Each year, individuals are nominated and a title is awarded for the Nanny of the Year Award. This award is sponsored by the International Nanny Association (INA). In order to receive this prestigious award, there are several qualifications that must be met.

1. Currently employed. In order to be nominated and qualify as a candidate for the Nanny of the Year Award, a person must be currently employed as a nanny. Those without a current position as a nanny, even if they are doing childcare in another type of setting, would not qualify.
2. Full time nanny. Nannies who hold a part time position do not qualify for a nomination. All nominees must be currently employed in a full time nanny position. It may be a temporary position or a specialty position, but it must be full time hours, as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act. This is defined as a minimum of 40 hours per seven day period or a minimum of 2080 hours per year.
3. Member of INA. Since this award is provided by the INA, one of the obvious qualifications is that the nanny be a current member of the organization at the time the nomination is filed. Membership is easy to apply for on their website and the cost in 2011 is only $35.00.
4. 5 years minimum experience. In order to qualify for nomination, the person must have a minimum of five years experience in the  in-home childcare industry.
5. Meet legal requirements. The person must legally be able to accept employment in the country they are currently employed in, and they must also be paid as an ‘employee’, as defined by the IRS.
6. Advocate for Children. Any person nominated for the Nanny of the Year Award should demonstrate, in tangible ways, that they are a genuine advocate for children in general, beyond just the children in their current care.
7. Nomination. A nanny cannot nominate herself for this award, but the nanny must be in attendance at the award ceremony during the annual INA Conference in order to receive the award.
8. Agreement to Duties. Part of the application for the Nanny of the Year Award is a listing of the duties expected of the winner of the award during the year to follow. There is a Certification Form included with the application which the nominee must sign. It acknowledges that she understands those duties and is willing and able to perform them if she is given the award.
9. Letters of recommendation. Letters of recommendation from current and previous employers are to be included as part of the application.
10. Enriching the lives of children in her care. The nanny being nominated should be able to demonstrate through the materials and references provided with the application that she has had an enriching impact on the lives of the children within her care.

This award is quite coveted among the professional nannies who are a part of the International Nanny Association and quite a bit of work goes into the application process on the part of the nominator and the nominee herself.

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Working parents usually have regularly scheduled childcare for their kids, but there are situations that may require a temporary nanny or caregiver. They may be inbetween permanent day care, the child is sick and can’t attend school or the parents are taking a short vacation on their own. Whatever the reason, there are temporary childcare services available. However, before taking that step, be sure to know the risks involved.

Children are the most comfortable if they can depend on a regular daily routine. Too much disruption to this can lead kids into a sense of insecurity. Some children are able to deal with new situations and other caregivers better than others, so use caution when introducing your child to temporary childcare. It wouldn’t be advisable to leave your child with an unfamiliar adult while you go off on a weekend getaway.

Kids who are constantly being shuffled from one caregiver to another can develop trouble forming attachments. Beginning in infancy with their parents, children need to develop secure attachments to the adults that care for them. Consistent, dependable relationships give kids a sense of security and control, so constantly changing temporary caregivers can be detrimental to a child’s well being. Bonding with adult caregivers can take time and consistency so constant disruptions to this process can result in your child being detached and have trouble establishing future relationships.

It’s unreasonable to expect that your child should never be left with a temporary caregiver, so parents shouldn’t worry too much when the situation arises. When something unexpected comes up and you need to get someone to watch the kids, don’t be concerned that they’ll have irreparable damage from the experience. Only when this scenario is repeated over and over do you run the risk of behavior problems developing in your child. Kids who don’t develop stable relationships with their caregivers can become irritable and act out from frustration.

When circumstances do require you to find a temporary caregiver, be sure to get someone you can trust. A good temporary childcare service will perform thorough background checks on all their staff. By checking references and getting recommendations from other parents, you should be able to locate a reputable service or responsible person that you can feel comfortable leaving your child with. Never run the risk of trusting the care of your child with someone you don’t know well personally or haven’t thoroughly checked out ahead of time.

Another option for temporary childcare is to get someone your child is already familiar with. Perhaps you have a friend or family member that your children know from past social gatherings that they would feel comfortable with. By having an already established relationship, kids will be less traumatized by being left alone with someone different for a short period of time.

Knowing the risks associated with temporary childcare and how to avoid them is an important aspect in childrearing. By letting your children establish ongoing relationships with their caregivers and providing them with consistency in their formative years, your kids are more likely to grow up happy, healthy and well adjusted.

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Finding the right nanny can be a really difficult and frustrating experience and it’s true that some parents go into it with pre-conceived notions of what a nanny should or should not be like (young and fun or older and experienced, etc.).  We aren’t really sure why that is the case but over the years I have had some parents tell me that they would prefer to not have a nanny that has her own children.  I think that’s really too bad because there are many reasons to consider Moms.  Just being a Mother doesn’t mean that they are good or bad, better or worse, but it should NOT be a reason to exclude them from a search.  In fact, you should see their experience as a parent in many ways consistent with “on-the-job” training that should help them in their career as a nanny.  We are going to give you a few reasons to consider hiring a nanny who is a mother, but we want to stress that these types of life skills can and often do exist in people that have chosen a career as a nanny.

1. Experience – Colic, croup, teething, “terrible two’s” and a cast of thousands of first-hand experiences will be helpful for your nanny.
2. Empathy – Being a mother takes things from the hypothetical/theoretical to a practical level, and those with the “experience” are more apt to have a “feel” for their charges.
3. Behavior Recognition – Mothers see the progressions, regressions, aggressions and digressions in your kids  because they have been through it with their own children.
4. Skills – Mom’s can have learned some skills that are hard to teach effectively from dealing with kid’s that know how to push their buttons to holding a sick child’s hand while they lie in bed with a fever.  Some of those life skills can really come in handy in ways that are just hard to describe.
5. Discipline – Nannies with parenting experience have learned to balance the use of the carrot and the stick.  Again, all nannies should have this well under control but getting your kids to accept discipline for some reason can be even more challenging than doing the same with other children.
6. Nutrition – If a nanny has been successful at getting her own children hooked on healthy foods then there is a chance she has a few tricks up her sleeve for getting kids in her charge to eat their veggies and more.
7. Knows the Routine – Doctors, dentists, pictures with Santa, after-school activities and a slew of other appointments and activities are nothing new to the nanny who is also a mom.
8. Education – Typically, a nanny who has school-age kids of her own will be better prepared to help in the educational process if that is something that you are looking for from your nanny (tutoring and/or interactions with the school as needed).
9. Instinct – Humans don’t like to be compared to other earthly fauna, but many say the motherly “instinct” is alive and well.  Once again, this can be strong in nannies without their own children as well and is much more intrinsic to the person on a case-by-case basis.
10. Intangibles – Almost a compendium of the previous items is the overall presence of a nanny who already has childrearing experience. The total package can be greater than the sum of the parts.

Motherhood is certainly NOT a requirement for a great nanny by any means as there are many fantastic caregivers that have never had children of their own (in fact through their nanny experiences they will likely pick up nearly the same life skills).  With that said, it’s common when you are looking for an experienced nanny to find out whether or not candidates have been a mother and to delve into questions surrounding their own experiences.  It can go either way, but one thing we are sure of is that you should not ignore candidates who have been a Mother, in fact we hope we gave you some good reasons to include them on your interview list.

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Water is the best drink for kids and adults, but unfortunately, it isn’t always our first choice, especially for kids. It can take some training on our part to help them make this a preferred choice and make sure that they get all the water that they need each day. Below are listed 10 choices that many kids would choose to drink instead of water.

1. Juice – Fruit juices do provide some good, healthy nutrition for kids, and their sweet taste will often make them a favorite for kids. Apple, grape and orange juices are the three safe choices for smiles. However, there are many combination flavors that kids enjoy today as well (cran-grape, orange-pineapple, etc.). Checking the content to make sure there is no added sugar and that the product is 100% juice is an important step in getting the most nutritional value out of the juices kids love.
2. Soft drinks – You may call these ‘soda’ or ‘pop’, depending on the area of the country you live in. Root beer and fruit flavored soft drinks seem to be the favorites among young kids and are generally free from caffeine, but have lots of sugar. There are few kids who would choose water over a soft drink with their meal, but there are a few.  This one is difficult to combat since there is almost no nutritional value, the best thing you can do is be sure to offer this choice as a last resort (basically use it more as a treat).
3. Milk – This is another healthy choice for kids who want to drink something other than water.  You also have the choice of providing it in different fat contents.You will find that some kids do have a preference for the milks with higher fat content, skim, 1%, 2% or whole milk, depending on what they are used to drinking at home.
4. Koolaid – This fruit flavored powder has been used by parents for years to provide an inexpensive sweet drink for kids. Kids will get their water by drinking this drink, but they’ll also get a lot of sugar unless you buy the sugar-free variety (which of course we recommend).
5. Lemonade – Lemon juice, water and sugar are the three simple components of this time favored drink. The sour lemon juice is tempered by the sugar to make it just right for a hot summer day. Of course, it has also been used as a money maker for many children over the years.  This is another favorite that you can control the amount of sugar, so not a bad choice for kids under your care.
6. Smoothies – A cold, slushy drink made with fruit, your limitations in this area are created only by the limits of your own imagination. Any single fruit or combination of fruit can be used. You can find many different recipes for smoothies online to satisfy the taste buds of even the pickiest kids.
7. Ice cream floats – This drink can double as a dessert. Root beer floats are one of the most popular, but floats can be made with any flavor of soft drink, just add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  This is a true treat for obvious reasons and an effective prize for good behavior.
8. Flavored milk – Some kids prefer flavored milk to either white milk or water. Chocolate is the most common flavor and usually comes in a skim milk variety. However, strawberry flavored milk or flavored powder for adding to milk is also available.
9. Sports drinks – There are times when sports drinks with electrolytes are actually more beneficial to children than just water. Any time when dehydration is a concern, pediatricians recommend these types of drinks. Pedialyte or Gatorade are the two most well-known brand names.
10. Flavored waters – Many sugar-free flavored bottled waters are available in grocery stores that can be helpful for getting kids to drink the water they, need without adding any sugar to their diet.

As we mentioned at the beginning, water is an important part of a healthy lifestyle for kids, and such be encouraged as their drink of choice. If you are looking for other options, there are plenty of them available that kids will happily take as a first or second choice.

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We wanted to be sure to celebrate National Nanny Recognition Week and thank all of the nannies that we have had the pleasure to work with through the years.  Thank you for the invaluable service that you provide to our children and for all of your daily, weekly, monthly efforts!  We appreciate your hard work and hope you have a great week!

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We received a tip from one of our readers that they unfortunately had been scammed by someone on Craigslist.  It appears as though they only got a little bit of information from our nanny but we wanted to get the word out to others in case they might come across Mr. Combs.  We would like to think Amy for reporting this to us and would encourage everyone to let us know if they feel they have been a party to a nanny scam.

Here is the communication Amy got from Mr. Combs:

Hello Amy,

Thanks so much for your interest in our nanny advert placed onCraigslist. My Name is James Combs, my wifes name is Lisa with our children Sarah and William.We are in the process of re-locating from Burmingham, United Kingdom to your city. I will be coming there with my family to work on contract basis with United States Environmental Protection Agency on a private research work. I need of someone who can help me with some of the house hold chores running some errands when necessary and babysitting my kids Sarah and William taking care of them as yours around these hours of 2pm – 6pm from Mondays through Fridays. You would only be needed for few hours per week at your convenience and will like you to get back to me with your available hours.

My kids are lovely and very smart and fun to be with and they learn very fast. I will be needing your service till the end of the year but am offering $350.00 per week as compensation for a trustworthy and honest candidate. I have a Personal Assistant who is helping me with the re-location process. It’s okay if you prefer to be a live-in or live-out nanny as i can drop my kids at your home everyday and will greatly appreciate if you will be delighted to accept this offer as we would be arriving soon.

If you accept this position, I will instruct my finance manager to forward to you a check for your first week upfront payment by express mail so that i can be rest assured of your availability for the job and wouldn’t need to search for a nanny anymore. I will as well run a background check on you as soon as we arrive in the State because it’s not easy to leave a child with someone just like that and i hope you understand my concerns.

If this employment opportunity is acceptable to you, kindly get back to me asap with the information below required for confirmation and further proceedings to take place:

Full name:
Contact Address: (No P.O. Box)
Apt #:
City:
Zip Code:
Home & Cell numbers:

Our expected arrival date is 15th of September but you will be paid beginning immediately, as i will have several small assignments for you to complete prior to our arrival, such as checking our new apartment for necessary supplies, purchasing what may be needed before our arrival, etc. All we ask from you is honesty and sincerity. And am sure you will enjoy the time you will spend with my Kids.

Please do get in touch on time so that we can start making arrangements with our travel agency while i await your swift response regards this employment offer and the requested details.

Sincerely,
James Combs.

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A nanny is a child-care professional, and deserves to be treated with proper respect and professional courtesy. Many families have never hired a nanny before, and may not be sure how to handle the new situation. Every family is different, and every nanny is different, but there are certain areas that pertain to all, and here you will find a sampling of what a nanny should be able to expect from an employer.  Some of these are flat out obvious but this is just meant to be a quick checklist that you should have handy when looking for your next job as a nanny.

1. Fair Wage – Wage scales vary from area to area, with highest wages in metropolitan areas. Nannies should receive appropriate pay for their location.
2. Room & Board – These should be considered as inclusions for live-in caregivers. Nannies are often considered “part of the family”, but should be provided with a measure of privacy in their living accommodations.
3. Vehicle – Nannies should not have to use their own vehicles for work-related driving, and are often given the use of a vehicle for personal reasons as well as for work.
4. Duties List – Responsibilities should be clearly delineated, with a nanny’s primary sphere revolving around child-care, not house cleaning or errands. If extensive household work is required, compensation should reflect the additional work. Hours and days of employment should also be clear to all parties.
5. Safe Home – A nanny has every right to expect a safe and healthy work environment, and shouldn’t have to work in a house full of smokers unless he/she agrees to do so beforehand.
6. Harassment – The nanny shouldn’t have to worry about being chased around the dining room table by a lecherous parent or relative; there is no place for any such behavior in a reputable household. No live-in employee should ever feel physically or emotionally threatened in his-or-her own residence.
7. Health Insurance – Health insurance and medical benefits, if any, should be clearly laid out in any contract, and these are negotiable items in the employment agreement.
8. Paid Vacation – Two weeks of paid vacation per year is a rule-of-thumb standard, but this is something decided between employer and employee, and also applies to paid holidays and scheduled time-off.
9. Payroll Service – Any household employee should be free from worry about proper withholding, and whether-or-not an employer is paying the right amounts of Social Security and Medicare.
10. Out-of-Pocket – It is fair to expect compensation for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the course of childcare duties. Snacks and parking fees are two common examples, and a nanny should have a way to report these expenses so that an employer can make the necessary adjustments.

The time to deal with these points is before entering into an employment agreement, and this will protect everyone, as well as allow for the best relationship possible.

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