Value of a service IYO

[rockundergirl]

What do you guys think of a service that combines after care, home care, and cooking. Designed for homes with two full time working parents. The idea is a person or persons that are screened to be part of a service. You define how it works based on your families needs. A typical set up might be. Kids are picked up from school, home is straightened/ mail brought in, dinner prepared, maybe even the kids have done homework. The parents come home to a neat home dinner ready and the rest of the night available for spending time with your family. Would this have a value to you , or people that you know?

 

[cornflake]

What do you guys think of a service that combines after care, home care, and cooking. Designed for homes with two full time working parents. The idea is a person or persons that are screened to be part of a service. You define how it works based on your families needs. A typical set up might be. Kids are picked up from school, home is straightened/ mail brought in, dinner prepared, maybe even the kids have done homework. The parents come home to a neat home dinner ready and the rest of the night available for spending time with your family. Would this have a value to you , or people that you know?

So... a housekeeper?

 

[girli565]

I would say that's a housekeeper/nanny position. I don't know what the pay would be.

 

[trinchick]

Sign me up! I hate the fact that the time I get to spend with the kids every day is garbage time with me nagging DD to do homework, while trying to get dinner on the table, and I'm tired from my own day at work to begin with. Having the dinner/homework thing squared away would be helpful.

On the other hand, though, I'm not sure how much I'd be willing to pay for this service since it's really only three hours that you'd be filling between the time my kids get home from school and when I get home from work. If I just wanted to throw money at the problem, I could pay for extended day at school and then buy take-out on the way home from work. Just playing devil's advocate here.

If you found the right family to do this for, it would be a dream job and a great service to the family.

 

[rockundergirl]

So... a housekeeper?

Well this service is to house keeper as a cleaning service is to having a live in maid. It would be for only a few hours a day, you don't have to insure them yourself etc. In my area we have something that's called merry maids. Its like having a cleaning person but that just comes once a week or so for a few hours. This would be like having a house keeper for a few hours a day.

 

[cornflake]

Well this service is to house keeper as a cleaning service is to having a live in maid. It would be for only a few hours a day, you don't have to insure them yourself etc. In my area we have something that's called merry maids. Its like having a cleaning person but that just comes once a week or so for a few hours. This would be like having a house keeper for a few hours a day.

Yeah, that's a housekeeper. Plenty of people don't have live-in, they come for some hours a day, same as a nanny that doesn't live in.

 

[sam_gordon]

It would have to be fairly cheap to compete with the ~$5/hour I can pay for after school care at a daycare. Also, at a daycare, I don't need to worry about:
* If the person gets sick or otherwise can't make it
* If school is out for the day, I can drop the kids off w/no notice (and pay a little extra)

Also, once the kids hit ~5th grade, they can be on their own (YMMV and IMO).

 

[angierae]

To me, that'd basically be a babysitter I paid a little extra to pick up and make dinner. It doesn't sound like there'd really be time for this person to do a thorough clean - if the kids get picked up at 3 and dinner is on the table at 6, and they are helping with homework, I can't see that there's going to be much more than just dealing with clutter as far as cleaning goes. When I hired a housekeeper she cleaned for three hours straight once a week.

Honestly, I'd rather pay for after school care, get myself a good set of quick-to-cook recipes, and spend my money on someone to do a deep clean of my house once a week or every other week.

 

[Gigi22]

Just a thought--why confine the care taking to children? I am sure there are families who would be happy to have another adult around for a few hours a day to help take care of elderly parents.

 

[cornflake]

To me, that'd basically be a babysitter I paid a little extra to pick up and make dinner. It doesn't sound like there'd really be time for this person to do a thorough clean - if the kids get picked up at 3 and dinner is on the table at 6, and they are helping with homework, I can't see that there's going to be much more than just dealing with clutter as far as cleaning goes. When I hired a housekeeper she cleaned for three hours straight once a week.

Honestly, I'd rather pay for after school care, get myself a good set of quick-to-cook recipes, and spend my money on someone to do a deep clean of my house once a week or every other week.

I dunno who eats dinner at 6!, heh, but yeah, most people I know with a housekeeper who doesn't live in, it's not full on cleaning. It's like they throw in laundry, move laundry, fold sheets or towels or stick the basket of clean kids' clothes in the kids' room, go around and pick up laundry or pick up obviously out of place stuff (like chuck toys in a basket, stack magazines), wipe down a table, etc., while they're making dinner or feeding the dog or whatever.

You want a deep clean, like you, you hire the cleaning person once a week or once every other week to come in for a few hours and do the whole shebang. Though I also know people who've hired cleaning people once a week to just do the stuff they don't like, like the cleaning person just does floors and laundry or floors and makes stacks and takes out the recycling, heh.

Also agree when people just want the lines a little blurred they blur them - like if you have a walker but want them to pick up groceries, you can usually arrange that. If you've got a homework helper you want to act as a walker... etc.

 

[sam_gordon]

Just a thought--why confine the care taking to children? I am sure there are families who would be happy to have another adult around for a few hours a day to help take care of elderly parents.

There are services out there that do exactly that. It can range from a couple hours a week to 24/7/365 care. Made a HUGE difference for my FiL... he was able to stay in his house until the end. We didn't have to worry about trying to find a nursing home (which he probably would have fought) or trying to squeeze him into our house.

It's not cheap though. We had to sell his 50 acre farm to pay for it.

 

[trinchick]

Just adding to the PPs comment on caring for the elderly. A friend of mine is seeking support for her elderly mother, and the hourly rate is significantly higher than that for caring for kids. If you were able to stipulate no personal care, just companionship, making a meal, maybe taking the person out to the grocery store/pharmacy/bank, etc. it would be far more profitable.

 

[angierae]

I dunno who eats dinner at 6!, heh, but yeah, most people I know with a housekeeper who doesn't live in, it's not full on cleaning. It's like they throw in laundry, move laundry, fold sheets or towels or stick the basket of clean kids' clothes in the kids' room, go around and pick up laundry or pick up obviously out of place stuff (like chuck toys in a basket, stack magazines), wipe down a table, etc., while they're making dinner or feeding the dog or whatever.

You want a deep clean, like you, you hire the cleaning person once a week or once every other week to come in for a few hours and do the whole shebang. Though I also know people who've hired cleaning people once a week to just do the stuff they don't like, like the cleaning person just does floors and laundry or floors and makes stacks and takes out the recycling, heh.

Also agree when people just want the lines a little blurred they blur them - like if you have a walker but want them to pick up groceries, you can usually arrange that. If you've got a homework helper you want to act as a walker... etc.

Okay, you're describing a level of housekeeper I am not familiar with - I wouldn't pay someone to just pick up and make piles and maybe throw some laundry in. If I'm going to pay someone, I want them to do the things that take up my time, which woudl be floors and counters and bathrooms and stuff. If people pay for "picking up and stacking", then I guess that would be a good thing for them.

As for your "who eats at 6", I get off work at 5:00, I am home by 5:20, and I have dinner on the table by 6:15 at the latest most nights. My goal is to have the dishes done and be in my pajams by 7.

 

[rockundergirl]

Just to be clear, I'm not thinking of doing this myself. I have a full time job that I love and wouldn't leave. My thoughts are about creating a database that will match up families with task doers that make sense. Maybe a little side project. Looking to get feedback. The focus would be on helpers for working moms that want to enjoy time with the fam and need help.

 

[NotUrsula]

The database already exists: sittercity.com.

This particular category is known as afterschool care/light housekeeping.

 

[cornflake]

Okay, you're describing a level of housekeeper I am not familiar with - I wouldn't pay someone to just pick up and make piles and maybe throw some laundry in. If I'm going to pay someone, I want them to do the things that take up my time, which woudl be floors and counters and bathrooms and stuff. If people pay for "picking up and stacking", then I guess that would be a good thing for them.

As for your "who eats at 6", I get off work at 5:00, I am home by 5:20, and I have dinner on the table by 6:15 at the latest most nights. My goal is to have the dishes done and be in my pajams by 7.

Well, they like swiff and stuff too and load the dishes but you know, they don't like run around doing heavy cleaning because they get home, get the kid a snack or whatever, listen to chatter, put groceries or drycleaning away, organize a bit and talk to kid, feed pets, move laundry, start dinner prep, etc., people get home a couple, three hours later so it's not like there's tons of time for someone to be scrubbing tubs and toilets and etc. It's mostly the housekeeping not cleaning cleaning.

 

[marie1203]

I seen nanny positions that have this requirements and are not live in. When I was growing up we had a nanny and a live in housekeeper. I guess it really comes down to cost. While many will love the service most might not be able to afford it.

 

[GeorgiaRose]

We have this. She charges $15 per hour to do whatever you'd like done. She justs cleans and does laundry for us, but she babysits, tutors, drives to sports, and cooks for other families we know. She's a retired science teacher and says she needs to stay physically active to sleep well at night. She also offers grocery shopping, sewing, and gardening. Most families use her for a few hours one day a week. She stays booked.

 

[disprincessatheart]

I can see myself wanting a service like this in the future. Ds is just two now, and I'm trying to go back to work, so he'll be in full time day care for a few years, but once he's in school and dh and I are both at work until 5, I would much rather pay for a service like you describe than pay for a program at a day care center. I used to work 14 miles from home, and it often took me an hour to get home. We never ate before 7. When you add a kid into that schedule we'll be lucky to eat at all once I go back to work!

 

[VAfamily1998]

I see people seeking this a lot on Craigslist in my area. Usually it also involves bringing the kids to their afterschool activities.

From what I've seen, it seems to command a pay rate of about $15 +/hr.