by Jennifer Kamano

Created on: October 04, 2008   Last Updated: October 11, 2008

Quality childcare is important in todays economy as both men and women need to work in order to support a family. Since men and women have to join the workforce today, an important question on their mind is whether or not they need to hire a babysitter or a nanny. A babysitter is someone who watches the children for a designated period of time, while a nanny tends to the children, cleans the house while the parents are away, helps the children with their homework, and talks to the children about any problems that they may have in life. Most parents like to hire babysitters when they are going to be away for a short period of time and nannies when they are going to be at work all day and do not have time to come home right away. An example of hiring a babysitter is if the parents decide to go out to the movies, they will pay the babysitter for the time that they are gone. Hiring a nanny is necessary if both of the parents are working and they have to stay late to catch up on work because they do not know how long they will be gone. This way you can decide if someone needs to be there for the children all the time or not. Another important decision when hiring a nanny is where the nanny is from. Parents may ask themselves whether they want an American nanny, which is someone who was born in the United States of America, or a British nanny who is someone that was born in Britain. This can be important because parents want their children to pick up on proper habits and customs and may feel one is better than the other. When hiring a nanny, it is important to decide whether the nanny is going to be a live in nanny, one who has a room in the same house, or whether he or she is going to be a nanny housekeeper, which is someone who cleans the house as well as take care of the children. Live in nannies can be important in the children's lives because they have someone they can identify with when their parents aren't around. Wonderful nannies are hard to find, so carefully check references before hiring. This way you can find someone that can be trusted by the whole family.

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