Mommy Dearest – I'm a SAHM, but plenty of my daughter's friends' have two working parents, which means that they are cared for by nannies and babysitters. Now that my daughter is in preschool, she is asking to play with specific friends, rather than the ones I set her up with, and that often means that it is the nanny and me hanging out while the girls play. While the nannies are certainly nice Read more

As a working mom, I rely heavily on my children's nanny to arrange playdates with my lil ones' friends in and around the neighborhood. I frequently return home at the end of the day only to learn that my kids (and nanny) spent the afternoon at a classmate's home or that we hosted a slew of tots for an after school play session. Sometimes, when I receive the daily report, my son informs me that Read more

This Ask Savvy question comes ShelleyHFan who wants to drop her current job to become a nanny. I reached out to Wendy Sachs, Editor-in-Chief of Care.com, a website that matches nannies up with families, to share her expertise in the field with us. For those interested in taking care of children, Care.com has a great babysitter pay calculator , which shows you the estimated pay for a nanny by zip Read more

A woman's purse can be an extension of her personality. While some are neat and organized, others can be likened to a black hole where only its owner knows where to find things. So when a woman begins to use her diaper bag as her primary satchel, it begins to take on a personality of its own. On the playground this weekend, a friend spent five minutes sifting through her diaper bag in search of Read more

Mommy Dearest – Yesterday, while toiling away at work, I received a phone call from my son's nanny. It seems the friend he was playing with had been promised a lunch at McDonald's and had invited my kindergartner along. I try to avoid fast food restaurants at all costs, so our nanny called to ask if it was OK to go for lunch with the friend. In the background I could already hear my son Read more

Mommy Dearest, I am about to head back to work and just hired a nanny to care for my baby. We've worked out a contract that outlines everything from her pay and vacation days to her day-to-day responsibilities. My friends just told me that I need to provide her with lunch every day even though it is not outlined in her contract, and not something we discussed. I'm not provided with lunch at my Read more