Are nannies worth it?

A friend of mine called me talk about her boss who is now after one year, complaining about her nanny rates!
After one year of top-notch care!
My friend tells me that every time pay-day rolls around the corner, her boss starts to complain about not being able to afford to pay such high rates!
This from a woman who doesnt work..oh wait--she lunches and calls it work...Her husband is extremely successful, they have an Upper East Side 4 floor home, a holiday house in the Hamptons and a country get away somewhere down south!

My friend has a teaching degree, 10 years of nannying experience, can speak 3 languages and play 2 musical instruments. How is she not worth $20 an hour?

You get what you pay for. Some families can only afford $10 an hour! I understand that and quite frankly, they will get what they pay for, sometimes even more than they pay for. But
for those families that can afford a nanny, and say that they deem their children to be their most prized possession, but want to pay $10 or less, and snuff at anything more expensive, I say "shame on you".
$20-35 an hour is what nannies in NYC charge and should be considered getting a reasonable deal! Like everyone else, Nannies have to pay NYC rents people. Thats upward of $1200 for a one bedroom!

I think that if a person really cant afford it, then I would understand not going the way of the nanny. But if one can afford it, why not hire the best and pay her what she is worth!

You can have your child in the best hands ever for a fair wage or you can buy a hardcover book. I must admit that I am observant, I see that many NYC mothers are walking around with bags that range from the many hundreds to the many thousands of dollars and then they guffaw at an expensive nanny.

In the grand scheme of things, the mother who says $35 an hour is a lot, might be right! It just depends what you get for that hour.

For a 4 hour day, what would your itinerary on a winter day looks like?
One of my nanny-friends, (foreigners stick together) shared her schedule. She jazzes it up every once in a while by adding a language here and there as well as a musical instrument!

A Theme day of Gingerbread.
1. Bake Ginger bread cookies...learn about measuring, math and have fun getting messy.
2. While oven is baking, wash up and clear activities and then read the gingerbread man story book.
3.Take out the cookies to cool. Do an art project about gingerbread men...puppet or make a gingerbread house out of a shoe box.
4. Decorate cookies...wrap some up for friends
5. Create our own story, make a book about it or a poem.

Worth more than $10 an hour! I think so!

You get ample years of experience, fun educational activities and quite frankly, peace of mind. So to my friend, the overqualified nanny Monika who contacted me to complain about parents complaining at her rate, I say move on to someone else. In fact use that number I gave you and leave this family in the dust. Dont dare let them make you feel bad about charging your worth! Dont let them make you question your value.

For those parents who complain to me about the rates your nannies charge you...I understand that you dont want to feel taken advantage of, but when your nanny is paying their cleaning person more than you pay yours....WE HAVE A PROBLEM!

So, take your expensive handbag and tell someone who cares. Prioritize people. Prioritize!