NANNY VS. BABYSITTER

Nanny Vs. Babysitter-What's the Difference?

When thinking of childcare options, you may have heard the terms "Nanny and Babysitter" thrown around quite frequently. Many people have the same question--what's the difference? Well, there is a wealth of a difference. Read on to see what the key factors in determining a decision one may make when thinking to hire a babbysitter over a nanny.

According to the US Census, there are currently 310, 567, 434 people in the United States. Within this population, there area currently 139, 391 working families according to the Bureau of Labor, and with 1.89 kids per household under the age of 18, there are many busy families in need of some sort of childcare.

With the outstanding number of individuals and families with children, it is only reasonable to think that many of them are in search of some type of childcare. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 859, 200 child daycare services wage and salary jobs in 2008; 428, 500 of those were self-employed or unpaid in 2008.

The need for both families receiving childcare and childcare providers desiring to work in this field, still prevails.

So, when deciding the right choice for family childcare, thinking of hiring a nanny or babysitter may be a hot topic for many. Here are some points to consider:

Hiring a Nanny-Families who decide to choose this route are...
*Families who are looking for stability and long-term care for their children
*Families who are looking for a more experienced provider
*Families who have specific and direct childcare needs they want to have the provider accomplish
*Families who desire to have someone come to their private home
*Families who do not wish to regularly have the need for back-up care due to having a sick child have to stay home
*Families who have a higher budget and may afford a more premier type of childcare option
*Families who need daytime care, in which many times babysitters cannot provide those hours due to school schedule conflicts
*Families who desire their children to get specialized one-on-one attention
*Families who may want more duties performed around the home than just childcare responsibilities-such as cleaning and household assistant roles.
*Families who are looking for a mature option for either the short-term or long-term spectrum, as nannies are typically 18 years of age or older, with the average age of 36.

Hiring a Babysitter-Families who decide to choose this route are...
*Families who have a stricter budget to pay for childcare
*Families who may be in need of more shorter term care (i.e. date nights, or run errands for a few hours, etc.)
*Families who only need minimal care and work performed around the home
*Families who may have babysitters in their neighborhoods who they can call in a pinch
*Families who want someone there to play with the children while they get work done around the home
*Families who do not mind hiring someone under the age of 18 to care for their children
*Families who do not need extra work performed around the home, such as cleaning, cooking, household maintenance, etc.
*Families who do not have the direct need and goal to receive the desired outcome of education and further rounded development for their children, as babysitters are often playmates vs. proactive by nature
*Families who are open to teaching and training babysitters
*Families who have the communication skills to be clear and precise with their babysitter and the family's needs and desires while the family is away

Every family has their own, personal reason for the decision they choose in the childcare industry, but remember, research is key before an important decision is made. There are many nanny industry organizations out there geared towards the guidance and education of in-need families. Some of these organizations include the International Nanny Association and the National Association for Nanny Care, both in which families can ask questions, research the latest industry news, credential information, screening processes and more.

"There are so many options out there for families these days, and I am so glad to be a part of the relief efforts in helping individuals remedy their search and decision process. Hiring an agency truly becomes a logical option for many-taking the burden off the stress of the hunt, the effort and time it takes to find that special caregiver," states Karoline Stanton, Owner, Karoline's Nannies.

ABOUT:
Karoline Stanton, Owner of Karoline's Nannies has been providing premier nanny service options to busy families for over 7 years. She currently works with over 400 active nannies and 700 active families, bringing both personalities and necessities together in perfect harmony for both the family and the nanny, with personalized service.

KAROLINE'S NANNIES: 1-888-616-2669 Where Helping Hearts Lend Helping Hands

What to Do With Leftover Halloween Candy

Halloween candy gets pretty tiring after a couple of days. Here are some ideas for using it up.

1. Homemade flavored vodka

Some candies dissolve beautifully in vodka, creating "infused" booze. If you plan on making flavored booze for holiday presents or parties, now is the time to start. Besides candies, you can add coffee, rosemary, cinnamon, pepper, citrus fruits, or dried flowers. I'll bet that Wether's Originals dissolved in vodka make for some tasty shots.

2. Baking and sweets

Many candies melt in the heat of the over, leaving you with a wonderfully gooey treat. Here are some possible recipes:

• Biscuits filled with tootsie rolls
• Cookies with peanut butter cups
• Candy corns chopped up and added to candied yams
• Crushed Jolly Ranchers and Dummies on top of challah bread
• Brownies with "fun size" chocolates
• Popcorn balls with pretty much anything
• Butterfinger cake
• Peppermints (the red and white kind or Peppermint Patties) mixed into hot chocolate or coffee for a cheap mocha
• Use as an ice-cream sunday topper
• Freeze until summer, and add to homemade ice cream

3. Cooking

Sweet and sour sauce (any sour candy will work)

Pixie sticks for a porkchop glaze (red or white wine, vinegar, pixie sticks, salt)

BBQ chipotle sauce with Smarties or Red Hots

4. Crafts

If candies get stale and seem rather inedible, consider using them for fun arts and crafts.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

5. Bribery/Doling

If you are swift enough to grab your kids' candy while they sleep, it can be doled out for MONTHS as bribes. Need the leaves raked? Two Hershey's kisses per bag (not adjusted for inflation, that's what I used to get paid). OR, just slowly dole out a piece a day in kids' lunches. My parents used to throw it in our Christmas stockings, too along with nuts and persimmons.

6. Donate it

Nursing homes, doctor's offices, women's shelters - everyone loves candy, and spreading the sweetness can be a great way to avoid gorging on it all yourself.

7. Send it to overseas troops

Not so much for chocolate (which doesn't travel well), but other candy is appreciated as a part of care packages for the troops (US only, not sure about other nations' deployments).

8. Take it to the office

Adults are sometimes able to restrain themselves a little bit more than kids - share those sugary goodies with coworkers.

9. Keep some in the car for emergencies

I keep a small stash of sugary candies in my car. I'm diabetic, and every now and again, I go into insulin shock, meaning that I need to eat something sugary, fast. Car candy has been a saving grace a number of times. Also, you never know when you'll be trapped in the car for hours with no food or water - candy can be a welcome distraction or sustenance if caught on a moutain pass during a rock slide or the freeway behind a massive accident.

10. Make an Advent Calendar, Pinata, or Holiday Centerpiece

The countdown to Christmas used to be one of my favorite things about the holidays. Alpha Mom has some really great ideas for decorating during November (she counts down the month of November with her adorable advent calendar).

What do you do with your leftover candy?

KAROLINE'S NANNIES: 1-888-616-2669 Where Helping Hearts Lend Helping Hands

Childcare and Teaching Advancement and Training

FROM THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

http://www.stats.bls.gov  

Significant Points

• Preschool teachers, teacher assistants, and child care workers accounted for almost 78 percent of wage and salary jobs in 2008.
• About 44 percent of workers in this industry had a high school degree or less in 2008, reflecting the minimal training requirements for most jobs.
• About 29 percent employees worked part time in 2008.
• Job openings should be numerous, because dissatisfaction with benefits, pay, and stressful working conditions causes many to leave the industry.

Training and Advancement About this section

Most States do not regulate family child care providers who care for just a few children, typically between ages 2 and 5. Providers who care for more children are required to be licensed and, in a few States, have some minimal training. Once a provider joins the industry, most States require the worker to complete a number of hours of training per year. In nearly all States, licensing regulations require criminal record checks for all child day care staff. This screening requirement protects children from abuse and reduces liability risks, making insurance more available and affordable.

Many local governments regulate family child care providers who are not covered by State regulations. Home safety inspections and criminal background checks are usually required of an applicant.

Child care centers have staffing requirements that are imposed by States and by insurers. Although requirements vary, in most cases a minimum age of 18 years is required for teachers, and directors or officers must be at least 21. In some States, assistants may work at age 16—in several, at age 14. Most States have established minimum educational or training requirements. Training requirements are most stringent for directors, less so for teachers, and minimal for child care workers and teacher assistants. In many centers, directors must have a college degree, often with experience in child day care and specific training in early childhood development. Teachers must have a high school diploma and, in many cases, a combination of college education and experience. Assistants and child care workers usually need a high school diploma, but that is not always a requirement. Many States also mandate other types of training for staff members, such as on health and first aid, fire safety, and child abuse detection and prevention. Some employers prefer to hire workers who have received credentials from a nationally recognized child day care organization.

State governments also have established requirements for workers who provide services associated with child care—those involved in food preparation, the transportation of children, the provision of medical services, and other services. Most States have defined minimum ratios of the number of staff-to-children, which vary both by State and the age of the children involved.


KAROLINE'S NANNIES: 1-888-616-2669 Where Helping Hearts Lend Helping Hands

1/2 OFF TEMPORARY NANNY SERVICES FOR NOVEMBER!

Karoline's Nannies is offering our annual November promotion for 2010 of 1/2 off Temp or on-call in-home nanny care for Oregon and Washington, along with no registration for those of you who are new to our nanny placement service.

This is an outstanding savings for reliable and trustworthy childcare.

Karoline's Nannies offers Temporary, Long-Term and Emergency Childcare. We offer pet care as well. With over 400 nannies and 700 active families, we feel we have done our part in making today's busy families' childcare needs a stress-free experience.

Our nannies go through a thorough screening process to ensure the safety of those who are in care of them:
*Nationwide Background Check
*CPR and First Aid
*Personality Profile
*Resume and Interview Evaluation
*Completed Application
*Driving Record
*Nannies Must Have at Least 3 Years of Child Related experience
*Nannies Must Have a Minimum of 3 Child Related References and 3 Personal
*Nannies Must Be 18 or Older
*Nannies Must Be Non Smokers

Contact us today at 1-503-366-2837 or email us at info@karolinesnannies.com

We look forward to hearing from you!

KAROLINE'S NANNIES: 1-888-616-2669Where Helping Hearts Lend Helping Hands

NANNY CAMS

KAROLINE'S NANNIES: 1-888-616-2669
Where Helping Hearts Lend Helping Hands

The Hidden Camera Debate

By John Siceloff

ABCNEWS.com

Should you videotape your nanny? Experts say it is generally legal to make a video-only recording of a nanny at work in your own home, without informing the nanny. (Brian Garrigan / ABCNEWS.com)

One Family's Nightmare

The idea of installing video equipment in your home to secretly videotape your nanny generates strong feelings. Some parents and experts believe a nanny-cam is an essential tool in today’s world; others reject it as an invasion of privacy and a waste of money.

When Joel and Marcy (who did not want their last name revealed) had their third child, they decided to employ an “extra set of hands:” a nanny. They sought a trustworthy friend; but what they ultimately found was every parent’s worst nightmare. At first, Xiomara Rocha seemed to be the perfect nanny. For five months, Marcy believed she’d found in Rocha a friend and an indispensable new member of the family. But something wasn’t quite right. Suspecting that the baby had been allowed to cry excessively, Marcy and Joel decided to install a hidden camera to record whatever went on in the baby’s room. What they saw on the tape was beyond anything they had ever imagined possible: Rocha repeatedly striking their crying child’s head with a closed fist, alternately hitting her tiny hands as she held on to the side of the crib. Rocha was soon arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse — a felony that can lead to 15 years in prison. Rocha pled not guilty. Immigration authorities also told 20/20 that Rocha’s tourist visa explicitly prohibited her from working in the U.S.

What's a parent to do?

Before parents follow Marcy and Joel’s example and install a secret camera , they should know a little about the legal issues; laws governing covert videotaping vary from state to state. Experts say it is generally legal to make a video-only recording of a nanny at work in your own home, without informing the nanny. Recording audio, such as telephone conversations, is legal in some states, but illegal in others unless you get the consent of the nanny. If you purchase equipment for nanny-cam taping, your supplier will be able to inform you about the legal situation in your state. Beyond the legal questions, however, parents have to decide whether or not videotaping their nanny is the right thing to do. The family portrayed in 20/20’s report swears by it — their tape caught their nanny abusing their child and were able to put it to a stop. Here’s what they told 20/20 correspondent Perri Peltz:

Perri Peltz: “How do you prevent this from happening in other homes?”

Marcy: “By having people put cameras in their homes. As terrible as that sounds, how else? How else do you know what happens when you’re not there?”

Perri Peltz: “Would [your nanny] still be working here had you not had a surveillance camera in the baby’s room?”

Marcy: “Absolutely. One hundred percent.”

Joel: “No reason why she wouldn’t. We never saw that reaction, that anger anywhere else, manifest itself. If we didn’t see that tape? She wasn’t going anywhere.”

Perri Peltz: “That is scary.”

Marcy: “It’s scary because my daughter would probably be dead, eventually, or brain damaged, or blind, or God knows what.”

But Dr. Walter F. Lambert has a different view: he says nanny-cam taping is a waste of money. Lambert is the director of the University of Miami Child Protection Team and a nationally recognized expert on child abuse. He was called in by the police to examine Marcy and Joel’s baby after the incident with the nanny was discovered. Incredibly he found the baby appeared to be happy and healthy. Lambert says those who go to all the trouble of covert videotaping may still miss abuse if it occurs. Abuse might occur in a different room, or at a time when the videotape isn’t recording. Here’s what Lambert told ABCNEWS:

Dr. Walter F. Lambert: “My concern is that people will set up video tapes because they have the sense that something is wrong and they won’t catch anything and they will feel comfortable when something bad is continuing to go on.”

Lambert’s advice: rely on your intuition.

Lambert: “I’m not telling people not to do it, but I just think that’s a waste of money, and if you really feel uncomfortable enough to go out and buy video taping this person should not be in your home. Because if you can’t trust that person enough that you have to set up a video taping, they shouldn’t be taking care of your kids.”

Lambert is thankful that Marcy and Joel were successful in using a nanny-cam to discover what happened to their daughter. But he says the bottom line is your gut feeling about the nanny.

Lambert: “What people need to understand is because you’ve hired this person, if you don’t feel comfortable at whatever level, trust your instincts and just find somebody else.” Marcy and Joel say that if you do install a nanny-cam you have to be prepared to spend time reviewing the tapes.

Marcy: “Checking once in a while isn’t enough. It has to be a regular investment. It has to be a regular thing that you do. Tape once or twice a week, watch it for twenty minutes, that’s all it takes, you fast forward through the parts where nothing’s happening. It can save your child’s life.”

Perri Peltz: “And for those people who say, oh, I’m not going to do it, it’s intrusive. It’s invading on, on someone’s privacy. What would you say to them?”

Marcy: “I would say, put that on your child’s head and then let’s see. Which is more important, those feelings or your child’s life?”

The Baby’s Guardian Angel

Marcy and Joel never personally saw any signs of the violence occurring inside their home against their child and they’re thankful that their baby’s high-tech “guardian angel” did.

“I know this baby has a guardian angel, as we all do about our children,” says Marcy.

“But I just truly believe, that she has been protected, because for the abuse she has received, it’s truly a miracle that she is as happy and wonderful as she is.”

Safety and Regulation of the Child Care Industry

Center for Career Development in Early Care and Education
Phone: 617-879-2211.

Child Care Law Center

Phone: 415-495-5498.

Children’s Foundation

Phone: 202-347-3300.

Families and Work Institute

Phone: 212-465-2044.

National Association for the Education of Young People (NAEYC)

Phone: 202-232-8777.

National Association for Regulatory Administration

Phone: 612-290-6280

ABCNEWS’ Nina Alvarez and Phuong Nguyen contributed to this report.

Karoline and Son in Astoria, Oregon

Nannies Can Be Affordable

Karoline's Nannies offers professional, screened nannies at affordable rates for whatever childcare need you may have. We offer long-term, temporary and emergency nanny care options. With over 400 nannies and 700 families, we have an extensive referral based nanny service. Karoline's Nannies truly values our families and providers, and stands behind our philosophy of helping hearts lending helping hands. We put children first. Proud members of the Better Business Bureau and The International Nanny Association.