Many families are turning to in home childcare using nannies to help watch their children while giving the parents the ability to continue their careers. This is certainly nothing new. In-home child caregivers commonly referred to as nannies or babysitters are just a personalized version of a daycare center. The nannies provide much closer supervision then the six or eight to one ratio of most daycares, while keeping the children in the family home where they feel more secure.
However, once a family has this extra pair of hands in their home, they assume they should be kept busy every minute. To keep them busy they start coming up with long lists of chores so the family thinks they are getting their monies worth. The reality is that taking care of children is a full time job. Ask your mother if you aren’t sure. Keeping track of a child’s activities and being prepared for sudden and unexpected behaviors is not hard, but does require constant monitoring and a high state of awareness. Most nannies will take care of cleaning up after the children, preparing their meals and even doing the children’s laundry. But you do not want them kept so busy with household work that they neglect the children. After all the whole reason for having a nanny is to take personal care of the children.
Professional nannies that are given the time, can really help your child grow and prepare them for the next stage of their life. By reading to toddlers and playing games with them helps develop skills that will prepare them for school. With older children, helping with homework or even just making sure that the kids have the quiet time they need to study will help. While some nannies will be able to help with some tutoring, I wouldn’t expect a nanny to help with trigonometry or advanced calculus homework. Then again how many parents out their can help with all of the homework our kids bring home? Okay, don’t be a show off. I am sure there are some of you that can even help with quantum physics, but the majority of us start to pause when faced with anything above basic algebra. Good nannies, just as good parents can still help their kids by removing distractions, preparing healthy snacks and providing support. Most times that is all that a child needs to solve the problems on their own.
Even for stay at home moms with multiple children, hiring a mother’s helper or nanny can be a very big plus to the growth of the whole family. For one thing, having the extra help allows parents to spend more time with each of their children individually while the nanny watches the others. The extra pair of hands and eyes may prevent accidents since the kids are being watched and cared for while lunch is being prepared or the laundry being done. Not to mention the time the stay at home parent saves by being able to complete more tasks during the day so there is more time for the family at night.
So when you think that hiring an in-home child caregiver, nanny or mothers helper, remember you might benefit even more than your children.
