Hiring a nanny can be tricky and complicated. If we look at the odds of an impending hire
gone awry, most times, things work out absent of catastrophe, whether a parent
goes the professional, more expensive, nanny agency route with expert help or
the cheaper “DIY” route. This event
highlights, however, why the DIY route may result with real disillusionment, no
differently than going to Las Vegas and playing the roulette wheel. It is 100% predictable that the outcome is
unpredictable.
How can a parent avoid a negative outcome resulting from
hiring, a basic stranger, to care for their children, pets and home? This is a question on the minds of every
parent hiring a nanny. Though, the critical
question all parents should ask themselves is…”how do I minimize the risk in
hiring a stranger?” Therein lays the
core issue.
The majority of people working with children are safe and
honest. So most times, everyone is a
winner, unlike playing roulette. The
real issue, though, is when a surprise rears its ugly head. We all know there is a minority population of
people who are not at all safe to leave alone with children, pets and give full
access to the family fortune. They don’t
wear a label “DISHONEST” like a name tag.
That’s the world in which we live.
What’s the solution? Because
young children are involved, the Association of Premier Nanny Agencies,
advocates using expert help to put together as many of the puzzles pieces about
a person as possible so that a parent has a fully focused picture of who is
getting hired. This expert help can come
in several versions to help provide transparency. One option is to use the crème de la crème full
service APNA member agency to do all the vetting work. This option leaves a parent feeling most secure,
least exposed, though admittedly, it is the most expensive route. Another option is to enlist the help of the
experts. Many APNA agencies offer the
next best solution which can help defray the cost, yet not take the full gamble. These agencies will help with the screening
process of a candidate a parent found through other resources. As a result, this is a real blended
alternative of DIY and expert help at a deeply discounted cost.
The pure DIY route was the option the Georgia family
took. Undoubtedly, they knew others who
took that route successfully, and they decided to spin the wheel. Unfortunately, it was too late when they
discovered they lost the bet. While APNA doesn’t recommend spinning the wheel
as such, there is the recognition that many parents find success. Why not use the expertise of an APNA agency
to vet a candidate a parent finds on their own if the cost to have the agency
do the whole process is out of reach? It
is cost effective for those parents who have financial limitations but want to minimize
the risk of discovering the unknown. Admittedly,
using experts will not take away every molecule of risk (humans aren’t
perfect…yet!), but it does heavily minimize risk by adding a real degree of
predictability. After all, all parents
strive for their kids to feel safe and secure. And the truth is, there is real
help available to sidestep these events, no matter the budget.
