Last week marked eight years in my mannying career! I moved back to PA last December and have been working with multiple families on a weekly basis. I couldn't have been more proud of how far I've come in my career.
But I still felt like something was missing. I found a content creator/nanny on Instagram who goes by The Modern Nanny. She posted something about how nannying can be a lonely job. She provided a way for nannies (and mannies!) to work together as "coworkers". I decided to join. So with a couple emails and one simple payment, I joined the Caregiving Coworker Cohort (CCC), and let me tell you, it has been a life changer.
Every Sunday afternoon, the Modern Nanny, Sarah, hosts a Zoom meeting in which whoever in the group wants to can discuss their week, what went well, what didn't go so well, and what we're looking forward to. We then have some time left over for a group discussion.
Outside of the Zoom meetings, we use an App called Slack to keep in touch with each other. In Slack, we can post questions, or successes, or even just rant about our day.
I have learned so much from Sarah and the other nannies in the group (yes, I'm the only manny). I got a little impostor syndrome for a while because, in the almost eight years I had been working as a manny, I was going about it the wrong way. I didn't know about contracts, having taxes withheld, the average wages, and even that PTO and retirement were options. I have learned so much in the past couple months since joining the CCC. I've come to appreciate the benefits of having coworkers, especially coworkers who support me and take the time to answer questions or address concerns. I love that my coworkers want me to succeed and want to help me become the best manny I can be.
