The family consists of three people; mother (Ashley, Canadian), father (Reinier, Dutch), and very soon a lovely little girl, who will be born in August 2018, along with two cats, Princess and Jailey (both girls). The family love their cats very much and look forward to welcoming their little girl. She will be one month old when the nanny starts. 

Reinier works 5 days per week, often with long hours, and Ashley works 30 hours per week from home. They both work at international firms and have quite busy jobs. Even now, without the arrival of the little one, their lives can be very hectic, since they’ve just moved from Vancouver to Holland for Reinier’s work; they are still setting up the house – buying furniture, painting, having contractors visit. They’re an active couple and family is very important to them. During the weekends, they like exploring new restaurants, spending time outside or relaxing at home. They like to host and look forward to having their place ready, so they can have friends and family over. 

LOCATION

They live in Den Haag. Den Haag is the third largest city in Holland, with lots of international residents and interesting things to see and to do. It’s a very green city, with lots of parks, and the beach is only 3km away from their house! The city centre is about 20 minutes away, with a walk to the tram followed by a short tram ride. There are multiple tram options, each a few minutes’ walk away. Amsterdam is a little over an hour by tram/train and Rotterdam about 30 minutes. Besides that, there is a bicycle for you to take all times. The neighbourhood has a great little shopping area, with grocery stores, some vintage/second-hand shops, restaurants and some really good coffee shops. There are two squares very close by: one has a playground and the other is an area where there are sometimes festivals/community events.

They have never had a nanny before, so it is all new to them. But they know they are looking for a proactive, reliable, loving and responsible person, who is willing to be of an extra pair of helping hands to help out taking care of our girl and the house. You should have experience with babies (min 1 year) and know infant first aid. 

SCHEDULE 

With a new baby, it will be tough to keep up with the house, so one of your main responsibilities will be cleaning; this will include deep cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen, vacuuming, mopping, laundry and ironing, keeping the baby’s room clean, etc. They will also ask you to prepare healthy and nutritious lunches and dinners, including baby food (recipes to be provided). They are good with meals made ahead and eaten through the week, so cooking will only need to happen about 3 days/week. They will also ask you to grocery shop (just around the corner) and run other errands for them. They would love it if you would take initiative where you see things that need to be done in the house, without us asking you. 

The most important thing, aside from cleaning/keeping up the house, is to help them on a flexible schedule with the baby. They don’t know our little girl yet, so they can’t say for certain what her schedule will be; as she gets older, we will have a more set schedule. Since the mother works from home and only 30 hours/week, her hours are flexible, but she usually has meetings starting at 16:00/17:00 hours and going until 19:00/20:00 hours. These would be the busiest hours in the house, since Reinier may not have arrived home yet each day. But the baby may also be sleeping during this time. You will always work in between 14:00 and 18:30 hours. 

At the start, you will rarely be alone with the baby (only when Ashley has an appointment outside of the house and for very short periods). As the baby gets older, they will ask you to watch her when they go out in the evening (0-1 evenings during the week) or on an occasional weekend. Where we need your help on the weekend, they will always discuss this with you. On average, you will be free approximately 3 of the 4 weekends free per month, giving you lots of time to explore the Netherlands and surrounding area. 

THE ROOM

You will have a room with all the privacy you will need (including your own television and Internet access). They will let you get acquainted with our customs, a blend of Dutch and Canadian, but we also respect your privacy and they expect from you to give us our privacy too.