The BBC’s Fiona Bruce was quoted in the papers recently, extolling the virtues of her nanny who has been with the family for nineteen years. Whilst many nannies move on to work with new families once children head off to school, there are an increasing number of nannies staying on as their charges reach their teens. Bruce has a 19-year-old son named Sam and a daughter, Mia, who is 16. Their nanny, Clare, is ‘part of the family’ says the Antiques Roadshow presenter, who returned to presenting Crimewatch when Mia was just 16 days old.
‘I’m working a lot and my husband works a lot, too, and it’s really important for me that someone is in the house when Mia comes in from school,’ she says.
In an interview in 2015, she talked about the tricky task of juggling a busy career and family life, admitting that she would watch the clock whilst filming Panorama: ‘There was always a point at which I thought, “If I leave now, I can make bath time”, and I’d get really irritable and try to rattle through stuff.’
MP and father-of-six, Jacob Rees-Mogg, recently celebrated 50 years of his own family nanny’s employment. The Rees-Mogg family nanny ‘looked after me and now looks after my children,’ he said, providing ‘a continuity and stability of inestimable value.’
Other parents who employ a nanny for their teens thinks it’s incredibly important that someone knows exactly where your children are one they get a bit older.
‘My husband and I work long hours, but the children finish school at 3.30pm,’ says one mother. ‘That means four hours where we don’t know exactly what they’re up to; or an entire summer holiday of them rattling round London alone.’
And so this family, like many others, employ a qualified nanny. ‘She has been with us for three years. She picks them up, drives them to after-school classes and friends’ houses, and makes sure they’re eating something vaguely nutritious. She also starts the dinner prep on weekdays so we can sit down and eat together as a family when we get in.’
And then there’s the benefit of having someone at home when domestic emergencies crop up – so a nanny for teens can evolve into something of a Nanny-PA to many families, calling out workmen to mend leaky taps, making appointments for the family and looking after the weekly food shop while the teens are at school.
Parenting expert Cai Graham firmly believes that what teenagers crave is consistency: a degree of routine, not only for reassurance that someone’s always looking out for them, but after a stressful day at school, to be able to ‘unwind in a safe pair of hands.’ Home is not the sanctuary it once was for children and teenagers with the advent of social media and smart phones, so it is even more important that home offers that sense of safety.
So how is the role different for a nanny of teenagers? Nannies for teens often live-out, which helps to demarcate the difference between nannies for children and nannies (or ‘companions’) for teens. Here are some of the alternative duties a nanny might encounter when caring for a family of teens:
- School and college runs
- Arranging and booking driving lessons and tests
- Lifts to and from social events and extracurricular activities
- Help with university applications and interview practice
- Guidance with homework, helping with revision timetables and exam preparation
- Liaising with subject tutors and schools
- Teaching life / university skills such as cooking and laundry
- Emotional support, companionship
- Ensuring that teens get enough fresh air and exercise
The role of the nanny is ever-evolving and we have written about roles for Nanny-PAs, tutors and governesses recently on the blog. Nannies for teenagers are more in demand than ever, so let us know if you’d like to register as a nanny for teenagers and give us a call today on +44 (0)207 610 9218.