Nanny burnout

 Nannies spend their days, all day, every day ..... giving.  They give their love, their attention, their energy, their focus, and their time to little people for hours on end.  Nannies do not get a lunch break, a coffee break or many times, not even a solo bathroom break.  Even if your child takes a nap, your nanny is still working - they do not get to leave your home to run an errand, grab a Starbucks or take a 20 minute walk.  While your child sleeps, your nanny may finish up chores that are more difficult to do when a small child is awake.    Burnout is inevitable when one gives so much of themselves on a longterm basis.  

Nanny burnout can happen to the very best of nannies.  It can even happen more than once.  Burnout is often seen as a sign of weakness or failure.  On the contrary burnout is just a very sharp reminder to re-prioritize yourself.  Your body is telling you to scale back, take on less, and get back to the basics.  Are you sleeping enough, moving your body, eating healthy foods, taking time to decompress, and doing things that bring you joy? 

A burned out nanny will not function at their best.  Their ability to get through the day successfully will diminish greatly.  A burned out nanny will lack the patience to deal with the daily up and downs when working with children, they will lack initiative to tackle tasks without being told, get easily frustrated, and lack joy and motivation to carry them through the long days at work.

Nannies should speak up when they are beginning to find life at work challenging.  Maybe just a few extra days off will leave the nanny feeling revived and ready to tackle their job again.  Maybe some small schedule changes are possible, even just leaving early one day a week can make a big difference to a nanny's sanity.  Maybe some of the expected duties can be cut back making the day just a bit easier to navigate.  

After the nanny resurfaces, the responsibility must shift to them.  If no changes are made, no lasting improvement will come.  This is where the basics come in: healthy food, sufficient sleep, exercise....  Making a daily schedule is a great way to ensure you can fit in all your necessary daily tasks, along with something more pleasurable.  It is especially important that caregivers find ways to decompress away from a screen.  The choices are endless, unleash that creativity and instead welcome tranquility and solitude.  Go for a run, do a puzzle, draw, paint, read, sudoku, yoga, walk, hike, swim, garden, ski, kayak, tennis, biking, cook..... There is no wrong answer here, think back to what you liked to do as a child or try something new.  The goal is simply to be alone, and give back to yourself.  

Lastly make some notes about your experience.  What exactly bothered you the most?   Why? How did that make your feel?  Is that something that can be improved upon? If so, how? Does it require changes on your part?  If so, what are the next steps?  At the end of the day, we are in charge of our own lives and we can not pin the problem on others, not even our employers.  We are the makers of our own lives!