CareSquare musings for families and caregivers

A small slip

I accidentally said the F word in front of the girls I take care of.  I've been so good around them, but I knew I would eventually let something slip.  They just laughed about it, and I'm sure it's no big deal, but I felt bad because they are so sweet and innocent.  Of course, they told me they hear it all day at school and were not offended by it.  I guess it would be much worse if they were younger and tended to repeat things. 

What should I do?

The family I work for keeps their house very neat most of the time.  However, sometimes there will be dishes in the sink or the dishwasher will be filled with clean dishes, and I wonder if I should clean up or empty the dishwasher.  Of course, I don't want to and they have never asked me to, but I feel like maybe I should, especially because they pay me pretty good money to do an extremely easy job.  Not that nannying is an easy job, this one just happens to be because the girls are older and don't require a lot.  As of yet, I have not done any cleaning because as I mentioned, they have never asked me to and it was never mentioned as an expectation when I took the job.  So, I'm wondering what others think - should I go above and beyond and clean up - or should I just not worry about it? 

Scattegories - SO fun!

I was with the two girls I nanny for yesterday afternoon and we were having so much fun playing scattegories. Both the girls, Greta and Andrea, love to play games! That is a lot of what we do when they don't have homework or one of their many sports activities to run off to.  Yesterday was a quiet afternoon so we stayed home and had such a great time.  I'm not a big board game person, and I had never played scattegories before, but I did like this one.  It's pretty easy, but you do also have to use your mind a little bit - it's definitely a game of skill rather than luck.  We were all laughing and just having a really good time.  It's nice because I really enjoy hanging out with these girls! Anyway, my point is, I highly recommend this game if you are looking for a fun, indoor activity. 

Where are all the male caregivers?

I was looking at a childcare/family message board the other day and I came across a discussion about male caregivers.  Several parents were talking about how they would NEVER even consider hiring a male caregiver.  I thought that was very unfortunate as I am sure there are many males who would make great caregivers.  I realize that males don't typically show interest or seek out these kinds of jobs, and apparently that might be a good thing because according to this discussion, they might have a hard time finding a job.  But I am sure there are plenty of males out there who would be very warm and caring with children and make great caregivers. 

When I was a child the first babysitter my brother and I had was a male.  His name was Joel, he lived down the street from us, and I believe he was a high school student.  Admittedly, the world was a safer place many years ago when I was a child, but I don't remember my parents having any issues with his gender.  I remember him being warm, engaging, and fun! I'm sure he loved the extra money as a high school student, and it was great and convenient for my parents.  So, my point is - I don't think a male caregiver should be discriminated against just because he is male.  I also think more males should consider caregiving as a profession or as a way to make some extra money during the high school and college years.   

Where do I find caregiver resources?

This morning I decided to spend some time online looking for advice for caregivers on how to deal with toddlers.  I was surprised that there is not that much out there.  There is a ton of information for parents, but not too much for caregivers.  Admittedly, dealing with a toddler as a parent and as a caregiver is similar, but it can also be quite different. Thankfully, Caresquare is working on building out a rich and robust resource section with a separate section for caregivers.  We are looking forward to providing helpful information and getting some good discussions going.  It will be a great place for us caregivers to share stories and swap ideas.

Terrible twos

Hi – My name is Kathleen and I will be writing the babysitter/nanny blog.  I will be posting frequently, and I will try and come up with interesting topics that other caregivers can relate to. I work for Caresquare part-time doing caregiver outreach, I’m a full-time student, and I work as a nanny.  The family I work for is great, and the two girls (ages 10 and 12) are always a joy to be around.  They are both so well behaved and always seem to be happy and in good spirits.  I definitely consider myself lucky to be working with such easy kids, but that has not always been the case.  Over winter break I did a temporary job for a family with a two year old boy.  He was very cute and sweet, but that is a difficult age!  One of the hardest things was the fact that his Mom worked from home, so she was always just in the other room, and of course, he always knew that.  It was hard to keep him from screaming and pounding on her office door.  I tried to keep him out of the house as much as possible, but it was winter, so weather didn’t always permit that.  Another difficult thing about working with a child that age was having to discipline him. There was something strange for me about disciplining someone else’s child even if it was just using a stern voice or not allowing him to do something he really wanted to do.  I hadn’t had much experience with toddlers, so it was challenging to come up with successful ways of reasoning with him and getting him to behave.  Does anyone have any good pointers that could help other caregivers?