Referral Program

Learn Why A Daily Log Is Essential for
Moms and Nannies!

What kind of things does a new mom want to know when she leaves her infant in the care of a Nanny or Baby Nurse? How can the Nanny help her feel more connected to her baby?

When I was a new Mom and left my children in anyone else’s care, even my husband, I felt like I had physically left part of myself behind. When I came home, I wanted to know when they had eaten, how long they had slept, and anything they had done.

Caring Nannies has just partnered with Babble Soft—a new software company that enables Moms to check in and know that the day is going well and everyone is happy. Their products help mom stay involved when she leaves her infant in the care of a Nanny or Baby Nurse. We chose Babble Soft’s web based applications to offer a new and more effective way for our clients and nannies to record details and communicate about infant care.

Babble Soft web and mobile applications help caregivers keep track of baby’s feeding, sleep periods, diaper changes, medicine doses, and immunization records, even mom’s breastfeeding, pumping and medicine intake. Having important information stored in one location makes communication between parents, their nanny, babysitters, grandparents, or doctors seamless and reliable and gives new parents insight into their baby's patterns to help with crucial baby care decisions.

Baby Say Cheese lets you create a wonderful online baby’s first year photo album with milestones and family tree that you can share with friends and family. Parents or nannies can upload precious milestone pictures such as ‘first crawl, first smile, and first word’ and create the first year baby album that many parents long to do but don’t have the time to do. They can even email a picture postcard to their families to brighten their day

To say thank you, Caring Nannies is giving the Babblesoft and Baby Say Cheese software, valued at $19.95 to anyone who refers a friend to us who signs up in the next 30 days. This would be a wonderful gift for an expectant friend or family member.

.:: To Menu ::.

Ask the Experts

Q. At what age should I expect my child to help with chores?

Above-Erika, age 2, hanging up her Grandpas socks. Those socks look almost as big as she is!

A. Children as young as two years old love to do chores they are capable of—like folding washcloths. It makes them feel important, part of the family, raises their self esteem and builds their character.  On Saturday mornings when my children were young, we put each chore on a slip of paper. Everyone took turns picking one until all jobs were accounted for. We worked together until the chores were done, then drove to Dairy Queen for treats. Bad attitudes warranted no treat or a small treat but speedy, thorough, cheerful work reaped bigger treats We found a website that delineates what chores can be done efficiently by different age children. Ask your Nanny to partner with you in training them to do the chores they are able to accomplish and develop a chore chart with photos of your child doing specific chores. Initially, it will be much more work, but you will reap family unity, wonderful memories, and more time with your children in the long run. Check out this link that shows what a family of three children, ages 7, 5 and 3 were expected to do and how long it should take them. www.titus2.com/chores/chart-d.html

Nannying is one of the most rewarding and satisfying of careers, however there are some built-in challenges unique to the field. Long hours working with children without building important relationships with colleagues can bring career dissatisfaction and increased turnover. Caring Nannies will be addressing this important subject in our next newsletter and in our blogs on the website. We understand that not every nanny can come, but if possible, encourage your nanny to reach out and begin developing relationships with others in their field.

.:: To Menu ::.

Tax Tips from Breedlove & Associates

Q. As an employer, can I take advantage of any tax breaks?

A. Yes. To lighten the financial burden for working parents, Congress has enacted tax benefits for families through employer-provided dependent care assistance (Dependent Care Account) and the Tax Credit for Child or Dependent Care. However, these tax breaks are only available if the employee is paid legally.

Dependent Care Account (also called "Flexible Spending Account"). Most companies allow employees with child or dependent care expenses to contribute up to $5,000 of their pretax earnings to an individual Dependent Care Account. The money in this account is then used to cover childcare expenses, free of taxes. The savings are approximately $2,300 per year.

Tax Credit. For those who don’t have access to a Dependent Care Account, they can claim the Tax Credit for Child or Dependent Care (Form 2441) on their income tax return at year-end. Basically, they can take a tax credit of 20% to 30% on qualifying childcare expenses. But expenses are limited to $3,000 for one dependent or $6,000 for two or more dependents. The savings from this tax break are $600 - $1,200 depending on number of dependents.

For many families, the tax savings actually exceed the employer’s share of the taxes, meaning families can save money by being legal!

Breedlove & Associates was formed in 1992 – by household employers for household employers – in order to help families with payroll and tax compliance for their nannies, nurses, chefs, tutors, personal assistants, household managers, gardeners, housekeepers, etc. For more information or a free phone consultation compliments of MBF, call 1-888-273-3356 or visit www.breedlove-online.com.

.:: To Menu ::.

Announcements

Week of the Young Child April 13-19!

Fun for Kids and Nannies!

Caring Nannies will be celebrating the Week of the Young Child April 13-19 by focusing on literacy. Nannies and families can help by collecting used books to donate to the United Methodist Domestic Violence Shelter and Family Homeless shelter. Oftentimes children need to leave their homes suddenly and must leave everything behind. We wish to give them books that they can keep for their own when they leave the shelter. If your children have outgrown some of their books, we would love to have them! Caring Nannies is hosting a children’s story hour at Barnes and Noble at Town and Country at 11am on Wednesday April 16, 2008. We are asking nannies who are able to come and bring their charges, enjoy the story hour, and bring the used books at that time. The event will be followed by lunch at a nearby restaurant.

We realize that not every nanny can come, however Caring Nannies wants to invest in our nannies, not just make a match. Along with the satisfaction and intrinsic rewards nannies experience, there is the other side of long hours working with children without the opportunity to develop relationships with their colleagues. So, if possible, please encourage your nanny to come and bring some used books your children have outgrown.

.:: To Menu ::.