Update for Parents with Children in Chicago Public Schools. Notification letters will be mailed this week (week of February 20th) for high schools, including Selective Enrollment, IB, Magnet, College and Career Academies, and Military Academies. Notification letters for elementary schools will be mailed the week of March 26th, 2012. The process of updating the tiers for the 2012-2013 selection process is now complete. See “NEWS” for +instructions on calculating the tier for your home address.
http://www.cpsgifted.org/
Good Luck! We all desire the best education possible for our children!
Danielle Stevens, Cambridge Nanny Group Recruiter launches her weekly Video Blog. This week she discusses baby names, children’s playgrounds, and introduces viewers to Pediped.
Please note that manufacturers often send us products to test and introduce to our clients and readers. We are not paid to promote these products and only discuss those items that get an A rating and have earned our stamp of approval.
Danielle Stevens, Cambridge Nanny Group Recruiter launches her weekly Video Blog. This week she discusses an important safety update, great new products, and our upcoming newborn training course.
Please note that manufacturers often send us products to test and introduce to our clients and readers. We are not paid to promote these products and only discuss those items that get an A rating and have earned our stamp of approval.
A nanny cam refers to a hidden video camera that has been secretly installed in a common household object for the purpose of covert surveillance. Nanny cams can take the form of virtually any object, so long as it does not appear oddly out of place or arouse suspicion of the individual(s) being monitored.
Personally, we are all for doing whatever you need to do to be reassured of your children’s safety. If a nanny cam will provide you peace of mind and confidence in your caregiver – go for it. However, transparency is critical. When you hire your nanny be up front. Let her know that she will not have any privacy in your home except the bathroom and you reserve the right to record her at anytime.
Studies and polls show that many care providers are not necessarily against video taping of child-provider interaction, it’s just that they want to know about it. It seems to be a matter of trust and feeling of deception.
It is indeed legal in all 50 states to use a hidden camera. However, it is illegal to record speech without a person’s consent in the following 15 states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennyslvania, and Washington.
More and more parents are installing visible camera’s in area’s that the nanny and child frequent such as family room, kitchen, and bedroom. It allows parents realtime access to spot check and watch their child while at work. Parents report that while they often don’t use it all the time, it’s nice to be able to log in and check on their child whenever they desire.
If you are a parent and would like guidance on locating a surveillance vendor please contact our office at 773-856-5525.
How much maternity leave should you take? It’s hard to know when you’ll go on maternity leave and when you’ll want to return. U.S. law gives you 12 weeks of unpaid leave, but some new moms can’t afford to go that long without a paycheck. Others may want to request additional maternity leave.
These steps will help you figure out mow much maternity leave to request. Take your time sorting through the choices – pregnancy leave is a special bonding time. Maternity leave is also an important opportunity to recover physically from birth and to adjust to life with a newborn.
Here’s How:
Read through your employee handbook and your employer’s policies and procedures to see how much (if any) paid maternity leave you will receive. Your employer may even provide a form maternity leave memo that you can simply fill in.
Speak with other working moms at your company to see what length of maternity leave worked for them. Ask what they would’ve done differently and how they stayed connected to work during their leave.
Crunch your budget to see how much leave you can afford to take. Make sure to understand how the length of your leave might affect your employer-provided health insurance, if relevant.
Discuss leave plans with your spouse , partner, or family to see if another adult could take leave after your leave ends to save money on child care and extend your baby’s time being cared for by a family member.
Decide whether you want to write a maternity leave letter that proposes returning to work on a part-time basis or working from home during the end of your maternity leave. These options may appeal if you can’t afford to take as long a leave as you’d like but you want to extend your time at home with your baby. Negotiating flexible hours may seem intimidating, but you never know unless you ask.
Tips:
The longer maternity leave you take, the less sleep-deprived you will be when you return to work. Depending on your job, it may even be dangerous to return to work too soon.
Many new moms require 6 weeks to fully recover from the physical effects of giving birth. It make take another 2 or 3 months before you get even 4-hour stretches of sleep at night, depending on your baby. Some babies will sleep for 5 or 6 hours at a time when they’re 4 months old – some don’t do so until 8 months or later.
It’s easier to cut short maternity leave than to extend it. You may want to overestimate how much leave you want, in case you end up needing more than you think.
Remember that giving birth can be unpredictable. You don’t know what your health or the baby’s health will be like immediately after delivery. If your newborn ends up in the neo-natal intensive care unit, the last thing you want to be thinking about is calling your boss to request more leave.
This is a good time to show your commitment to your job. Some employers think pregnant moms have one foot out the door. You need to keep your performance as high-quality as possible, so as not to leave a bad impression before going on maternity leave.
You may be torn about whether you’ll want to return to work. Do not share these doubts with your supervisor or colleagues, even your close friends at work. You never know what may happen with your finances or career goals post-partum, so keep your options open.
Know your rights. It’s illegal for employers to fire women because they become pregnant or take maternity leave. But, companies can let you go if it’s part of an overall reduction in workforce or for cause. Make sure you don’t give them a reason to give you a pink slip.
If you suspect pregnancy discrimination, consult a lawyer or the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.
What You Need
Your employee handbook or manual of policies and procedures.
Contact information for other working moms at your company.
Your monthly household budget.
Internet connection or directories to research child care in your area.
A hearty bowl of hot soup is great on a cold, winter’s day. Here is the recipe for a glorious Thai Chicken Soup that silky and sublime and a hearty Tuscan Bean Soup. Be sure to decrease or omit the serrano chili’s if you don’t like hear
Thai-Style Chicken Soup
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated
serves 4
Garnish
½ cup cilantro leaves
2 serrano chiles, thinly sliced
2 scallion, thinly sliced
1 lime, cut into wedges
Heat oil in a large saucepan and add lemon grass, shallots, cilantro, and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Cook over medium heat until softened, 2-5 minutes.
Add vegetable broth and 1 can of coconut milk; bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Pour broth through a fine-mesh sieve and discard solids. Return broth to saucepan.
Add remaining can of coconut milk and sugar to broth and bring to a simmer.
Reduce heat to medium, add mushrooms, and cook 2-3 minutes.
Add seitan, and cook for another 1-3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Combine lime juice, curry paste, and remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce in a small bowl; add to soup.
Garnish individual soup-filled bowls with cilantro, chiles, and scallions. Serve soup with lime wedges
Tuscan Bean Soup
Adapted from Emeril
serves 4
1 1/2 cups of yellow onions – diced
1 cup of celery – diced
1 cup of carrots – diced
2 teaspoons of garlic
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 can of kidney beans (15.5 ounce) – rinsed and drained
1 can of cannellini beans (15.5 ounce) – rinsed and drained
1 can of chick peas (15.5 ounce) – rinsed and drained
1 can of diced tomatoes (14-ounce)
6 cups of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon of fresh thyme
2 tablespoons of fresh basil
8 ounces of baby spinach – washed
In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
Sauté the onion, celery, carrot and garlic for 3 to 4 minutes.
Finely chop the FRESH rosemary, thyme, and basil and add them to the pot.
Add the diced tomatoes, the kidney beans, cannellini beans, chick peas, and the chicken stock.
Bring the pot to a boil and then turn down heat to simmer. Simmer for approximately 10-12 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
Add the spinach, and recover the pot. It will take approximately 1-2 minutes for the spinach to wilt.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
Women who choose to breastfeed deserve unified support from other breastfeeding mamas, organizations, professionals and helpful friends. The ultimate goal is to have a happy, healthy mama and a happy, healthy — well-fed — baby.
Take the pledge to agree to stand together for breastfeeding success and to support all mamas who desire to breastfeed, no matter what technique, position, frequency, equipment, duration or organization she chooses.
• I PLEDGE to use my energy to help defuse dogmatic battles about what technique, position, frequency, equipment, duration or organization a woman chooses for breastfeeding. I affirm that my time is best spent directing my positive, encouraging support toward helping mamas successfully breastfeed.
• I PLEDGE to keep my ego in check, while treating other breastfeeding boosters, lactation facilitators, breastfeeding organizations, and mothers respectfully, knowing that we’re all working toward the common goal of providing breast milk for babies. I also welcome respectful disagreement with my own opinions and accept that disruptive disagreement is counter to the goal of helping mamas feed their babies.
• I PLEDGE to agree that there are many right ways to breastfeed a baby. A breastfeeding mother should not feel pressure or judgment to perform a specific way. There isn’t a “wrong way” as long as the breast milk is flowin’ and the baby is growin’.
By displaying the Support with Integrity badge and signing the pledge, I agree to hold hands and help mamas get what they need to make breastfeeding work for them, no matter how they choose to do it. If a mama and baby are making it work, I’ll stand and cheer them on from the sidelines.
Caveat: This is not a place to judge those who choose not to or cannot breastfeed. This is a pledge to be supportive of all those who choose to support breastfeeding.
When a family decides to hire a nanny, there are other benefits that need to be provided besides salary. Many states require Worker’s Compensation and, of course, all Government requirements for employees must be adhered to.
Many families wish to provide health insurance as an additional benefit, as a company might provide health insurance to its employees. There are two approaches to health insurance; permanent health insurance and temporary health insurance. Permanent insurance can be renewed each year, even if the nanny comes down with a serious medical condition such as diabetes or heart disease. Short term insurance is written for a specific period of time, i.e. six months. If someone develops a medical condition during the policy period it will be considered pre-existing under future plans.
The cost difference for the two types of plans is remarkable. Typically, the short term plan costs less than half of the permanent insurance premium. The short term plan can be used for years, although each company generally will insure someone for one year only. Several companies need to be used with this strategy.
The permanent plan is usually used for a nanny that will be staying with a family for years, or will be a career nanny for the foreseeable future and wants the protection only permanent coverage can give. A nanny that gives a one year commitment and plans to stay in child care for a short period of time; i.e one or two years, would be a good candidate for short term health insurance.
After insuring thousands of nannies, Eisenberg and Associates, who specializes in health insurance for nannies found that more than 50% of the families are purchasing short term plans. They are the most cost-effective and give nannies coverage for the major disaster everyone is worried about.
To learn more about Nanny Health Insurance Options please contact
Eisenberg Associates
1340 Centre Street
Suite 203
Newton Centre, MA 02459
(617)964-4849
info@eisenbergassociates.com
www.eisenbergassociates.com
Firing Your Nanny — Letting Go Of Your Nanny For Natural Causes
Letting go of someone is never easy and it’s always slightly uncomfortable. But if you find yourself in a position to let someone go for natural reasons such as work transfer, kids are too old or are starting full-time school, you could find yourself in the position of firing your nanny. There are no personal reasons here, just a necessary decision. In cases such as these, be courteous. This person is a member of the family so give them what they would want to feel better. Perhaps offer some severance (again know your number ahead of time), give proper notice. Offer to call other families with a recommendation.
Think of how you would like to be let go from a job like this and make sure the nanny has a way to explain to the kids what is happening and to say goodbye.
Firing Your Nanny — Firing Your Nanny For Serious Reasons
This is a situation no one wants to find themselves in — you don’t like your nanny or she isn’t following the house rules and you have to let her go.
First of all, this is where the WRITTEN list of duties will come in handy. They will back you up as reasons to fire someone so have a copy standing by. Make sure you are clear, concise and quick. For instance, “Mary, we told you on our list that smoking in the house was non-negotiable. You have disregarded this and therefore we cannot keep you on.”
It’s also not a bad idea to NOT be alone in the room during this process of firing. You want to make sure that this conversation does not get ugly and if it does you don’t want anything inappropriate or actionable being said.
GET YOUR KEYS BACK. Make sure you make that part of the firing. Ask for them right away. Ask if that is the only copy they have. Get your car keys back as well.
HAVE A BACKUP SOLUTION. Do not let your nanny go unless you have a backup nanny, or have cleared your own schedule. Someone is going to have to pick the kids up from school and get their lunch ready and unless you are ready to do it, you should have someone standing by to cover you during the transition.
Finally, and this is a decision every family should make for themselves — decide whether or not you are going to let the nanny say goodbye to your kids. If you are not comfortable with it get them out quickly and explain it to your kids yourself. If you do, perhaps you want to be there when they do.
