Activities

Holiday present for your nanny

Holidays are a time when you show your friends and family how much you care about them through, among other things, gift giving. Your nanny and babysitter is no exception.

The people who take care of, and in many cases, have a special relationship with your children and your family should be on your list; this is a chance to show them just how much you appreciate the care they give your children and how important their work and their presence are.

We have compiled some advices and suggestions about the presents to give

Gifts Ideas

Gift cards are a good alternative if you are not comfortable with cash and there are lots of options depending on your nanny’s needs:

  • Same as cash cards - Visa, MasterCard, American Express, PayPal
  • Ecommerce sites - Apple/iTunes and Amazon
  • Stores chains – The Bay, Sears, Winners, Wal-Mart
  • Gift cards from your nanny’s favorite stores and restaurants
  • Gift cards from grocery stores

The key is to be as versatile as possible so if you’re unsure, a mall gift certificate is often better than a gift card to a specific store.

Bonuses

Christmas bonuses are usually for nannies who live in your home and/or work full time, whilst occasional nannies and babysitters usually get a gift or smaller bonuses. The rules of thumb are:

  • 1 weeks pay for 1 year with your family
  • 2 weeks pay for 2 years with your family
  • 3 weeks pay for 3 or more years with your family
  • Prorate for less than a year
  • 1 day if occasional days
Creative Gift Giving

If you are worried about money this season, there are some creative gifts that you can give your nanny:

  • Air miles to fly your nanny home to see her family
  • Previous generation computers (with prepaid internet and Skype set up)
  • Refurbished iPhone and iPad
  • Extra paid vacation / time off if your schedule is flexible enough to allow it. 
  • Watch sites like Groupon for deals on everything under the sun.
Personal gifts from parents and the kids

It is always nice to give a small personal gift if you are giving cash as a main gift like a video or collage of pictures throughout the year of the nanny and the kids together can be much appreciated. Extra copies for the nanny to send home are also a nice touch.

But what makes a truly special gift is one given by the children themselves. It can be a small gift chosen and wrapped by your child. Homemade gifts – be it cookies and cakes, crafts and cards.

Happy Holidays!

Paulina Podgorska
Founder of SOSsitter.ca

Like most women, Paulina wears many hats.  She is a mother, she is an entrepreneur, she is an at home child care expert.  This vocation manifested at an early age when she started being a full time nanny for her baby brother.  Later on, she used her experience to work as a babysitter while in college.  She then became a Mom and started to look for child care providers. Being a single mother, finding the right at home baby sitter was critical to her.  This quest for the perfect nanny gave her the opportunity to meet and work with numerous nannies and  babysitters and further develop her expertise. Realizing that finding the right nanny or babysitter turned too often into an obstacle course, Paulina created SOSsitter.ca, an on line service where parents and local in-home sitters connect, that’s fast, efficient and affordable. Through SOSsitter.ca, Paulina leverages her expertise to help families find the local help they need, when they need it.  The site gives parents the opportunity to use their own criteria to search through a large database of detailed profiles of local nannies and babysitters that have been reviewed by mothers. Paulina also has a blog where she shares advice to help families through the selection and hiring process of a babysitter or nanny.  She also describes on her blog her adventures as a mom entrepreneur and founder of SOSsitter.


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