A nanny’s main responsibility is to care for the employer’s children, always providing a safe, healthy, learning and loving environment.
A nanny’s duties may include:
- Tending to a child’s physical and emotional needs
- Providing healthy meals and snacks
- All child related duties: laundry, pick up, organizing children’s room and play areas, cleaning bottles, washing cloth diapers
- Organizing activities, play dates and outings
- Setting behavioral boundaries
- Providing the disciplinary method agreed on by parents
- Providing social and intellectual stimulation through educational activities
- Providing transportation when necessary
- Traveling with the family when needed
- Communicating children’s needs to parents
Make sure you communicate what is and isn’t acceptable for you or you may find yourself mopping the floors and using all your gas to drive the children around. Make sure you put all this in writing by using a nanny work agreement.
Every family is different in how they treat the nanny. Some may treat the nanny as an employee while others may welcome the nanny as part of the family. Before you start the job, ask the family how their relationship was with their last nanny (if they had one). You will most likely be able to tell if they want a nanny that is part of the family or a nanny that is viewed more as an employee.