I could really use some advise here from anyone who has experience with a live-in nanny situation. DH and I have ZERO experience with nannies, so I don't know if this a reasonable scenario.... or if it's even legal, for that matter.
Sorry if this is long winded, but I want to paint an accurate picture of what I'm proposing ....
We have a family friend who's living with us now, but we're looking for something more long-term and we're not sure if this is reasonable to ask of an "employee".
Essentially, we'd like to hire a live-in nanny to work 2-3 days a week and be compensated entirely with full room and board (ie: no actual money changing hands). We have a finished daylight basement that is about 600 sqft with a lot of light, cable/internet & paid utilities, plenty of storage. This person would also have a private bathroom upstairs on the main floor of the house. There is only a small fridge and a microwave downstairs, but she would, of course, have free access to the kitchen.
In exchange, we would just ask that she look after DS2 (5yo) 2-3 days a week from about 8am-3pm. These days would be on a set schedule, so she could theoretically work another PT job or go to school on the other days. There may be 1-2 days when DS1 (12yo) was also here for a few hours before DH or I came home. Other than childcare, there may be some very light housework, but that would be limited to emptying out the dishwasher or rotating laundry - nothing too involved at all. Also, there would be "vacation" time when I take off time from work (probably 3 full weeks/year, plus some weeks where there was only one day of childcare needed)
So, is this type of scenario realistic? One bedroom apartments in our area go for about $650-800 a month (plus utilities) and 3 days/week of childcare in a good preschool is about the same, so I think the living situation would be roughly equal to the value of the childcare.
I don't know if DH and I are being realistic. Also, I'm wondering what the legal (tax) implications are if we did find someone who was interested. How do you report a bartering agreement like this one?
Any comments or ideas would be welcome. Like I said, DH and I have no nanny experiences to draw from and we've never had any "domestic" help of any kind, so I don't know if we're asking too much here.
TIA!
Sorry if this is long winded, but I want to paint an accurate picture of what I'm proposing ....
We have a family friend who's living with us now, but we're looking for something more long-term and we're not sure if this is reasonable to ask of an "employee".Essentially, we'd like to hire a live-in nanny to work 2-3 days a week and be compensated entirely with full room and board (ie: no actual money changing hands). We have a finished daylight basement that is about 600 sqft with a lot of light, cable/internet & paid utilities, plenty of storage. This person would also have a private bathroom upstairs on the main floor of the house. There is only a small fridge and a microwave downstairs, but she would, of course, have free access to the kitchen.
In exchange, we would just ask that she look after DS2 (5yo) 2-3 days a week from about 8am-3pm. These days would be on a set schedule, so she could theoretically work another PT job or go to school on the other days. There may be 1-2 days when DS1 (12yo) was also here for a few hours before DH or I came home. Other than childcare, there may be some very light housework, but that would be limited to emptying out the dishwasher or rotating laundry - nothing too involved at all. Also, there would be "vacation" time when I take off time from work (probably 3 full weeks/year, plus some weeks where there was only one day of childcare needed)
So, is this type of scenario realistic? One bedroom apartments in our area go for about $650-800 a month (plus utilities) and 3 days/week of childcare in a good preschool is about the same, so I think the living situation would be roughly equal to the value of the childcare.
I don't know if DH and I are being realistic. Also, I'm wondering what the legal (tax) implications are if we did find someone who was interested. How do you report a bartering agreement like this one?
Any comments or ideas would be welcome. Like I said, DH and I have no nanny experiences to draw from and we've never had any "domestic" help of any kind, so I don't know if we're asking too much here.
TIA!
