Melodie's House » childcare

Back to Business More or Less

melodieshouse — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:09:20 +0000

I hired yet another babysitter over the weekend to work part-time (up to 30hrs/wk). She started this week. She’s a fulltime college student who lives right around the corner from me. She’s a quiet girl that seems to be a bit shy. She’s worked two full days already and she and the kids all survived each other. Let’s just see how it goes.

My current hot-and-heavy business project is working on an ERP/CRM solution for a client who has three restaurants, two food markets at two of the restaurants, and a food warehouse/manufactuing business along with a web store. Did I mention he also does catering? He needs the backoffice management of all these components to be integrated and accessible preferably from a web browser. I’m testing out a package right now to see if it will work for him, but it’s going to take weeks if not months to get all components fully operational. ERP/CRM means Enterprise Resource Planning/Customer Relationship Management.

Up to No Business

melodieshouse — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:27:14 +0000

I’m still looking for someone to provide regular childcare during the week.

Still Taking Care of Business as Not Usual

melodieshouse — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:59:02 +0000

Would you believe nanny #3 didn’t work out either!? After being hired by us for 10 days, she came in late without calling the Monday before Christmas, and after only one hour said she had to leave because her grandmother was taken to the hospital with chest pains. She said she would keep me posted on what was going on. The next day she was supposed to come in for a full day; she didn’t show up neither did she call. She e-mailed me later in the afternoon to say her cell phone was cut off and she didn’t have a way to call me but she had to stay with her grandmother after she was discharged from the hospital that morning. I can understand people having family emergencies to deal with, but contacting their employer is their responsibility. Before that incident occurred I couldn’t get her to commit to a full schedule over the holidays minus Christmas Eve/Day even though she said she’d be in town. Her fiance came into town the Sunday before Christmas and that probably overrode everything else for her.

This past weekend after Christmas I contacted several more prospects for a babysitter/nanny and found a wonderul young lady who came in a half day today and will work a half day the rest of the week. I didn’t realize it until she came in for the interview but she and her husband are in the same networking business we’re in and my husband was already acquainted with her. I would love to keep her but she’s waiting to hear from other families who already interviewed her after they get back from their vacations to see if she gets any other offers to consider. So here’s hoping and praying. I also interviewed a 16yo homeschooler who’s looking for part-time work to earn money for playing in a traveling volleyball league, and I was ready to have her come in this past Monday but her dad is off work this week and he wants her to stay home this week. I’m hoping to use her as a backup and occasional sitter. On a brighter note, we got a sitter for New Year’s Eve (tonight) – the daughter of the folks were spending the evening with agreed to come over and care for the little ones.

The saga continues…

Business as Not Usual

melodieshouse — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:39:08 +0000

Well, I went through 3 nannies in 4 days! The first one I hired (see Taking care of business (and working overtime)) gave notice the beginning of day 2 (Tue), saying she didn’t feel she could adequately care for my 4 little ones. So I brought in my backup for Wed. That day seemed to go okay, we arranged for her to come in for a half day on Thu, she did NOT show up nor did she call all day, leaving me in a bind because I couldn’t get any of my web store work done all day. That afternoon I was searching for another person, and thankfully was able to bring someone in for an interview that evening, because my husband and I had plans to go to an important client’s Christmas party Friday afternoon and have a long-awaited date. So nanny #3 came in Friday and did a great job. She had already cared for 4 children at once for 2 different clients, a policeman with 4 kids and a lady with an in-home daycare. She was hired for the regular job of caring for my kids. The kids really like her a lot and so do I. So here’s hoping this arrangement really will work out for the long term.

BTW, I called nanny #2 and left a msg on her voice mail when she was an hour late. She left me a msg after 8:30pm saying there was a schedule conflict with her other client and she couldn’t call earlier because her cell phone service was cut off. Hmmm…her phone rang before going to voicemail when I called. This from a 30 yr old woman with a child of her own who was seeking full-time gainful employment. Great way to keep a job huh?

Taking care of business (and working overtime)

melodieshouse — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 02:19:43 +0000

I’m joining my husband fulltime to work in his computer consulting business. I’ve built 3 online stores since May; these will be continual works-in-progress, and now I will be building even more of these stores, using Zen Cart or other e-commerce solutions based on what features suit a particular business client better. This is a new need that my husband has seen arise with his clients, and we need to increase our income so we’re not going to maintain status quo and turn them elsewhere.

Because I need to concentrate fully on my work, we have hired a fulltime nanny who will start tomorrow. When I interviewed her I really liked her, what she had to say, and how she related to my kids. Her 2 references, whom she still babysits for occasionally, couldn’t recommend her highly enough. She’s 21 and has provided childcare since age 12. She was also raised up in our city, in the same part of town where we live, and still lives close by. I’m hoping this arrangement works out very well for us and becomes longterm. I’ll still be homeschooling my 5yo daughter and working mostly from home.