Me my life and I - HELP!

Why don't you get married and have kids?? Or go travelling and think about your career options.

Ahem...

http://www.doe.mass.edu/educators/e_becoming.html

Thanks all for your input!

Soz - is that teacher packing heat?

She watched too many episodes of "Boston Public" I guess.

Check out the "incentives" one.

From a quick read it looks like Mass is a good place to be if this is something you're considering...

You have OPTIONS littleK!
There's probably a whole lot more out there you haven't even thought of.
Good luck!

Hello Sozobe ...how are you today? I'm fine thank you.

Soz - it's a great site, thanks. Mass will give $3000 a year to people getting certain educations who will be staying in state, for a nuber of years, to teach.

Thanks MsOlga! You're a good motivator!

Littlek remember what the slogan that goes with Sozobe's avatar, You Can Do It.

Thanks JD!

I don't know your educational background, but there are places you could be a montessori teacher ...

Massachusetts Employment

Thanks Heeven, one of the girls attends a montessori school in cambridge. It's pretty cool.

And both families could use the school that you teach at for the two you currently take care of! The only other thing is they would both have to get nannies to take care of their newborns, thus realizing how much they depended on you in the first place, and what a steal you were!!!!

I remember back in the day, my first year here in America, I worked as a nanny for a family in NY. Two kids 5&6 were perfect ages for me. However, being new at this, I was paid crap money and had household work too - cleaning, cooking, errands, you name it (I drew the line at ironing their clothes). I think they really abused the fact I was a live-in. Anyway after my year with them I moved on but I still hear from them occasionally. They went through four different nannies after me and none of them had the work ethic and so didn't last. They never were able to replace me (even for double the money) and the father eventually gave up his NYC job (which he hated) and worked from home.

See if you can check out how much an agency would charge each of the two families you mention above for the same work, sit down with the figures and compare what they would have to pay elsewhere. Also is it possible to work from one location (your sisters house) taking care of four children? Is that something you would want to take on, or how would the parents of both families feel about a suggestion like that, or is it even convenient providing the two families live in proximity?

Heeven, that family should have forwarded you some back-pay! I know that E's parents really like me. They know I am very valuable to them. I told them last year about the rates I found on line for other nannies. They tell me when it comes up that they won't pay me more or give me benefits of any type because I'm part-time. I do laundry that's been started already (several loads/week), wash the dishes E and I use (and the dishes left from breakfast), clean up toys. I don't do errands for them outside the house.

My sister definitely does not want me to care for other children while caring for hers. In her (and my ) perspective, nannying is all about the focused attention - as opposed to daycare where the adult/child ratio means more difused attention.

No offense to your sister, but if she wants focused attention on her children she will:
a. have to stay home (presumably she has an excellent paying job she does not want to give up)
or
b. pay decent wages to have someone care for her children (it is unfair to pay less to you than she would to another party unless you find that reasonable)

littlek

Looks very much like you've been a reliable & loyal employee with both these families. They were/are very, very lucky to have someone like you looking after their children! Someone with your ability & attitudes is not easy to find & they'll find that out very quickly if you move onto another job. A shame that they haven't come to the party re YOUR needs at the moment, though.
So you could think of this as a OPPORTUNITY for change ... Just about ANY job requiring "people skills" sounds good for you. Have you tried any employment agencies to see what's on offer? I really hope you are checking out those teaching jobs. As a teacher myself, you really do sound like it would suit you. You wouldn't get rich ( ) but I suspect you'd find the work very satisfying. This could be just the time to find out, hey?

Ok, my resume looks pretty crappy. Until 3 years ago I did a mish-mash of service industry and manual labor jobs. The last job I'd had before nannying was bar-tending. While I liken bartending to child care, I'm not so sure that the people at montessori would find that too amusing.

Yes, but why not get some help (professional, or else a savvy friend) & tidy it up? The most important thing is that you've constantly worked & your attitude to work.
You're young enough to make some important changes, if you choose to.
I really hope you do, littlek!

Me too, MsOlga.