Nanny Employer Blog

Wherever we go in today’s society, we are constantly bombarded by media.  TVs are in almost every room of your house; most of us have an iPhone or Blackberry which allows us to always be connected, and the radio is usually on while we are sitting in rush hour traffic.  Unfortunately, most of the news we hear is often negative.  This certainly holds true to nanny-related events.   However, nannies around the world have been caught in some pretty heroic acts lately.  These nannies have been inadvertently been placed in tragic situations, risked their lives, and never thought twice about risking their own lives for their charges. 

A few weeks ago, a house right outside Louisville caught on fire in the early morning hours.  The family’s live-in nanny was home alone with their five-year-old child. She woke up to find the house engulfed in flames and knew she had to get the little boy out quickly.  Alyson walked barefoot through the fire and pulled the boy to safety.  Fire fighters believe that, within minutes, his room would have been engulfed in flames.  When Alyson was interviewed in the hospital, covered with severe burns, she said she never thought twice about walking through flames to rescue this little boy.  She is now recovering, and the little boy is very vocal about how much he misses her!

Many miles away, nannies are continuing to put their charges well-being before their own.  In Israel, a shooting broke out in a temple.  Over 180 people were killed, including the parents of a two-year-old little boy.   His brave nanny stepped in front of the gunman, was shot herself, and survived.  Due to her actions, the little boy made it out unharmed.  No matter how far from home, this act deserves recognition.

Sadly, we are faced with stress and worries each day. Hopefully knowing that your children are in the hands of a great nanny will allow you the peace of mind to sleep a little better each night.

Last weekend, I attended a conference of the Association of Premier Nanny Agencies (APNA) in Philadelphia. It was my first meeting as a member of the board of directors. I have been a member for many years and I am honored to now have a more participatory role, serving on the board. APNA is an organization that represents the best and brightest agency owners from across the country who have averaged at least 10 years in the business, many closer to 20 or 30. Keynote speakers included Alyssa Dyer who gave us some great marketing ideas from her book, No Time Marketing, and Deborah Smith, queen of social networking, who shared with us all the ins and outs of Facebook, Twitter, and more.

The conference format was a “Apprentice” style case study on a fictional struggling agency (whose P&L’s were in need of serious help) which was given $5k in marketing funds to spend on generating additional clientele most effectively. Attendees were divided into 5 groups and given a few hours to compose the most convincing PPT presentation. Some interesting ideas were inspired from this creative group of entrepreneurs.

It seems very apropos that such originality would flow in a city with such rich history and the origin of such creative genius as the Declaration of Independence. The beautiful architecture and historical significance of the location were not lost on this group. I look forward to getting more involved in the running and management of this important organization whose mission is to “establish and enforce standards of professional industry practices.”

While we are experiencing some negative impacts of the economy, there are also some great positive benefits our client families can take advantage of right now! One tremendous benefit is the increased nanny pool. We are seeing an influx of extremely qualified caregivers who are seeking immediate employment. At Mom’s Best Friend, we pride ourselves on the quality of our candidates and the thoroughness of our background screening. In previous years, we have had to do extra recruiting to find those fantastic candidates. Today, that is not the case. A number of experienced, veteran nannies that may have lost their job due to one parent deciding to stay home or losing their job are now on the job market. What a wonderful time to find a supernanny!

Our nannies all appreciate the opportunity to work and the ability to make a difference in the lives of the children and parents they work for. These individuals have a heart for service and a desire to walk side by side with their employer to help ease some of the additional stress they themselves are feeling by competently and lovingly caring for their children (and home). In addition to childcare, nannies often take on some of the household management and coordination. Because of the contracting job market, we are seeing nannies becoming more flexible in regards to hours, duties and compensation than ever before.

My nanny is a superstar and handles such extra tasks as: arranging for and supervising household repairs, household organization, creating a weekly Excel spreadsheet/schedule for the family, grocery shopping and meal planning, some cooking, errands, cataloguing family photos, decorating for the holidays, taking the cars for maintenance, helping with the kids’ schooling (she’s a teacher!), packing, travelling with us, and so much more.

Let one of our many Mom’s Best Friend Super Nannies help make your home life easier!

Last week, I attended the Alliance of Premier Nanny Agencies conference in Las Vegas, along with 100 of my colleagues who own and work for professional nanny agencies all over the country. We enjoyed a great time of collaboration and idea generation. On Friday, Lisa Vines (VP of Sales Operations) and I spoke to the group about how to enhance your on-call (sitter) services. We shared ideas about how to exceed client expectations, reward your nannies, and provide corporate backup child care (as we do for many Texas businesses). I am also proud to say that we were recognized as a top 3 nominee for Nanny Agency of the Year at an award dinner on Saturday evening.

Attendance at events like this conference help us to stay on top of the latest background checks, providing top notch customer service, and general ways to improve our offerings to our valued, loyal client families. Belonging to one or both industry associations (the other being the International Nanny Association) signifies an adherence to stringent industry standards, ethics and expectations in the running of your business. Mom’s Best Friend has been a member of both associations for many years and helped with planning conferences, speaking at conferences as an industry expert, and working on various committees to help make improvements.