Town & Country Resources Blog

Families often have questions about traveling with their Nanny. If you are planning to take your Nanny on a trip with you, here are some basic guidelines to consider:

It’s always best to discuss the trip and your expectations with your Nanny before you leave.  Remember, it is not a vacation for your Nanny.  No matter how luxurious the accommodations or where she sits on the plane, she’s still working for you and should be compensated for all of her working hours, especially if they exceed her normal working hours/schedule.

In addition to her regular hourly wage, it is your responsibility to pay for her:
•    Travel
•    Lodging
•    Food
•    Activities while on the job (for example, ski lift tickets or rentals if she’s skiing with the family)

We recommend looking at the entire vacation schedule with your Nanny and confirming which hours she will work for you and which she will have off.  Discuss whether you’d like her to dine with you or not, and if not, what her daily food budget will be. (Please keep in mind that hotel restaurants are sometimes pricier than one would expect.)

Some families pay a flat daily rate so they don’t have to keep track of their Nanny’s work hours.  Many families also offer a daily bonus of $50-100 to compensate the Nanny for being away from home, and a few families simply add 25% or more to their Nanny’s weekly salary.  Extra financial compensation isn’t a must; some families provide the privacy of one’s own hotel room, ski tickets, a spa treatment, or other non-financial considerations.

Travel salaries can also vary depending on workload.  If the Nanny is responsible for watching a second family’s children as well as her employers’, she may receive double pay or a premium on her base salary.  It is also necessary to compensate your Nanny if you have her sleep in the same room with the children or care for them overnight. For the sleeping hours, we recommend a flat rate of $75 per night for school-aged children and $100 for infants and toddlers.

What is most important is that you and your Nanny sit down together when planning the vacation and discuss schedules and compensation.  Taking the time to discuss these factors ahead of time will result in a more enjoyable vacation for you and your family.

Summer vacation for preschool, grade school, or middle school can present challenges for many families.  It can be difficult to decide which activities to participate in and how to piece it all together so that everyone in the family can have a fun, enjoyable and well balanced summer.

Last summer, we opted to get a “Summer Nanny” for our children. Our Summer Nanny was on break from our local college and had spent previous summers working as a counselor at summer camps. Peter wanted someone who would play basketball with him and Anna wanted someone who would get in the pool and go swimming with her. First and foremost, Jens and I wanted to find someone who would make sure our kids were safe and well cared for, but we also wanted someone who would enthusiastically engage with our kids in all their summer activities and help to create a unique, personalized and stress-free summer experience for all of us.

Our Summer Nanny exceeded everyone’s expectations. It was a wonderful summer for our entire family and the kids still talk about their “Summer Buddy.” Our Summer Nanny was able to connect with our kids, show an admirable amount of care and concern for our children, AND provide them with an amazingly unique summer experience! Here are some of the other things our kids did with our Summer Nanny that stand out in our memory:

• Taught the children how to make lanyards and friendship bracelets
• Played games like tag and capture the flag with the children in the back yard
• Packed up the kids and their bikes and went riding with them at a local park
• Cheered the children on at their swim meets and was thrilled when they achieved their personal bests
• Read to the kids when they were tired in the afternoon and needed some down time
• Taught the children about lacrosse (which our Nanny played in college)
• Took the kids to the local museums
• Took them to see a couple of very silly children’s movies
• Accompanied the children when they visited with their grandparents
• Helped the kids keep their rooms clean and picked-up
• Packed lunches before they headed off for the day’s activities
• Attended the summer swim team trip to the waterslides with both children

Both of our children loved their summer with their Summer Buddy.  They were able to participate in their chosen summer activities and were also able to spend valuable time at home reading, playing, sleeping in, and relaxing. Having a Summer Nanny was like getting our own personalized camp counselor!

I am just about to call our Summer Nanny to see about this summer – the kids would be thrilled!

If a Summer Nanny sounds like something your family needs, our Town & Country Temporary Department can help.  We have a pool of qualified and wonderful Summer Nannies that can help you.  To see our Special Summer Nanny Pricing and to learn more about our Summer Nannies, click here.

If you want to be Earth friendly, a great place to start is by making your own cleaners.

Many of our Housekeeper candidates are extremely knowledgeable about environmentally safe and green cleaning techniques. Here are a few of their safe and easy ways to make alternatives to common household cleaning products that work just as well as the chemical-filled cleaners. If you would like to find out more information about our Housekeeper candidates, click here.

To download your own copy of our Natural and Non-Toxic Cleaning Alternatives, click here.