Before my daughter was born, I had thought I will put her in daycare when she is 6 months and then resume office.
But things change when you become a mother, you become protective, emotional, and I couldn't imagine keeping my little baby in a strange place with strangers, and so the thought of keeping a maid/nanny for her came up. Thankfully my in-laws are living with us, so the nanny wouldn't be alone with the baby.
Nanny search isn't an easy one.
I started by informing our building security to let me know if anybody is interested. I also had a lady coming home for "maalish" (massage) for my baby, she is very well connected with many such people, so she too was looking for someone for me.
The ladies who came to me looking for work, came at odd times, at 3 in the afternoon, ringing the bell loudly, which in turn made my baby wake up!
Also, some of the conversations i had with them were hilarious, some of them were so unsuitable for the job, i didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Sample conversation:
Me : Have you worked somewhere before?
Candidate (holding her sari pallu in her hand, looking down, and blushing, god knows why) : hee hee hee hee
Me (Again) : Have you worked somewhere before?
Candidate : (hee hee) yes
Me : Where? What work do you do?
Candidate: "Te, tikde, hotel madhe" (translation: there in the hotel)
Me : What do you do in the hotel?
Candidate: (hee hee) "te bhandi ghasna, cutting karna" (washing utensils, cutting vegetables)
Me : have you taken care of a baby before?
Candidate: No
Me (Already decided she isn't the one) : Give me your phone number, will call you if i need
Candidate - cant write :-(
The basic expectation i had from a nanny:
1. should be able to read and write
2. should be clean
3. speaks clearly
The above candidate failed in all.
I met several ladies, who came looking for work, but really, it was a nightmare for me.
Finally the lady who massaged my baby, found me a nanny who had taken care of a kid before for 3 years, I also spoke to her previous employer, who had only good things to say about her.
After about 8-9 months, the nanny left me, since she found some other job.
The search for a new nanny started, which is a story for my next post.
In general, some points to note when hiring a nanny:
1. If she worked somewhere before, do take their number, call them and ask them about her.
2. Note down her address and phone number, if possible check the area she lives
3. Make sure to tell her that the priority is cleanliness and only cleanliness, her measures of cleanliness might not measure up to you, so spell out the exact things she needs to take care of.
4. The nanny I hired turned up on the first day in a sari which was a little dirty and had sharp sequins on it. The next day i bought her 2 saris, which she was supposed to wear when she comes and wash before she leaves. This might seem a little awkward to some, but believe me, for a mother, baby comes first, and I don't mind asking the nanny to do this. Just tell her you are getting her 2 new saris which she needs to wear while handling the baby, and she will be okay.
5. Make the job description very clear, if you want the nanny to do additional jobs around the house, make them clear before you hire, so later you don't have conflicts around it.
6. If you are hiring the nanny for full day, then surely she needs weekly holiday so agree on that beforehand.
7. Ask the nanny to get her own lunch, because one thing, she might not like the food you eat, second, you will be obligated to arrange some food for her, even when you have other plans, don't want to eat etc. The nanny I have currently follows many religious fasts, so many times she eats only fasting food.
8. There are maid agencies available, I didn't try them so far, but have heard that some of them are good, they charge a little more though.
9. The nanny might expect a holiday on every festival, but we don't have holiday in offices for all festivals, so make it clear to her, she will get a holiday only if you have one too :-)
But things change when you become a mother, you become protective, emotional, and I couldn't imagine keeping my little baby in a strange place with strangers, and so the thought of keeping a maid/nanny for her came up. Thankfully my in-laws are living with us, so the nanny wouldn't be alone with the baby.
Nanny search isn't an easy one.
I started by informing our building security to let me know if anybody is interested. I also had a lady coming home for "maalish" (massage) for my baby, she is very well connected with many such people, so she too was looking for someone for me.
The ladies who came to me looking for work, came at odd times, at 3 in the afternoon, ringing the bell loudly, which in turn made my baby wake up!
Also, some of the conversations i had with them were hilarious, some of them were so unsuitable for the job, i didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Sample conversation:
Me : Have you worked somewhere before?
Candidate (holding her sari pallu in her hand, looking down, and blushing, god knows why) : hee hee hee hee
Me (Again) : Have you worked somewhere before?
Candidate : (hee hee) yes
Me : Where? What work do you do?
Candidate: "Te, tikde, hotel madhe" (translation: there in the hotel)
Me : What do you do in the hotel?
Candidate: (hee hee) "te bhandi ghasna, cutting karna" (washing utensils, cutting vegetables)
Me : have you taken care of a baby before?
Candidate: No
Me (Already decided she isn't the one) : Give me your phone number, will call you if i need
Candidate - cant write :-(
The basic expectation i had from a nanny:
1. should be able to read and write
2. should be clean
3. speaks clearly
The above candidate failed in all.
I met several ladies, who came looking for work, but really, it was a nightmare for me.
Finally the lady who massaged my baby, found me a nanny who had taken care of a kid before for 3 years, I also spoke to her previous employer, who had only good things to say about her.
After about 8-9 months, the nanny left me, since she found some other job.
The search for a new nanny started, which is a story for my next post.
In general, some points to note when hiring a nanny:
1. If she worked somewhere before, do take their number, call them and ask them about her.
2. Note down her address and phone number, if possible check the area she lives
3. Make sure to tell her that the priority is cleanliness and only cleanliness, her measures of cleanliness might not measure up to you, so spell out the exact things she needs to take care of.
4. The nanny I hired turned up on the first day in a sari which was a little dirty and had sharp sequins on it. The next day i bought her 2 saris, which she was supposed to wear when she comes and wash before she leaves. This might seem a little awkward to some, but believe me, for a mother, baby comes first, and I don't mind asking the nanny to do this. Just tell her you are getting her 2 new saris which she needs to wear while handling the baby, and she will be okay.
5. Make the job description very clear, if you want the nanny to do additional jobs around the house, make them clear before you hire, so later you don't have conflicts around it.
6. If you are hiring the nanny for full day, then surely she needs weekly holiday so agree on that beforehand.
7. Ask the nanny to get her own lunch, because one thing, she might not like the food you eat, second, you will be obligated to arrange some food for her, even when you have other plans, don't want to eat etc. The nanny I have currently follows many religious fasts, so many times she eats only fasting food.
8. There are maid agencies available, I didn't try them so far, but have heard that some of them are good, they charge a little more though.
9. The nanny might expect a holiday on every festival, but we don't have holiday in offices for all festivals, so make it clear to her, she will get a holiday only if you have one too :-)
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