If you’ve ever struggled to find the right babysitter or nanny for your family, you may be wondering why the task of finding a child care provider is so fraught. Sometimes you just want a responsible adult to make sure the house doesn’t burn down while the kids are sleeping, but subconsciously we know that caring for a child is about so much more than just meeting basic needs. If it wasn’t, we’d hire just about anybody.
In the smallest windows of time, care providers are shaping the person that your child will become. Reframing how we view these everyday moments in between the care tasks opens up the potential for growth and connection previously unimagined. There are many opportunities for enrichment and prioritizing them in the search for caregivers can help you find that perfect person who’ll create moments of magic for your children. Here are some to get you thinking.
Weekend Activities
Kids are their own unique people with interests that are sometimes very uninteresting to parents. Enter the weekend activity sitter! A sitter who embraces the child’s hobby is a double bonus: giving parents time off and creating an opportunity for the child to explore their interests with a supportive and interested adult. Imagine your soccer-loving child getting to spend hours with a sitter who shares their passion for the sport. The opportunity to geek out together (talking about favorite players and teams, practicing drills, and learning new techniques) will have your child begging you to hire a babysitter more often!
Child Care Search Ideas:
- Be upfront and say what you’re thinking. Like, “I’m looking for a sitter who is as obsessed with soccer as my child.”
- Ask what kinds of activities they’ll do to foster the child’s love of the subject.
- If your child has trouble disengaging from this hobby when necessary, a sitter who can talk about that experience personally may be a helpful ally. Ask about their strategies for shifting gears at the end of the activity.
- Check out Sittercity Adventures—a way to search by activity to find the right sitter.
Summer Skills
Summertime is a great time for children to learn practical life skills. With plenty of free time and a supportive child care provider, kids can learn to cook, ride a bike, budget their money, or garden. Learning a new skill takes time and repetition (and often a patient adult who isn’t the parent). A summer nanny makes a perfect teacher as they are with the child daily for weeks on end with plenty of free time to practice. Nannies and children have the opportunities to plan recipes, shop together, practice kitchen skills, and level up to more challenging techniques over the course of summer break.
Child Care Search Ideas:
- Let potential nannies know about the goal you and your child have in your job post.
- Ask about past experiences helping children learn new skills or this skill in particular.
How will they handle safety, if applicable? - Do their values on the subject align with your family’s?
After-School Tutoring
For children who may be struggling to master a subject in school, an after-school sitter can double as a tutor. Different from mom or dad, a sitter often plays a fun role with a child. This takes the stress out of the learning and creates a more relaxed environment in which to learn. The right kind of sitter can make these study sessions a playful game where the child may not even realize they’re doing schoolwork.
Child Care Search Ideas:
- Seek out a sitter with a background in education or experience with tutoring.
- Ask them about the strategies they’ll use to keep kids engaged in learning.
- Ask them for examples of how they’ve helped to supplement learning with past kids.
- How will they balance the child’s need for a break with completing the work?
Learning A Language
Early exposure is critical in building fluency in a second language. Hiring a nanny who speaks a different language from your family can help your little one build bilingual language skills from day one. In addition to sharing a language, a bilingual nanny could also enrich the child’s life with authentic cultural experiences through games, songs, and foods.
Child Care Search Ideas:
- Ask potential nannies about their experiences teaching children a second language.
- How will they handle moments when the child may be frustrated with a different language?
- If you’re having trouble finding someone who already speaks a language you’re interested in, ask if the nanny is willing to learn alongside your child.
Surrogate Grandparents
Some families are lucky to have grandparents close by and involved in their lives and some are not. Hiring an older sitter or nanny, who can play the role of a surrogate grandparent, can be a valuable relationship for your child. Exposing your child to adults of different generations creates empathy and broadens their perspectives of the world. An older caregiver can share stories from their youth, introduce your child to their favorite hobbies and games, and share activities and outings through their own lens.
Child Care Search Ideas:
- Be upfront when hiring.
- Ask about their interest in playing this role in your child’s life.
- Ask how their life experiences will influence the care they give.
- Talk about the types of experiences you hope your child will gain from this time together.
Whether you’re looking to add a full-time nanny to the household or just need a once-in-a-while weekend sitter, the potential to enhance your child’s life with the right caregiver is there. Before starting your search for child care, think about your family’s needs and the moments between the care parts of caregiving where the relationships and connections grow. This is where you’ll find the opportunity for enrichment. Prioritizing these magic moments will change the way you view child care forever.
