Nanny&Me

Finished Product


The Idea

I love the idea of providing our nanny with the opportunity to manage her own time. I don't like being micro-managed and I'm sure our nanny wouldn't either. The commonly used daily, weekly, monthly task list approach is a great one because it enables your nanny to manage their own time, while communicating the household tasks that they've completed. This ensures that you're not left wondering what is and isn't being done each day, while still giving your nanny the freedom to manage their own time.

Our nanny will only be working 30 hours each week (since we have lots of flexibility and work-from-home in our schedules), and of course we want our son to be her first priority, so some weeks when she works certain timeframes where he doesn't nap during her work time, then we don't expect cleaning to get done, and other weeks where he may nap twice during her working hours one day, then we'd expect more household tasks to get done. As such, having a central task list board is a great solution for our family.

How-To

This project is very simple and fast, but the finished product looks great! All you need is a clear-backed floating frame of your choice, dry erase markers, and access to a printer.

Start by jotting down tasks that you'd like done daily (such as doing the dishes, tidying up toys etc.), weekly (such as laundry, vacuuming etc.), and monthly (such as washing windows, dusting etc.). Of course these tasks and correlated timeframes will be unique to your family's needs.

Create a word document (or word processing program of your choice) with your lists. Using a wide margin will fit most horizontal floating frames. I used 48pt font for the timeframe heading, and 14pt font for the bullet list.


Print out the lists, cut them to fit the frame, and place them in, and that's it! For an added touch of fun, you can use funky tape to frame the printouts.

Your nanny can use a dry erase marker to check off tasks as they are done, and you can also draw a heading (or footer) on the board with either the dry erase marker, or a permanent marker (use a stencil if you're doing it this way). You could draw a straightforward title such as, "Household Tasks" or go with something more creative such as, "Have We Said Thank You Today?"

Cost & Materials



3 photo clear floating photo frame: Kitchen Stuff Plus - $18 (I was hoping to find one at the dollar store, but wasn't able to find one that I liked)
Dry erase marker: Staples - already owned (but cost $1.89)
Funky tape (optional): Staples - already owned (but cost $3.89)

Total cost - $18

Other Materials

Scissors
Tape


HAPPY DIY-ing!