Pros Of Being A Nanny

Last updated November 22, 2021

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There are so many pros of being a nanny. Often times when I tell someone I’m a nanny I get a look of dismay, followed by a quick tight smile while they go “Oh, I could never look after others people’s kids. So…how is it?”. It is as if they expect me to roll my eyes and join in. As if they expect me to immediately tell them how awful children are, or how much my job sucks. Little do they know just how wrong they are.

I absolutely LOVE my job.

I think I have one of the best jobs around. I know so many people who hate going into work every day, or spend more time complaining about work than they do talking about what they like about it.

Which is fine. I was that way for years as well, but it just got to the point where I couldn’t handle it. I hated feeling stressed out every day. I was unable to sleep at night because I knew I had to go work at a retail job that I hated the next day. I would lie awake at night, looking at the clock, counting down the hours until I had to go in.

I had to take time off work for health reasons and I knew that I couldn’t go back to that stressful job.

I needed to take better care of myself, my physical health, and my mental health.

I kept thinking about what I wanted to do for work. All I kept going back to was how much I enjoyed babysitting while a teenager, and how fun it was being a nanny to two awesome girls in Australia.

So I decided to give being a nanny in Canada a shot. I had loads of experience, I get along great with kids, I’m very trustworthy, fun to be around.

So I did it. And I love it.

The Pros Of Being A Nanny

Helping to shape a child’s mind.

I’m currently a nanny to children of different ages, from 13 months to 10 years old. They are all wonderful. I am so lucky. It makes me feel so proud when I am able to change what is a negative perspective that the child may have, explain something to them, help them understand, and then see the way they change their minds. As a child things are often seen in black and white. Explaining grey areas to help them understand why their parent or teacher may have made certain decisions and seeing that I got through to them is so cool.

Fun!

Being a nanny can sometimes feel like you’re a kid again during play time. It is fascinating the imaginations that children have, and getting to play with them is really fun. Whether that be a video game, playing at the park, playing with certain toys, or creating our own games, it’s so much fun! I’m pretty sure I have more fun at work each day than many other people. 

Baking.

Baking on my own is okay. I love to create new recipes. But baking with kids? Way better. They get so excited to be helping you, and so proud of what you have created together. And getting to eat it afterwards is always great.

Talking about school.

Sounds boring, right? But I love picking up the kids after school and talking about their day. The school gossip, the subjects they are learning and how they differ from when I was in school. I even learn new things just from our conversations!

The bond formed.

The thing with being a nanny is often times you spend more one on one time with a child than their family members do. Which causes quite a bond. I sometimes feel as though the kids are my little cousins or something. We have our own special language, special books we read together, special snacks.

They rely on you and trust you.

As a nanny you are the adult for the children. You are the friend. The “big sister”. They run over to you when you arrive to tell you everything that has happened while you were gone, and want your advice. It definitely makes you feel special.

I rarely have bad days at work, and when I do it’s because the kids had a bad day, or someone is sick, or one of the parents are stressed. I never lie awake at night, too stressed to fall asleep. If anything I lie awake at night because I’m so excited to go to work the next day, to play with the kids, talk about school or the weekend.

I feel more at peace with my work life. I love having a set schedule. I know what to expect each day, and that makes things for me much easier.

There are of course cons to being a nanny as well, but that’s for another post.

Have you ever been a babysitter?
Do you think you could be a nanny?