Overloading Leads To Resentment

I consider myself to be very lucky currently because the two families that I work for appreciate my work and are considerate in that they do not overload me with work. Stella’s mum once said that a nanny is a helper hired to lighten her own workload around the house. A nanny is not there to take over all of the household chores while also looking after the kid/s.

There are many nannies out there that are stuck in appalling work environments. They are made to complete all sorts of chores around the house as well as making sure that the children are well looked after. I know what that is like because I have been in situations like this before. My years working for Alexandra and Bella’s families were like a living nightmare. I thank God each day that I don’t have to work for them ever again.

Parents sometimes overload the nanny’s working day because they think they should squeeze as much as possible out of the nanny since they are paying her a wage. Mothers often feel completely stressed out from looking after the children and taking care of the household chores and affairs with very little help from their husbands. If they can afford to do so, many mothers hire someone to share the work. For example, hiring a cleaner will free up precious time for the mother so she can spend more time with her precious little ones. Most mothers are appreciative of this sort of help. Unfortunately, there are mothers who after enjoying briefly the benefits of hired help, succumb to a never ending search for more ‘me’ time. They may then think of ingenious ways to create more ‘me’ time for themselves. This may include requesting the cleaner to look after the children while she cleans the house. If the cleaner resents this, she may be offered a small raise of an extra dollar per hour. If that doesn’t work out the mother may even contemplate hiring both a nanny and a cleaner. According to the last census, we Aussies are richer than ever. Unfortunately, it is still out of the reach of most Aussies to hire both a cleaner/housekeeper as well as a nanny. So what is a mum desperate for ‘me’ time to do in such a stressful situation? Well, she can sack the cleaner and hire a nanny. This type of mothers tends to be very fair to the new nanny at first, but just as the nanny is about to settle in, the mother is then likely to raise a bar and then another bar, gradually adding more to the nanny’s workload. The mother may even pepper her little project with bits of psychological bullying to create guilt and pity. Looking back to what Alexandra’s mum used to do I sometimes can’t help but laugh at how manipulative someone can be, to exploit another human being like this. I laugh at myself too. How naive can I be to be fooled like that?

Another reason why parents overload the nanny with work is because they believe it to be a form of abuse prevention. While parents are happy to part with their income so as to hire someone else who will look after their children, many do not trust the person they hired. By overloading the nanny with work, these parents come to believe that the nanny will be too busy to be able to plan anything evil towards their children. She will have little time to plot and execute anything to get back at the family. Why o’ why do people hire nannies if they suspect them so much?

Overloading a nanny’s work load can lead to resentment and stress that then leads to poor work quality. To expect a nanny to clean windows while still keeping an eye on two very active toddlers is not fair. It is hardly fair for a mum to be expected to do that, however it is considered an accident if one toddler breaks his arm because the other toddler pushed him off the couch while mum was cleaning windows. On the other hand if it happens while the nanny was cleaning the windows, it can be seen as neglect and the parents may press charges. Nannies working in such conditions are very stressed and are more likely to get sick and are also more prone to real accidents. The children under her care will be affected. Whose children are these again? They are the precious little ones of the very people who paid the nanny to look after them in the first place. I for one will not pay someone and then stress them out so that they can look after my child haphazardly.

Just remember to keep it simple. A nanny is a person who looks after her young charges. This includes any chores that are related to the child/children. She may give the children their baths, but cleaning all the bathrooms and toilets is not part of her job description. She is there to cook or serve up food for the little ones. She may load the dishwasher afterwards and perform general cleaning in the kitchen after food preparation, but she is not meant to be cleaning the BBQ, the fridge and the space behind it while the children are napping. I love folding clothes when the children are napping, but that does not mean I am asking to iron the undies of the children’s grandparents. Above all be appreciative of the nanny, especially if she is doing her job well and shows initiative to help around the house when she has the time. Do not take her for granted just because she is naturally hard working.

NOTE: The chores I have highlighted in the last paragraph are only part of a long list of things a nanny does each day.