The Nanny Kit: Everything You Need to Hire the Right Nanny [Paperback]

Kimberly Porrazzo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

For working parents, there is no more important decision than choosing a nanny. As a human-resources specialist, Kimberly Porrazzo was horrified by the lack of professional standards in most nanny agencies. So she started the Southern California Nanny Center, an organization that helps parents find nannies themselves. The Nanny Kit is her wonderfully precise and practical guide to finding, interviewing, hiring, and managing the right nanny.

With eleven easy-to-use forms that neatly organize the nanny search, The Nanny Kit saves you hundreds of dollars in agency fees and covers all the bases:

* what to look for in a nanny, and how to find candidates
* what qualifications and references to ask for, and how to verify them
* how to conduct a professional and informative interview
* drafting a nanny work agreement
* managing your nanny, and meeting your tax and insurance obligations

Using The Nanny Kit, you'll be sure that the nanny you hire is safe, qualified, and nurturing -the right nanny for your child's needs.

*

Porrazzo has appeared on NBC's Today, the CBS Evening News, and other television shows; she has also been featured in articles about professional child care in Business Week, Working Mother, Parenting, and Smart Money

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140277234
• ISBN-13: 978-0140277234
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,275,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A useful guide, but only for the wealthy., April 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Nanny Kit: Everything You Need to Hire the Right Nanny (Paperback)

Porrazzo's guidebook provides good information about the options for finding a nanny through an agency, newspaper, public postings, or social networks. It also quite effectively lays out the "rules" for the employer, in terms of legal obligations both to the government and to the employee. I found these aspects quite useful.

However, there were two serious points of frustration for me. First, it seems to assume its reader has unlimited resources, and never discusses any of the compromises that are part of most parents' struggle to find adequate child care, especially in-home care. Second, it seems to assume that all of the job applicants are trained, literate, educated, and fluent in English -- and dismisses those who are not as "illegal aliens." This is not the reality of the market. Many of those who are legally qualified to work in the U.S. are not fluent in English; some cannot read in any language. Additionally, many of them do not have the resources to maintain reliable transportation. Any comprehensive guidebook on hiring child care workers must address these more complex problems.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for those hiring a NANNY..., June 22, 2000

By 

kb6 "kb6" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Nanny Kit: Everything You Need to Hire the Right Nanny (Paperback)

While a slim volume at less than 100 pages, this book does give a good overview of the issues involved in selecting a nanny. As the previous reviewer notes, it is aimed as those who will be hiring a Nanny, as opposed to an Au pair, or other type of child care worker. Nannies are generally better educated and more costly to hire and employ, but do provide more intensive and usually education based childcare. Keep that in mind when purchasing, though it does give some good basic information that will apply to all childcare workers.

5.0 out of 5 stars If You are Hiring a Nanny You Have to Use This, March 12, 2009

By 

Deborah Najm "oc_mom" (Orange County, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nanny Kit: Everything You Need to Hire the Right Nanny (Paperback)

I LOVED what this book did for my family. After using this kit, 3 years later we still have the Nanny that we found. All my friends ask me how we found such a great fit for our family. I always tell them it was because we used this book.