Guest Post: The Nanny Life: Coffee & Socializing On Work Time – Ethical?
Nanny SheCanDo
(Prioritizing personal time) Life working as a nanny (just like most jobs where kids are involved) has its many good days and bad days. There are the days when you feel so much love, warmth and happiness you think your heart might burst. The days when you’re absolutely sure you’re doing exactly what you were destined to do and that things could not be more perfect if you tried. These are the days when the kids you nanny for, your ‘charges’, feel like your own kids. And happily so!
Then there are the days when the baby hasn’t slept all night, won’t eat, is resisting cuddles and fighting off all attempts to settle down for a nap. There are the days when the kids have gooey colds, insist on wiping their snotty faces all over you and think re-papering the floor in dirty tissues for you to pick up is a good idea. And there are the days when the 7-year-old fakes a ‘sicky’ from school, and in doing so foils your plans to get out for a run with the pram whilst bub is sleeping. Although still preferable to when bub is not sleeping.
Then there’s the days when you’ve scheduled to meet a friend for a quick coffee in between errands. The baby’s asleep, your to-do list is done and you’re out anyways. You’ve got a window of opportunity and regardless, you’d still be stopping for coffee. So if you’re meeting a friend, what’s the harm? Besides, a rare conversation with another adult wouldn’t go astray!
Read more … Is it wrong to take 30 minutes personal time during the work day?