Some of the many job requirements for being a nanny include: being friendly, firm, creative, kind, gentle, caring, fast, and energetic, calm in chaotic situations, skilled in the kitchen, an excellent driver with a clean record, and able to find any destination within the city the children live in, among other things.
If I had a penny for every time a child has asked me “why, how and what” then I would be rich. As a nanny, these questions come with the job, among other things. And, let me tell you, these questions drive me crazy, especially after working for 13 hours a day.
Some of my duties as a nanny include: wiping noses, change diapers, carpooling screaming children, dealing with children who bite, tending wounds such as bloody noses, fevers and vomiting.
No, I do not hate my job. Yes, there are days when I think that it could not get any worse, but then I remember why I love it.
I get to watch children learn how to use language. I get to teach children how to read and write. I get to make them delicious pancake breakfasts and watch their faces light up with joy. I get to take them on adventures every day. I think the best part of my job is the fact that I am invited to be a part of a family’s life. I get to see the details of people’s lives that many do not.
I see the after-effects of Christmas morning with wrapping paper thrown across the living room floor and old food stuck on plates stacked in the kitchen. I see fights between spouses. I see people mourn loss. For however long I am with a family for, I get a glimpse into their lives, and I’ve found that fascinating.
As much as I love my job, my one piece of advice is this: set boundaries. I have discovered that, as a nanny, it is not only important to meet the criteria I listed in the first paragraph, but it is equally important to set boundaries with families.
Many families assume that when they are hiring a nanny, they are also hiring a maid, cook, personal assistant, and driver.
Cooking and cleaning up after the children and driving them around are definitely requirements as a nanny. But a nanny is not necessarily required to take the parent’s clothes to the dry cleaners, or pick up grandparents from the airport, or go get the car detailed.
Being a nanny can be a very rewarding experience. Summer days can be filled with water fights, lazy days at the beach and story hour at the library. Fall days can be filled with baking, snuggling on the couch and reading stories. And winter days can be filled with decorating the Christmas tree with the kids and taking them downtown Seattle to see Santa at Nordstrom.
But there are also sick days, and days when the food gets burnt and the toilet overflows because the kids jammed the whole role of toilet paper in it.
As a college student, being a nanny is one of the best job choices I made. When I nanny I also feel as though I am doing work that really matters. I get to make a difference in someone’s life, and to me that is the best gift.
