We want to thank our event sponsors Breedlove & Associates, Great Giant, JAMaROO, Bobbycookies and Parent’s Place. We were able to provide great gift bags and lunch for our attendees and speakers.

Our speakers in San Francisco, Lori Onderqyzer and Elaine New, discussed Positive Discipline and Communication with Families and children.

In Palo Alto, Becky Divinski and Susan Lehman spoke on topics of Positive Discipline and Kind & Firm Parenting.

The feedback we got from our Nannies has been inspiring and will help us next year! Everyone wants to see more events like this in the near future and we think it’s a great idea. We welcome any ideas you may have regarding gifts, topics, food or locations for next year!

Get to know Sarah:

What is your favorite quote?

“Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” Marilyn Monroe.

What 3 items would you take with you to a deserted island (other than food and water)?
Three items I would take to a desert island would be a good book, sunscreen and music.

What is the last book you read?
My last read was “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn.

What is your favorite day of the year and why?
My favorite day of the year is any day that the sun is out and you can feel the warmth of it on your skin. That makes for a great day!

What is your favorite outdoor activity?
My favorite outdoor activity is exploring a new place and taking in the sights.

If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
If I won the Lottery I would buy a house that also had a guesthouse for my mom to live in. It is nice to have family close but not too close. ;) I would also love to travel all over; my first stop would be Greece.

Sarah is working with Town + Country to find a full-time Nanny position. If you are interested in learning more about Sarah please contact us at 415-567-0956.

Below are several websites that you can visit to get great tips on having these discussions with your children:

1. Mister Rogers talks about how to discuss scary news (video).
2. Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, VP of Research and Education at Sesame Street Workshop, on how to answer children’s questions about scary news (video).
3. PBS Strategies for talking to kids about the news.

Be sure and give your children big hugs and kisses and remind them that the world is also full of love and kindness.

I’m not sure if having lived through our two largest recent earthquakes has made me extra prepared for the next one, or maybe a just bit too blasé about what could happen.

Regardless, a recent visit to FEMA’s disaster preparedness web site quickly reminded me of the importance of getting our family’s earthquake kit and plan back in good order.

At www.ready.gov, they have information on:

• What to do before, during and after an earthquake (remember to STOP, DROP and HOLD ON)
• How to put together and what to include in your own safety and survival kit (a list of supplies is included in a link on the right side of the page)
• Tips on setting up a family communications plan
• Tips for homeowners to avoid earthquake damage (PDF download)
• And links to other useful sites information

I mostly explored the earthquake information, but they cover a variety of other disasters, including home fires.

As a family, we will be taking time to educate ourselves on what to do, we will be putting our earthquake kit together and we will also be making sure that our Nanny knows what our preparations and plans are. With my wife and I at work all day and our Nanny in charge of the kids after school. She’s an integral part of the family in this kind of a scenario, and you never know when a natural disaster could strike!

Get to know Louise:

What is your favorite quote?
“If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing well.”

What 3 items would you take with you to a deserted island (other than food and water)?
I would take my iPad, my daughter and English chocolate!

What is the last book you read?
“Lady Almina and the real Downton Abbey, The lost legacy of Highclare Castle” by The Countess of Cornarvon

What is you favorite day of the year and why?
Christmas because I can see lots of family!

What is your favorite outdoor activity?
Walking as long as it’s not too hot!

If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
First I would get a new car because mine is 12 years old. Then I would hire help for my mother who is now 81. I would get my daughter and her horse back to California, and I would buy myself my first house!

Louise is working with Town + Country to find a full-time Nanny position. If you are interested in learning more about Louse please contact us at 650.326.8570.

In my memories, my favorites were all the Madeline books, and I read every one! My bother’s? “Where the Wild Things Are,” naturally.

Every year your child will be reading something new. By encouraging them to read by themselves or with their Nanny, they are exposed to new ideas and good habits. Better manners, independence, responsibility and learning can all be encouraged through good books.

If this inspires you to start a new tradition of including books in your children’s Easter baskets, can we pass along some suggestions for you.

Here are five children’s books that the Honest Co. recently share that I fell in love with as a child!

1. Charlie and Lola: We Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers (Lauren Child): Lola learns to recycle and makes it a fun competition with classmates.
2. Curious George Plants a Tree (Margret & H. A. Rey): Everything Curious George is good! George gets himself into innocent trouble while learning the ins and outs of recycling, but eventually brings the community together to give back.
3. Little Pea, Little Hoot, Little Oink (Amy Krouse Rosenthal): These books are a witty take on eating veggies, going to bed, and cleaning up after oneself.
4. Eating the Alphabet: Fruit and Vegetables from A to Z (Lois Ehlert): Perfect for teaching about nutrition AND the alphabet at once!
5. Grow It, Cook It (DK Publishing): A cookbook for kids. It takes the food from the garden to the plate. Perfect for elementary age kids. These books are so exciting for children! From learning the alphabet to recycling and cooking, your children will know healthy living, fun art and great stories.

If you are travelling with your Nanny, here are a few tips to consider while traveling:

• Remember, you pay for her expenses, including airfare, hotel, food, etc.
• Your Nanny is working and although she is on a vacation with you, she is still likely to need relief here and there. There are other resources you can use during these much-needed breaks. Consider talking to your hotel concierge for options.
• You and your Nanny should discuss travel pay. We recommend that your Nanny be paid overnight wages in addition to her daily wages, or a fixed daily rate. Recommended overnight pay can range from $75 to $150 per night.

Leaving your Nanny at home while you travel? Consider these tips:

• She was counting on those hours so you should pay her for her time. The children may not be present but you can assign her tasks to help with the house while you’re away. In general, we recommend that families agree in advance that their nannies get two weeks of vacation, and that one of those weeks is based on your schedule. If you’ve done this in advance, your vacation time will line up with hers.
• Most likely your Nanny helps with the family tasks as well, this is a great time to have her run errands, research summer activities, and help out with house and pet care.

If you’re not going anywhere for spring break, consider communicating with your Nanny now for all the necessary activities you will need to entertain the children during break.

Unfortunately, the form has grown considerably in size – the instructions have gone from 3 pages to 6 and the portion you and your new employee have to fill our has gone from 1 page to two. On the other had, the online PDF can be filled out in your browser using drop-down menus and then printed out.

Here’s a link to the download page for the new form. You should start using the new form immediately, and Town + Country is providing the new form to clients in our printed materials, but you may legally use the old form through May 6th, 2013.

What is Form I-9? The timely & accurate completion of this form satisfies an employer’s obligation to ensure that they have hired a person legally authorized to work in this country. For context, as an employer, you should remember that you are not allowed to discriminate based on, among other things, national origin in making employment decisions. This means that you should complete the same background checks and same employment verification procedures for each new hire, regardless of what you believe their citizenship status or country of origin might be. You should not, for instance, use E-Verify (if you have access to that service) only for some employees but not for all. Your process for completing the I-9 for each employee should also be the same.

What are the basics of completing the I-9? Here are the highlights. You should read the I-9 instructions, of course.

• Your new employee should complete Section 1 no later than their first day of employment, but never before they have accepted your job offer. You have to complete Section 2 no later than the third day after they start.
• Section 2 involves confirming the documents your employee has shown you to show their authorization to work. You should physically examine each document “to determine if it reasonably appears to be genuine and to relate to the person presenting it.” If you have physically examined them and they are reasonable, you are not liable for being unable to detect forged or falsified documents.
• Documents that expire (like passports and driver licenses) may not be expired. That is, they must be presented before they have expired. This does not apply to documents that do not expire, like birth certificates.
• Acceptable documents are listed on the last page of the form. Your employee has to present ONE of the documents from List A, or (i) one document from List B, plus (ii) one document from List C. Your employee is entitled to present any of the required documents. That is, you may not specify which ones you want them to present.
• You are allowed to photocopy the documents presented, and it is a good idea to do so. You are not required to do so, but if you make it part of your process, be sure to do it for each new hire.
• After you and your employee have completed the form and you have signed it, you must keep it on file for at least (i) three years from the date of hire, or (ii) one year from the last day of employment, whichever is later. The Department of Homeland Security may audit your I-9 forms and procedures.

As always, we’re happy to answer any questions you might have. We’re here to help!

Meet Kyle

Kyle has 10 years of professional childcare experience and was placed by Town + Country in his most recent long-term Nanny position. He has been a Nanny, a Preschool Teacher and an after-school Teacher. Kyle’s work with children includes some special needs experience. Kyle has an incredible pitch in attitude and is happy to help with Family Assistant duties.

He is a native of Wisconsin and in his free time he enjoys reading, snow boarding, soccer, biking, playing basketball, watching live music and swimming.

Get to know Kyle:

What is your favorite quote?
“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”-Michael Jordan

What 3 items would you take with you to a deserted island (other than food an water)?
I would take my beautiful girlfriend, the largest iPod on the market and a soccer ball.

What is the last book you read?
“The Devil In The White City” by Erik Larson

What is your favorite day of the year and why?
Thanksgiving…family, friends, food and a long weekend…doesn’t get much better than that!

What is your favorite outdoor activity?
Playing soccer. I have played since I was five and continued all the way through college and now I still play at least five times a week!

If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
I would ensure that my immediate family (mom and brother) werer taken care of and then ensure that my girlfriend and I were set up for the future.

Kyle is working with Town + Country to find a full-time Nanny and Family Assistant position. If you are interested in learning more about Kyle please contact us at 415.567.0956.

“If you’re a family hiring someone in your home, always negotiate based on gross, not net, pay. Net pay agreements make it more difficult to calculate overtime and could allow the employee to overwithhold taxes at your expense. You can always determine the net pay, but any agreement should be based on gross hourly wages.”

Why is this important? Household staff are considered “employees” by the IRS (see IRS Publication 924) and as employer you have important tax & withholding obligations. As a result, the total amount that you spend in wages (the “gross” wages) will be greater than the net amount that your employee takes home (their “net” pay). Simple enough, but your employee is likely to think about his or her compensation in terms of what they actually get in their pocket, not the total that you as employer are spending. As employer, you are not in control of their tax situation (how many dependents? how many deductions? credits? filing single or jointly? etc), so there is no reliable way for you to calculate the “gross” amount that you would have to pay for your employee to achieve the “net” take-home that they are seeking.

It can be a difficult concept to navigate with the person that you are trying to hire into your home, but future problems – and expenses – are most likely going to be avoided if you leave your employee to handle their own tax situation and focus solely on negotiating the thing you can control, namely their “gross” wages.