It’s a New Year which means a new you! Looking to be more organized for 2019? We are here to help! We have found some amazing apps to help busy mom’s and nannies stay organized and on top of crazy schedules.

Baby Connect: Baby Connect is a tracking application to help record feedings, nursing, naps, diapers, milestones, baby’s moods, temperature and what kind of games they are playing. You can also attach pictures!  Baby Connect with synchronize information with your spouse and nanny, it’s a great tool to use for learning what is going on with your baby while you are away.

Toilet Finder: Potty training can be a little challenging, especially when leaving the house.We think this app is helpful for all ages – not just toddlers! This app helps you find a nearby toilet in an instant.

White Noise Ambience: This app comes in handy when trying to get your child to sleep when your out and about.The app has a variety of comforting ambient sounds.

Big Oven: Looking for meal ideas? Look no further. Big oven has all the tools you need to provide amazing meals for the family. You can find recipe inspiration, plan meals, create grocery lists, help reduce food waste, and more all on one device.

Daily Nanny: This app is great for nannies to clock in, add shifts and keep track of over time hours. The app does the math and keeps track of it all for you.

We hope these wonderful apps can help make a difference in 2019. These apps will make you more organized and will help you get more done with less stress.
Happy New Year,
Caring Nannies Staff

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It’s the holiday season and there is one special person you can’t forget to add to your Christmas shopping list. It’s the person who takes amazing care of your children, feeds them, plays with them and loves on them. They help keep your life in balance and we don’t know what we’d do without our wonderful nannies!
Show your nanny how much you appreciate them this Christmas with a few of our favorite Christmas gift ideas for nannies:

  • Gift certificate to a mani/pedi/spa day
  • Have your children make a handmade gift (ornament, picture frame, baked goods)
  • A Christmas bonus
  • Time off with pay
  • Gift card to their favorite store (Target/Hobby Lobby/Barnes & Noble/Starbucks)
  • Movie tickets
  • Personalized jewelry
  • Fitbit
  • Candle

We guarantee your nanny will feel the love with any gift they receive!
We hope you enjoy your holiday with your family and loved ones.
Merry Christmas from Caring Nannies.

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adoption monthThis month at Caring Nannies we have been celebrating Adoption Month. November is Adoption Month and is meant for bringing awareness to children in need of homes/families and children currently in foster care.
Do you know the history behind Adoption Month? We found this article very informative from Days of the Year.

History of Adoption Month

Also called Adoption Awareness Month, it began in 1976 when Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis announced an Adoption Week to promote the need for families to adopt children in foster care. From there, then holiday became official under the presidency of Ronald Reagan in 1984. A few years later, in 1995, President Clinton proclaimed that Adoption Week should be changed to a month instead of a week because of the pressing need for adoptive families to take part in adopting children. From there, President Clinton expanded the adoption process by allowing families to use the internet as a resource for adoption.
Adoption Month became a national holiday for people to take part in. Current officials and candidates generally support this effort, and since then, Adoption Month has been proven to be somewhat successful. Since 2014, roughly 50,000 children have been adopted each year with the average age being about 7 years old. However, more statistics state that while 81.5 million Americans have considered adoption, about 23,000 children age out of foster care without finding a family. While more research is still in the process as each year passes, adoption is an important decision to make in a person’s life and should always consider all of the factors at play.
Let’s work as a community to help spread awareness of this holiday through friends, family and social media to help change a child’s life forever.
Thank you to those families who are helping children in need.
Caring Nannies Team

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Happy Thanksgiving from Caring Nannies! Thanksgiving is a few days away and we are super excited to celebrate! Thanksgiving is a special holiday to show and teach children the importance of Thanksgiving values such as thankfulness, gratitude and family. These five fun Thanksgiving crafts are fun for the entire family.
1.Thanksgiving Tablecloth: We love this Thanksgiving family project tablecloth. It is a great addition for the kitchen table and it is fun to add new memories each year. We found this adorable idea at Real Life at Home.
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2. Thanksgiving Placemats: These Thanksgiving placemats are a perfect way to keep your kids busy during Thanksgiving dinner. They will keep your kiddos engaged and will spark up conversation over Thanksgiving dinner. Download a FREE printable at Planes and Balloons.
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3. Gratitude Chain: This gratitude chain is the perfect craft for the entire family to participate in and for Thanksgiving guests to enjoy. Use it as a decoration to string around the house or as tabletop garland. You can find instructions on how to make it here.
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4. Family Thanksgiving Tree: This family tree is a great activity for the entire family to do together. You can also frame it to cherish for all years to come. If you would like a FREE template and directions on how to create your own go to Crafts by Amanda.

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5. Pumpkin Pie Craft: Who doesn’t love pumpkin pie? How adorable is this cute and easy pumpkin pie craft for the kiddos? You only need a few materials to create this masterpiece. For instructions go to A Night Owl.
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THANK YOU to all of our nannies and families. We are so thankful for YOU! We hope you enjoy spending Thanksgiving with your families, friends and loved ones.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Caring Nannies

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NEW FULL-TIME NANNY JOB WITH INFANT IN PHX, $15-$18/hr

44th St & Camelback: This amazing returning family of ours who are first time parents to a happy, healthy 9 month old baby girl are seeking a loving, reliable, committed, caring nanny with excellent infant experience to join their family and care for their daughter on a flexible, full-time basis. Mom currently works from home in her home office. The family is flexible with their schedule and can work around a nanny’s availability but ideally a M-F schedule of 8AM-4PM would work great. The nanny will be responsible for total and complete childcare responsibilities pertaining to the infant even when the parents are in the home. The nanny responsibilities will include the following; feeding, changing, putting the infant down for naps, going for walks, playing with age appropraite toys, reading books and working on developmetal activities. The family

will also need light housekeeping. The Dad works long hours and the Mom would love an extra hand around the household. Ideal candidate is someone who is focused on being engaging and interactive and who places an importance on educating their daughter and planning age-appropriate developmental activities as she grows. They are open to enrolling her in classes and having the nanny take her on outings and to activities. No Pets.  Compensation: $15-$18/hr. (REF#PBPHX)

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When Jenny Riojas walked into the Caring Nannies’ office in the spring of 2011, our staff agreed unanimously that Jenny was the “It” girl we needed in our office! But Jenny had come in for a part-time nanny position, three long days per week, and at that time, she wasn’t wanting to work full-time. We definitely needed someone five days per week.
She had every quality we could ever want: 10+ years of nanny experience, 3 years of office experience,  prior experience as a Placement Consultant at ABC Nannies in Denver, Colorado. She was professional, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education,  well-spoken, warm, animated, and experienced both as a nanny and a Mom, with two boys, ages 6 and 4.  It took some convincing to get Jenny to agree to work in our office! Happily for us, the family we sent her to did not interview her fast enough–that does sometimes happen– and we worked out a compromise: she could work at home two days per week to be Mom to her boys, and in the office three days per week.

In the five years since the day she walked in, Jenny has taken Caring Nannies to new heights:  by expanding our Temporary Services to include Event Care, and Corporate Back-up Care; by initiating a new software program that saves our staff valuable hours;  by being an integral part of our education / training programs; and by continual growth of the domestic staffing side of the business. Her husband Jason has now taken over the accounting and bookkeeping as well.

Our own personal families have grown close over the past 5 years and Jenny has offered many a time to fill in the gaps with my own grandkids when I can’t be there. She brings Jason and her boys, now 11 and 9 to family parties and celebrations, where her parenting skills always bring remarks, like: “Those are the sweetest and best behaved boys I have ever met!”
At the end of 2015, Jenny purchased Caring Nannies from me after 32 years. I thought that after all that time, I would feel like it was one of my kids and miss it terribly. However, I am so busy with my second career, that I hardly have time to even think about it. I have five grandchildren that are five and under, with two more in the works. I enjoy teaching English to new refugees, going to hot yoga in the middle of the day, going on 20+ mile bike rides with friends, gardening, coordinating a class, studying, and a myriad of fun activities that don’t require me to sit at a desk all day! I think I am busier than before I retired!
I am grateful to Jenny for all the years of service she’s given our families and nannies and our corporate clients, and I’m excited to see where she takes Caring Nannies!
Beth Weise
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Carol is a warm, vibrant and highly dedicated nanny with over six years of nanny experience with three families! She started babysitting at age 10. With a medical degree, she was working at a very busy medical clinic as well as setting up specialty clinics in Minnesota until her family relocated to Phoenix. “It was very stressful and when we moved to Arizona, I just wanted to get out of the healthcare field and be able to play and just have fun, caring for children. No stress, no drama. I just love nannying-it’s just the best,” she confided. In the Fall of 2012, we placed Carol as a nanny with a 3 year old girl two days per week, and just this week, she took an additional part-time nanny job for two days with a two year old and a newborn.

Carol loves children, and it shows! “They’re so much fun!” she shared. ‘Kids need to feel special. It’s a lot of work, but its so much fun. It’s about building a relationship with the children and the parents. If the children are happy, the parents are happy, and then I’m happy. it’s a win-win”. She’s fun-loving and active with children in all her nanny positions, diving into the pool for toys, playing hide ‘n go seek, tag, bike riding, reading, walks, exploring, and encouraging independence as much as possible. “One key is letting them win games. It makes them feel so special when the parents come home and they say, ‘Mom, I beat Carol at ‘Pig’!’”

Carol is flexible, and has done extensive travel with past families. Carol’s own family works around their schedule. Her current family flies her to Chicago frequently and once they brought Carol’s 10 year old daughter along so her six year old charge would have someone to play with and they had a blast: “We went to the park, the zoo, we walked miles. My nanny job works so well. My employer is the kindest lady ever! She’s been so kind to me. This nanny position has been a really good thing for me. I don’t look at it so much as a job. I love it and do whatever they need me to do.”

With her young Kindergarten charge in tow, Carol can be found exploring on a Saturday with a backpack filled with water and snacks and no plans. “Its’ an adventure and we see where we end up. I like to come up with fun things, like: ‘Today we’re going to see how many parks we can play at’”.  They call it park-hoping and found 6 parks in one day. “She’s so smart for her age,” remarks Carol about her charge. We’re always cooking and baking, and doing tons of crafts. We go to Michaels, pick up craft items, do painting, or make cards. The parents went off for a weekend and we put paint on her hands and feet and prints all over a paper and we hung it up with the words: ‘Happy Birthday, Dad.’”

Carol is compassionate, patient, adventurous, cheerful, and her medical background makes her extra safety-conscious. She loves teaching sports skills like hitting a ball with a bat or swimming. A favorite memory was a little fellow who loved basketball. Carol lowered the net so he could be successful. Carol is experienced with infants through school age, and is a pro at potty training. She’s happy to help with homework, do family laundry, straighten up the house, menu plan, grocery shop, run errands and is a gourmet cook!

Carols own daughters are 10, 15 and 18 years old and her husband travels a lot. “My kids are pretty self-sufficient, and normally I’m home by 4-5 in the afternoon. Her family loves to go camping and travel in their motor-home. This summer she took her paraplegic cousin on a month long motor-home trip, and cared for him 24/7 with her 10 year old. Her close-knit family loves any kind of outside activities, camping at Lake Pleasant, and other favorite places. Thanks for all your great work, Carol, and congratulations on your new position!

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Jenny Riojas, our Family Placement Counselor, was chosen as Mom of the Month by a local blogger! Here’s the story!

I met Jenny a few years ago at a moms group at church.  She was unbelievably sweet.  She and her sister in law were just so open and considerate.

Our kiddos are the same age as mine and it’s so nice to see a mom handle these ages so great.  Especially with two boys.

Jenny is funny and kind and takes great joy in her boys and it shows all over her face!
She is very dear to me and reading her answers below you can see why.

Here is Jenny’s story…..

1. How many children do you have?

List ages and names I have 2 rambunctious yet loving boys.  Carter Preston is 9 and Chase Kelan is 7.

2. Your occupation: I am the Family Placement Director at Caring Nannies in Scottsdale.  I place nannies and domestic staff with families all over the Valley.  I love my job!  It’s a business I am passionate about and it gives me the flexibility to be with my children when I need to be.

3. What is your most strict parenting rule?

At the ages that my boys are right now, I am strict about back talk and disrespect.  To anyone.  If that type of behavior is displayed, an immediate consequence is given.

4. What is the best motherly advice you have received? From who?

My parents were all about “creating memories” when I was growing up.  I have very fond childhood memories of camping, RV road trips, BBQ’s, my Dad’s silly magic shows, family game nights, and so forth.  I think that was the best advice: to create memories with your children.  It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant but I try to do things that they will remember when they are older and will tell their children about.

5.What is the biggest challenge you face balancing yourself and being a mom?

The key word there is ‘balance.’  I’m like every other Mom with lots of things to juggle every week and sometimes I feel if I’m putting too much time and energy in one area, then things are falling through the cracks in another. More often than not, I don’t feel like I have it all together.  I just do my best to fit in quality time whenever I can.  For me, that may mean leaving the laundry and sticky floors for another time….and going out for a family bike ride.  Or putting away the work laptop so I can snuggle with the kiddos before bedtime. Every little bit counts.

6. Can you share any mom tips with us?

#1  Carve out Mommy time. It’s a natural thing for Moms to put everyone else’s needs first.  I believe it is also important to remember to take care of yourself and do some things that you enjoy so that you are a re-charged and happy Mommy.

#2  Don’t beat yourself up.  We all have bad days (or weeks) and it’s easy to go to bed at night and beat ourselves up for what we feel we did wrong in our parenting.  Let the bad days go.  Moms are their own worst critics.  The next morning, those little munchkins are still going to run up to you and give you a big hug, regardless of how the prior day went.

#3 Don’t compare.  It’s great to get advice from fellow Moms but if your child isn’t reading and conjugating verbs by the age of 3 like your friend’s kid is, don’t feel like you’ve failed as a parent.

#4 Be spontaneous sometimes.  All moms need structure and routines to their days or they’d go insane; but many, many times things do not go as planned in mommyhood.  When that happens, throw the plans out the window, be spontaneous, and make the most of it.  A lot of times those turn out to be the best days.

#5  If you have more than one child, plan special one-on-one Mommy dates with each child.  My kids really look forward to this and I’m always amazed at the special conversations that take place when I am focused on them one at a time.

7. What is the hardest part about being a mom?

Moms worry a lot.  That’s a given.  We want the best for our kids.  When they are hurting, we are hurting.  We want to always protect them and shield them. But we can’t.  That’s the hardest thing.  And seeing them grow up so fast!

8. What is your favorite part about being a mom?

I’m one of those people who dreamed about being a Mommy when I was a young girl.  I’ve always loved kids, especially babies, and I simply could not wait to be a mom myself.  It’s the most rewarding yet challenging job!  I love that my kids melt my heart and keep me laughing everyday.  I love how forgiving they are of me.  I love that it is ever-changing.  Once you think you’ve mastered one stage, you’re on to the next.  I love experiencing things through their eyes.  I love that they teach me just as much, if not more, than I teach them.

9. Tell us a story….. it can be something funny your kids did, it can be an embarrassing thing that happened to you as a mother, it can be your proudest moment, the moment you felt like you were  a good mother…anything you want.

Story:

Whenever I am away from my kids or I’m traveling, I’ll leave prizes hidden throughout the house for them to find each day that I’m gone.  I’ll call with a clue that will help them find the prize. So once when they were gone for a few days and I was home alone, they surprised me by hiding notes and prizes for me.  I was cracking up with what they came up with.  One note said, “Mom, I know you are going out with your friends.  Here is a piece of gum.”
Thank you Jenny for sharing your story with us today!
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Scottsdale Insurance saw our campaign on Facebook and collected 17 backpacks from their small office!!!!
The children at Excellencia and Larkspur schools will be thrilled with their new backpacks! Thank you Scottsdale Insurance!

Our wonderful nannies helped also!!! Thank you Alison!!!

And leaving backpacks at our door!

Thank you to all of our awesome nannies and business community!

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Caring Nannies Recently held a cutting edge one day training event in Paradise Valley with 37 nannies in attendance, greatly exceeding our expectations! We were expecting 8 but hoping for 20!  Nannies who had never experienced training geared to the private home environment were delighted and encouraged.

 Why do we need to train nannies? Doesn’t a good nanny already have the skills she needs to work successfully with children?

There is no other job as important as raising a child, your own or someone elses, and the informal home environment lends itself to parents and nannies thinking that ongoing training isn’t needed. It just comes naturally, right? However, research shows that nannies become skilled professionals when experience and a warm engaging personality is combined with knowleldge of how a child develops physically, socially, intellectually and emotionally plus creative ideas to make it happen.

The event was open to nannies throughout the community and many of the parents graciously paid the registration fee.

As in any profession, there is always more to learn, and it’s motivating to receive the appreciation for their critical impact in their unique role. The opportunity to network with  others in their field and exchange contact information is encouraging. Nannying can be isolating with no peers to talk to during the day.

With Kathy Rowe from Music Together, in a very hands on fun session, we experienced  how to incorporate music into the day–a huge brain boost to children. Jeremy King from Az Tutor and Life Coach laid out how to effectively develop responsibility and self-motivation, a seasoned Newborn Specialist explained the keys to babies and toddlers taking naps and sleeping through the night. Martha Rockwell, professional career coach and owner of A+Resumes, gave tips on how to find our dream jobs, and a panel of expert Home Managers discussed how to move from Nanny to Nanny Manager.

Breakfast and lunch were included as well as a goodie bag including a kid’s cook book. Fun prizes were raffled off including a large basket of essential safety devices from Childproofers USA, an hour of professional career and resume counseling from Martha, a make-over from Dephane Marcel from Salon Moda Fina in Scottsdale, and a Monster Repellant Spray from Fairytale Wishes. Lice Doctors generously sponsored our lunch.

The event was sponsored by Nanny Biz Reviews and was held in conjunction with National Week of the Young Child. Caring Nannies is tremendously encouraged by the success of this years training and is already at work planning our next training event this fall. At Caring Nannies, we are asking our caregivers to commit to two out of three training events per year, because we have experiencd the difference training makes.

Beth Weise
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