in part to give them a break from the kids, but they believed that having one would be too expensive.

Pat Borgfeldt, a family life educator for The Parenting Center, a nonprofit agency that offers parenting classes and family counseling in Tarrant County, says her classes are filled with parents who feel overwhelmed and under-schooled in the art of raising children. She said the nanny shows are appealing because parents can see families in worse shape than their own.

"When you see the kids out of control, you're relieved they're not yours," she says. "There is so much crying and bickering, it's addictive to watch. You want to see how the nanny can undo that -- how she can help the parents regain the family's equilibrium by showing the kids there are consequences to their actions."

On each Supernanny episode, Frost begins by popping a DVD in her laptop that shows the family dynamics as captured by her camera crew. Sometimes there's a bossy pre-schooler who is bullying a younger sibling or a headstrong toddler who refuses to go to bed at night. Almost always there is a kowtowing mom who tries to appease her brood instead of maintaining discipline. In one case, a mother of three boys didn't even know where her 2-year-old was when Supernanny Frost found him outside scampering around the front yard with scissors. By the end of the show, Frost had the family on track with a schedule, discipline plan and nighttime ritual that the parents praised for bringing sanity to their home.

Borgfeldt says Supernanny's miraculous family transformations frequently come up in her parenting classes, and she believes the show can help give parents tools to improve their own parenting. She says many new moms and dads never really learned good parenting skills from their own parents, and even those who did can find that the old rules don't work.

"We can't parent the same way our parents did," she says. "Things have changed. There are new issues that we didn't have growing up, like the Internet and other technologies."

For some, the new wave of nanny superiors represents a swing in society that's not so welcome. The nanny trend, they fear, is a sort of backlash to the women's movement. While today's fictional nannies are seen as warm and loving, their female employers are viewed as self-absorbed ninnies. Joanne Green, director of women's studies at Texas Christian University, says it shows how little traditional roles have changed on the home front.

"It reinforces the notion that moms are the ones who are supposed to be managing the home," Green said. "On these shows, the nannies come in and criticize where the mom is falling short. On Desperate Housewives the nanny comes in because the mom is addicted to drugs. On Supernanny, the mom gets a long list of changes she has to make while the dad gets only "be more compassionate.' "

Green says shows like Supernanny and Nanny 911 do little more than feed on our fears and desires. The so-called experts come in and transform a wreck into something much more attractive.

"They are like Pimp My Ride, but with kids, she says.

And like Pimp My Ride, the nanny reality shows and media images are more about fulfilling a few people's fantasies than about reality.

Although nannies are an option for high-income families, just as they've always been in this country, for most Americans a full-time nanny isn't an option. Nationally, nannies average $590 a week ($532 if they're a live-in) according to the International Nanny Association. The INA, based in Houston, is a nonprofit educational association for nannies and those who employ them..

Will the nation's new nanny love last? Like most pop-culture phenomenons, probably not. After just a few episodes, for example, the youthful nanny Claire on Desperate Housewives was sacked.

And Americans have already shown they're just as likely to turn on nannies as they are to adore them. Remember the 1997 trial of British au pair Louise Woodward, who was found guilty of second-degree murder of an 8-month-old baby in Massachusetts? Although a judge later reduced the charge to involuntary manslaughter, the highly publicized trial sent sales of hidden nanny cams soaring and caused thousands of parents to re-think their plans for hiring in-home caregivers.

The question for the future, then, is simple, too: If our pop culture conscience next turns against nannies, to whom will American families turn for the next road map to family bliss?

Ah. Maybe the butler will do it.

IN THE KNOW

For more information and parenting tips from The Parenting Center, call its Parenting Advice Line from noon to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday at (817) 332-6399 or visit www.theparentingcenter.org.

How to land your own Supernanny

If you're looking for a good, reliable nanny to help you enforce your parenting rules and guidelines, you may find what you need if you are willing to make the effort. Start by following these tips:

• Decide what you want in a nanny. Do you want someone whose sole job is to care for the children or are you also going to expect her/him to do housework? Be upfront about the duties in all interviews. Pat Cascio, who is president of the International Nanny Association and operates the Houston-area nanny placement firm Morningside Nannies, said that adding housework to the mix almost always discourages top nannies from taking the job.

• Have a work agreement. The International Nanny Association recommends spelling out in detail the duties of the job and having both parents and nannies sign on. The organization offers a sample contract that deals with salary, benefits, insurance, tax considerations, as well as family and nanny expectations, household information, health and emergency, meals and vacations. You can buy the sample contract at www.nanny.org for $50.

• Check references. Double-check references. Ask former employers specific questions about why the nanny is no longer employed by them and if they would hire the nanny again. Get as much information as you can.

• Check databases. Run the applicant's name and Social Security and driver's license numbers through state and national databases to check criminal history, driving records and other potential red flags.

• Opt for a placement firm. Nanny placement agencies typically charge a $100 upfront fee, then get 10 percent of the negotiated gross annual salary of the nanny when the placement is finalized. For that fee, the agency screens applicants and checks references, provides a work agreement and often offers educational materials for the nannies and families to foster a long-term relationship.

• Even if you use a placement firm, make some calls yourself to double-check those references.

• Get tax savvy. The dreaded "Nanny Tax" has sunk many a presidential appointee who neglected to pay it. Firms like www.nannytaxprep.com offer to handle your nanny tax issues for an annual fee of $375.

• Trust your instincts. "Ninety percent of it is your gut reaction," Cascio says. "You have to ask yourself, 'How well is this person going to fit in with my family?' "

-- Kathryn Hopper

Nannies in pop culture: A refresher course

The lovable ones . . .

• Mr. French: This English gentleman's gentleman was, for all practical purposes, a nanny in a bowler hat on television's Family Affair. A stickler for details, he cared for 6-year-old twins Buffy and Jody and 15-year-old Cissy while their guardian, Uncle Bill, led the swinging singles life in 1960s New York.

• Mark Burnett: Before he launched Survivor, this Brit nannied in Beverly Hills. He credits his stint as a nanny with giving him an intimate glimpse inside the American Dream and the courage to pursue his own dream -- sans diapers.

• Mary Poppins: What nanny list would be complete without the sugar-spooning, quintessential supercalifragilisticexpialidocious nanny played by Julie Andrews in Disney's 1964 version of the classic tale by P.L. Travers?

• Fran Drescher: Her whiny Queens accent and form-fitting wardrobe won millions of fans during her run of The Nanny TV series in the 1990s. Achieved that ultimate nanny dream of marrying the boss, which means of course that now she does the job for free.

• Maria Von Trapp: Andrews scores again as Maria, former nun turned nanny to the Von Trapp clan in 1965's The Sound of Music. Gets extra points for sewing clothes out of curtains. Oh, and she marries the boss, too.

• Nanny: The nameless heroine of the bestselling The Nanny Diaries, by former nannies Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin. Nanny is hired by Manhattan mom Mrs. X, even though her references are never checked because, as Nanny explains, "I am white. I speak French. My parents are college-educated. I have no visible piercings and have been to Lincoln Center in the last two months."

. . . And the scary, nanny nightmares

• Peyton Flanders: The icy nanny (played by Rebecca De Mornay) in 1992's The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, she hid her asthmatic boss's inhaler.

• Hulk Hogan: Starred in 1993's Mr. Nanny (just released last month on DVD), surviving a bowling ball to the head and other kiddo antics.

• Mrs. Baylock: Little Damien's nanny in the 1976 horror flick The Omen, she was one of Satan's most trusted handmaidens, sent to raise the Antichrist.

• Vicky: Snarky nanny/baby sitter on Nickelodeon's animated series The Fairly OddParents, her one joy in life, apart from watching television, is making trouble for her charge, Timmy.

-- Kathryn Hopper
Kathryn Hopper is a Southlake mom with four children who was able to write this story thanks to her wonderful nanny, Lisa. No, you can't have her phone number.

International Nanny Assoc. Conference

NANNY CONFERENCE

The International Nanny Association will have its conference in Las Vegas on May 12-15.

"Anyone can attend our conference who would like to," said association president Pat Cascio. One side of the workshop is for nannies, she said, and will include negotiating contracts and working with employers as well as child care. The other side, she said, will be for people who own or work for nanny agencies.

For more information, visit the association's Web site at http://www.nanny.org or call (888) 878-1477.

Demand for nannies in American homes has sharply increased

MINDING THE CHILDREN: Like One of the Family

By HEIDI KNAPP RINELLA
REVIEW-JOURNAL

As it turns out, America's reality shows with nanny themes are based about as much on reality as ... well ... America's reality shows with other themes.

"Would you let someone come into your home and challenge your parenting style?" asked Pat Cascio, president of the International Nanny Association and owner of Morningside Nannies in Houston.

"I can't see very many of my clients being comfortable with the person giving them that much direction," Cascio said of "Supernanny" and "Nanny 911," in which veteran nannies try to tame the households' wild beasts masquerading as children. "I think the American way of doing it is `This is my home, I write the paycheck, you are the employee, so that puts you one or two steps below me, not on par with me or above me.' "

Which is not to say there isn't a place for a nanny in the American household. In fact, there are places for nannies in increasing numbers of American households -- currently an estimated 1 million, Cascio said.

"We know the industry is growing rapidly," she said. "More and more people are understanding what the nanny does and the role she has in the household, and the convenience there is for the family."

Carol Hale, owner of Nanny's & Granny's in Las Vegas, says that in 18 years in the business, she has seen the demand for nannies grow dramatically.

"I would say in the last probably seven or eight years, nannies have become far more popular," Hale said. "I think that we, No. 1, just have a more mobile society. People are really more likely to not live around family and friends. In our town, especially -- we've had such an influx of people. They come to town and they know no one."

Both Cascio and Hale said people who hire nannies are no longer confined to the very wealthy.

"Typically, they're young professionals," Hale said. "In our clientele we have a lot of attorneys, doctors, business people, business owners. Young professionals with a career who really don't want their children in day care. They want a little more individualized care and learning for their children. And so they hire someone to come into the home."

"If you have two children, you're probably paying as much in day care as you would to have a private employee in your home," Cascio said.

So just what role doesthe nanny hold in the household?

"I would like to believe that the majority of nannies of children under the age of 3 are providing 100 percent care for the children and the children's belongings, and the rooms in which the children and the nanny live in, work in, stay in and play in," Cascio said. "I would like to believe that parents do not assign household duties to child-care professionals when the children are that young."

The reason, Cascio said, is "a safety issue. I just think it's kind of a risky situation. If you were told that today, `I would like these four tasks done -- and by the way, watch my child, too' -- you know your employer can judge if you get the tasks done, but she'll never know if her child got the attention."

And the key to a successful nanny-employer relationship is to a large part based on trust. Most families, Hale said, want a nanny who will become a part of their lives.

"That's usually the ideal situation," she said. "In fact, the most frequent request we have is they want a nanny that will stay with them.

"I've had placements last incredibly long times -- 10 or 12 years," she said.

"It comes down to a chemistry thing," said Lexy Capp, owner of Nannies and Housekeepers USA. "Does that person really want that nanny in their home, caring for their children?"

Capp remembers one client who knew immediately that a nanny candidate was right for her family.

"She knew in her heart this was the one," she said. "It's sort of the feeling of connection you get."

At the same time, a successful nanny-employer relationship often depends on both sides remembering and honoring the nature of the arrangement.

"Generally what we suggest to our families is that they renew their nanny contracts on a yearly basis," Hale said. "We do the initial contract for them in the office, then we suggest that the nannies and the families put it on their calendars 60 days before the contracts expire -- that they sit down and discuss whether or not they're going to want to continue the relationship. Are there any changes? Have their been other children? Have the hours changed? And then to negotiate a raise for the nanny."

Most nannies get raises on an annual basis, Hale said, and they can expect to be paid between $400 and $700 a week, depending on the situation.

"Seven hundred dollars is maybe twins or triplets, the number of children and housekeeping and extended hours -- that type of thing," she said.

Capp said the minimum her nannies earn is $10 an hour, though pay can be as much as $750 a week. She said she's placed some nannies for $45,000 a year, plus benefits.

Nanny agencies generally don't employ nannies, but charge a fee for referrals and background checks. Hale charges a one-time placement fee of $1,700. Capp offers three plans, priced according to the length of guarantee and number of replacement referrals, should they be needed. The fees range from one month of the nanny's gross salary to 12 percent of gross annual salary.

Capp's agency also has a division that she said employs several hundred nannies who work under the agency's insurance umbrella to provide child care at major Strip resorts.

The average nanny, Hale said, tends to be in one of two primary age groups, "although we do have nannies in all age ranges."

"Many of them are students that are still in school that are in their early to mid-20s," she said, "and then we see a lot of women whose children are now grown and that's what they've done their whole life -- taking care of children. And so they're coming back to the work force.

"There's a core of professional nannies that do this for a living and have maybe been through nanny training and been certified. They tend to be in their 20s and 30s. It's really not very common."

Hale said there's a shortage of nannies in Las Vegas, but she rejects most candidates.

"We generally will interview from 25 to 40 people to get like three people," she said. "Most people that walk through that door, I'd no more place with your children than I'd rise up and fly."

Those applicants, she said, come in "because somebody needs a job and they woke up that morning and they say, `anybody can raise kids.' They can't pass the background check, they can't get the health card. We look for criminal misdemeanors as well as felony convictions." Additionally, she said, they do a credit check and a driver's license check, and nannies must know CPR.

"We make a substantial investment in anyone we choose to process," Capp said. "We turn down about 50 percent of our applicants. We have one division that all they do is background checks. We also do one-on-one interviews with placement counselors."

"A lot of people will give you their work history, and they'll conveniently slip the fact that they lived in Ohio for two years, because they had a problem in Ohio," Hale said. "But then when you do a credit check, there's all these loans for stores in Ohio. An agency that knows what they're doing will then do a criminal check in Ohio.

"That's what you're paying an agency for -- that kind of thing. We do it every day. We know what to look for. The average family doesn't."

For aspiring nannies, Hale advises, "get some experience or take a professional training program. If they come in with no experience, we put them on our sitter service so they can get some experience.

"And I would say don't do it because you need money. Do the job because you truly love kids. Being a nanny is not an easy job."

Find this article at: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Mar-15-Tue-2005/living/26027958.html

New laws mean nanny nightmare for parents - UK

By Sarah Womack
(Filed: 05/03/2005)

It is the recurring nightmare of over-stretched parents. Just when they have found their perfect nanny, their Mary Poppins, she looks around the door, smiles nervously and announces: "I'm pregnant."

This week the Government announced plans to extend paid maternity leave to nine months by 2007 and to a year by 2010. But the proposals seems to be provoking more groans than applause with small businesses appalled at the prospect of longer maternity leave.

While Labour's plans may appear to be good news for mothers, women say the legislation will play havoc with their families when the nanny herself decides to have a baby and wants nine months' paid leave.

Career women can rarely afford, professionally or financially, to abandon their jobs for long and employing a nanny is often their only option.

If the nanny falls pregnant, however, and wants to return to her job after having her baby, it will have to be kept open. If she wants to bring her baby to work with her, the employer faces a dilemma.

Asa Nilsdotter of Nannytax, the payroll support service for parents with nannies, says the "nanny-plus-nanny's-offspring" scenario is increasingly common.

"It does raise all sorts of issues. For example, what happens if the nanny's child is ill and you don't want your nanny to bring the child to your house, or your child is ill and she does not want to come to you? It can be very difficult," she said.

There are also the legal implications. Assuming a nanny has been employed legally for six months or more, an employer must pay her maternity pay at 90 per cent of gross earnings for six weeks, and then £102.80 a week for 20 weeks, and hold her job open for a year.

Parents classed as small employers can usually reclaim all the costs involved but unless they sign up to a company like Nannytax (for £250 a year), this can involve a mountain of paperwork.

William, a father-of-two who did not want his real name used, remembers the moment the family nanny said she was expecting a baby. It was, he said, a hammer blow that led him to the conclusion that applying for redundancy and becoming self-employed was the only answer.

"My reaction was quite simply, 'Oh my God'," he said. "We had got through five nannies in five years and she was by far the best. My girlfriend and I had just had two years of complete upheaval – moving house, having our second child, my girlfriend setting up in business on her own.

"Everyone who works for her seems to have got pregnant, so the nanny was the one constant in our lives. She was our neighbour and we felt secure leaving the children with her. But the irony, of course, is that very good nannies are very maternal and tend to want kids of their own.

"Ours wants to take a whole year off. We didn't think she would get pregnant because she is only 20. Now I am applying for redundancy to help my girlfriend in her business and, between us, we can look after the children."

One mother who has also just learned that her nanny was pregnant said she was "devastated". She had been through the stress of finding child care three time since her 20-month-old was born. "How do you prepare a toddler of 20 months for the end of one of the most important relationships of his life?" she said.

Susan Carlton and Coco Myers, authors of The Nanny Guide, say the nanny "truly is part of the family framework, often a third and critical leg of a child-rearing tripod". Without her, the family can collapse.

Nevertheless, mothers with nannies are considered fortunate by parents who travel to a nursery every day, in all weathers, exposing their offspring to infections and, in some cases, themselves to £60 fines every time they show up 15 minutes late for collection.

And, of course, not all bosses are thrilled when an employee announces that she is pregnant.Small businesses, which account for 99 per cent of firms, feel the loss most acutely. Maternity leave can make or break a business when a trained employee disappears on paid leave and has to be replaced.

Sue Terpilowski, 46, the managing director of a small marketing company in London, employs eight people, of whom three recently left to have children. "One had an ectopic pregnancy and then a healthy pregnancy. She was off for nearly 14 months across the two pregnancies. "Then she came back, worked for two months, handed in her notice and got another job."

The episode left her reeling. "We were once 90 per cent women but now we have gone the other way."

So who are the winners here? Labour's plans may help a few well-heeled, professionally secure women who can give up hard-won salaries and careers for 12 months and then take up where they left off, leaving their children with a good nanny at home.

But how long will the nanny stay, will she want children of her own and how much time will be spent interviewing other candidates when she leaves?

In the end, increasing numbers of small companies may simply decide not to employ women of child-bearing age, even though that is illegal under age discrimination legislation.

To paraphrase Mary Poppins, the situation is "practically imperfect in every way".

NANNY KNOW-HOW: Southern Style

Demand grows for help beyond baby sitters

By Beverly Fortune
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

Note: Check out the salaries for nannies in Kentucky! See below.

Many parents watching TV's Supernanny and Nanny 911 are getting their first glimpses into what it's like to have a nanny. In TV land, at least, nanny arrives, and within days she tames the wildest 3-year old beastie running around on two legs.

"Those situations make good TV, but I'm not sure how realistic they are," said Beth Thomas of Georgetown. "Those nannies are very formal and are there to diagnose a problem."

Thomas and her husband, Martin, have two children -- Jacob, 6, and Lily, 3. Earlier this year the family had a nanny-in-training, Lisa McClendon from Sullivan University, for one month at their home.

McClendon was "very professional. You could tell she had a lot of training. She was definitely not just a baby sitter," Beth Thomas said.

"Lisa had almost an educational approach with Jacob, the way she talked to him and played with him. She was very diplomatic when there were brother-sister conflicts. She would say, 'Let's take turns.'"

A nanny is no longer a privilege reserved for upper-class English nurseries. In fact, the demand for nannies exceeds the supply, according to Sullivan officials.

Sullivan University offers a 12-month professional nanny certification program at its Louis-ville and Lexington campuses. The curriculum includes child development, safety, nutrition, infant care, basic math, writing, keyboarding and public speaking. The university is a member of the International Nanny Association and is the only member group in Kentucky.

"So many people come to us wanting a nanny, we never have to advertise our graduates," said Angela Riggs, Sullivan's coordinator of early childhood education in Louisville.

"I'm bombarded with calls," said Pam Stiltz, Sullivan's Lexington coordinator of early childhood education. The program started in Lexington 18 months ago and includes nanny certification.

Rhonda Byers has had four nannies-in-training from Sullivan. Student nannies have to be supervised by a parent.

"It's not like the show where I need somebody to show me a discipline strategy," said Byers, a former first-grade teacher with three young children. The nannies are "an extra pair of hands to help out."

Nannies are not housekeepers or domestics. Their duties relate only to children. They play, read, do children's laundry, fix their lunches, clean up after lunch and make the children's beds.

Nina Ramirez, 18, is doing her externship with the Byerses. Mainly she takes care of 8-month-old Olivia, but she also plays with Landon, 4, and Gavin, 3.

"I like it a whole lot more than working in day care," Ramirez said. "There's more one-on-one, and I only have three children here instead of 12."

Sullivan introduced a six-month nanny training program in 1988, later expanding it to 12 months. In the 1980s, Midway College offered a two-year nanny and early childhood education degree that was phased out when the school became a four-year institution.

Today, after earning nanny certification, Sullivan students may continue for an additional two quarters and earn an associate degree in early childhood education. This qualifies them to be a day care center director.

Altogether, 249 students in Louisville and Lexington have gone through Sullivan's nanny and early childhood programs.

Nanny trainee Antonia Baxter, 18, thinks she might like to be a professional nanny.

"I love having one child to take care of," she said, nuzzling 7-month-old Olivia Glowatz's cheek.

Baxter is working at the home of Dawn and Frank Glowatz of Georgetown in the second of three required supervised externships. She goes to their house for six hours on Fridays for 10 weeks. The couple have five children: three in school, plus Olivia and Erin, 2.

Baxter's only concern about her job is that she could become too attached to the children, too entwined with the family.

"It's going to be hard leaving Olivia when my externship is up here," she said.

Dawn Glowatz, a registered nurse, said hiring a part-time nanny is a good alternative to returning to work and putting her children in day care.

"Financially we could have more things if I went back to work, but I don't want to put my children in day care." She added, "I would hire a full-time nanny, but I can't afford one."

Nanny salaries in Kentucky range from about $350 to $700 a week, plus health care and Social Security, Riggs said. According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, the average weekly earnings of a day care worker in 2004 was $313. Perks for nannies frequently include a car, separate living quarters and opportunities for travel.

All well and good, but Baxter doesn't want people to think she's going to school "to be a baby sitter."

With media attention and education, Riggs said she hopes the notion that a nanny is just a high-paid baby sitter -- or a child psychologist -- will be dispelled.