Heading Back To Work

Today is the first day of my "phase in" at work. I honestly had nightmares last night about the nanny canceling on me or some other such thing but she showed up right on time this morning and the baby seemed to like her. We did the morning together and I went to work for the afternoon. It is not easy to leave. But other than my building being annoying about giving us a spare key there was no reason for sticking around. The little one was very happy, playing and having her food, plus my laundry was being folded! Let's hope things continue along this pleasant path and I get to move to my new apartment with a room for the baby sooner rather than later. In the meantime here is a list of questions you might like to ask your childcare provider before hiring them. Remember if you don't get that good feeling from someone, move on! It's not worth worrying over. Don't expect Mary Poppins to fly into your door but don't settle.

Past Experience:
How long have you been working with Kids?
Are you CPR certified? first aid?
Have you worked with newborns/toddlers/preteens?
Where did you last work? Why did this job end?

General:
What types of activities will you do with my child?
What do you do with a crying baby?
What was your worst childcare experience and how did you solve it?
Are you OK with pumped breastmilk/cloth diapering/any other not standard thing you are considering?

Personal:
Where do you live and how is the commute here?
Do you have children? Who is caring for them?
Are you a U.S. citizen?
Do you speak a language other than English?

Employment Terms:
Can I pay you on the books?
When can you start?
What do you expect to earn per hour or per week?
What is your availability? Are you available for weekends?
Is there any flexibilty in your schedule?
Are you willing to do house keeping?
What tasks do you do other than baby care (laundry of children, cooking for children etc.)?
What holidays do you need to take off? How many personal days do you need?

BE SURE TO ASK FOR REFERENCES. CALL THEM ALL! THIS IS THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO.

Q's for the references:
How do you know the applicant?
When did they work for you?
How long have you known them?
Where you happy with their work?
How old were your children when they were cared for by this nanny?
Why did the experience end?
Is there anything you think I should know? Where there any problems?
Was the applicant on time?
How many hours did the applicant work for you a week?
What was good? What was bad?
What are the applicants weaknesses?
How did hte applicant interact with your kids? What kind of activities did they do?
Did the applicant do anything other than childcare?
Was the applicant reliable? Could you reach htem by phone?
Did they often miss work?
Did any emergencies come up? How were they handled?
How was the applicant compared to other nannies you have had?


Do you recommend this applicant? Would you hire them again?