Tag Archives: Childcare

This mom creates amazing and educational DIY activities for her kids

By Chelsea Frisbie for WYFF4.

Andrea Yi studied engineering in college, then spent a decade working with fashion designer Donna Karan. After having her fourth son, she realized there was a gap in the marketplace for fun, educational activities that incorporated both the left and right brain.

About a year ago, she was having so much fun creating activities involving both sides of the brain with her boys Nate, Dylan, Oliver and Alexander that she decided to share them online. She created “Raising Dragons,” a website dedicated to helping other parents and educators come up with fun science, technology, engineering, art and math activities.

Most of her science experiments are modern updates on the classics, like the baking soda volcano. The materials she uses are usually items she finds around the house.

Her kids still use technology, like tablets and other gaming devices, but she says they’re only allowed a little bit of screen time each day. “Yet another reason why I like doing these STEAM activities — to give them other options than screen time.”

Since the creation of the blog, Raising Dragons has amassed nearly 500,000 followers. Their videos have been viewed more than 50 million times by over 100 million people. Andrea recently published a book called “STEAM for Babies,” which became the No. 1 new release in the STEM category in its first week on Amazon.

Read the full article here.

10 Must-Watch Documentaries That Will Inspire Your Kids to Change the World

By Sara Ahmed

If your kids have any kind of device — phones, gaming systems, tablets, what have you — it can feel like you’re constantly fighting for their attention. It becomes harder and harder to share experiences with them, but one thing they usually can’t deny? Movies. Sure, watching a big blockbuster is always fun, but documentaries can be an incredible way for a family to connect.

Watching these films with your children is a compelling way to help nurture their sense of curiosity and compassion without feeling tedious (or, God forbid, educational). From inspiring stories of Muslim high school football players in Michigan to the haunting tale of Tilikum, the killer whale in captivity, a good documentary can alter your child’s perception through the power of empathy. Keep reading for a list of the most powerful documentaries to watch with your kiddos during your next movie night.

1. He Named Me Malala:

He Named Me Malala tells the poignant story of a young Pakistani girl and her fight for education. Your kids won’t fuss about going to school after watching this documentary.

Appropriate For Ages: 12+

Read the full list on British American Household Staffing’s blog.

A Scottish Castle Fit for Interior-Design Royalty

Farrow & Ball co-owner Tom Helme transforms an Edwardian estate into a modern yet historically resonant family home

Scotland is a place shaped by myth and legend, where every crag and castle tells a story. On the remote Kintyre peninsula, nestled among rural farms and the west coast’s pounding waves, one rambling property has the sort of dreamlike atmosphere that feels straight out of a fairytale.

“While its remoteness is a refuge, its great beauty is a neverending source of happiness,” says Tom Helme, the former decoration advisor to the National Trust and onetime co-owner responsible for reviving cult-favorite paint company Farrow & Ball, who purchased the 7,500-acre Carskiey estate with partner and design collaborator Lisa Ephson on more than just a whim. Helme had grown up holidaying in Scotland, and he almost closed on a similar home in the area years earlier. “Tom was looking for somewhere where proper farming communities still survive, within view of the ocean—not to mention the incredible light that the west coast of Scotland is famous for,” says Ephson of the cliffside property, whose nine miles encompass a 1908 Edwardian mansion, a shore cottage, and an Aberdeen Angus cattle farm that abut the sea.

article by Jennifer Fernandez for Architectural Digest

Read the full article on British American Household Staffing’s blog.

Five Things To Avoid When Sleep Training Your Baby

By Norine Dworkin-McDaniel from Parents Magazine

When my son, Fletcher, was around 8 months old, I started dreading bedtime. Each night I’d steel myself as I put him in the crib, where he’d start wailing like an abandoned child. Even though I knew that he was fine — not hungry or thirsty or wet or sick — this drama broke my heart. I often caved and brought him back downstairs, letting him snooze with my husband and me while we hung out on the couch. Despite my good intentions, I’d fallen into a classic sleep trap like so many rookie parents.

“Moms feel terrible about letting their baby cry,” says Heather Wittenberg, Psy.D., a child psychologist on Maui. “Many say, ‘I’m not going to be like my mother and put my baby in the crib, close the door, and ignore her wails.’ But some of us take it too far and think it’s awful for babies to ever cry. Then we end up with a sleep problem.”

Did we ever! I needed guidance — and maybe some backbone. Sound familiar? Learn gentle yet effective techniques for getting out of this and other sleep snags.

Find out how your baby is developing.

Read the full post on British American Household Staffing’s website: http://bahs.com/news/detail/five-things-to-avoid-when-sleep-training-your-baby

Get the Royal Treatment at Provence’s Historic Château Fonscolombe

Queen Elizabeth stayed in this opulent 18th-century estate—and now you can too.

Ensconced in the heart of Provence’s mystical wine country sits a stately residence, home to the Marquis de Saporta and his family for more than 300 centuries. The collection of fountains, stone sculptures, and ancient arboretum pepper the grounds, serving as a reminder of the grandeur of this estate and the lavish parties once held there. As a private château, only royals, VIPs, and dignitaries—most notably Queen Elizabeth—were privy to an overnight stay.

Then, in June 2017, after 18 months of construction and painstaking renovation, Château Fonscolombe was reborn as a 50-room hotel, opening its storied doors to a new generation of discerning guests. Built in the Italian Quattrocento style popular during the 18th century, the main estate features 13 chateau-style bedrooms, each are adorned with a wide spectrum of period touches, from ornate ceiling detailing and hand-painted Chinese wallpaper to chiseled frescos, manicured lawns, Genoa leather tapestries and original terracotta-hued floor tiles. There’s also a small spa (located in the castle’s former boudoir), a winery (dating back to Roman times), and sprawling gardens set over more than 20 acres.

View the full post on British American Household Staffing’s blog.

article by Jessica Benavides Canepa for Robb Report

Goop Interviews Anita Rogers: How a Staffing Agency Can Help

Anita Rogers, founder of household staffing agency British American, has more than a decade’s experience in pairing families with household staff, from nannies and butlers to personal assistants and estate managers. She’s earned a reputation for finding successful matches–and also for helping to handle any situation that may arise in the working household. Here, she shares her insights on why hiring for your childcare or home needs is profoundly personal, and how a staffing agency can help with the process.

A Q&A with Anita Rogers

Q: What are the upsides to using an agency?

A: An agency helps you determine what kind of help you really need, and devises the way in which you want your staff to fit your lifestyle. It also saves you time and keeps you safe during the interview process. Some families have limited experience interviewing and hiring childcare and household staff, which makes it easy to miss signs of danger, red flags, or dishonesty. We enforce strict standards as we interview thousands of candidates each year. This has allowed us—and other reputable agencies—to become experts at spotting dishonest references and to be able single out specific personality traits and potential challenges. A staffing agency has seen how similar traits have played out with other candidates, which lends to its ability to find the best fit for you, your family, and your household.

Read the full interview on Goop.com

Should You Hire a Baby Nurse?

Hiring the right baby nurse will ensure you are trained on sleep methods, how to recognize development and most of all have peace-of-mind that your infant or infants are safe, cared for and in the care of a professional who works with the parents in a cohesive team for correct development during the first year.

An average cost of a baby nurse is $20-35 an hour. Email us at info@bahs.com for a list of questions to ask the baby nurse during the interview process

British American Newborn Care (bababynurses.com) has the highest quality professional and screened newborn care specialists/baby nurses/night nannies on the East and West Coasts of the USA as well as the UK. Whether you are looking for a long or short term with a night nanny/baby nurse or a British materntiy nurse, we can help you find your perfect solution.

Read the full post on British American Household Staffing’s blog.

Hiring Seasonal Domestic Staff

Hiring the right temporary domestic staff for your summer home is a large project for any principle or family. This article discusses why this can be so challenging and offers potential solutions to common problems I have seen every season. I am someone with extensive experience in the luxury hospitality and staffing industry and I have run British American Household Staffing and British American Yachts, the leading domestic staffing and yacht crew agency in the USA and UK as well as British American Newborn Care, which works with the best childcare professionals in the USA and UK. Most agencies have a roster of recurring staff in all the domestic staff categories. The earlier you start the hiring process the more likely you will secure the most qualified candidates. If you have very specific requirements and early start will help you find the ideal person for a potentially harder match to find.

A family looking for a live-in housekeeper-cook for their Hamptons home should look at contacting agencies in New York as well as the Hamptons, but nowhere too far for the housekeeper-cook to travel back and forth to on their days off (for instance New Jersey is too far from Easthampton, one full day off will be used for traveling). A live-in housekeeper-cook for the Hamptons will have to drive so this is a challenging order as many domestic candidates don’t want to live in and many housekeepers do not like to cook, especially cook the volume needed for the summer season, which is typically filled with parties and extra guests.

The best solution is to do the following: – Start the hiring process early – Contact high end agencies only, both local and non-local (as it is live in) – Set a salary range that is generous to allow you to find the best fit more easily – Make sure you have set an appealing schedule so you open-up the pool of qualified candidates. The schedule should always have 2 consecutive days off and usually a Sunday is given as a day off, in conjunction with Monday or Saturday – Phone screen the candidates first – Check their level of experience – Check they have been a flexible worker in the past.

One of the most common recurring issues for larger estates lies in the team of domestic staff. Staffing a larger home or estates is like running a small business in your home. The pyramid model works well for estate staffing. Start by hiring a house manager or a butler house manager. This person can then help you screen the rest of the staff, which helps them establish their authority with the staff you decide to hire for the summer that this house manager will be overseeing. This is the most important hire you will make over the summer, so screen this person for the following qualities:

– Ask their management style and ask for two or more references from staff they managed previously – Find out why they are looking for the summer only – Hire someone who has experience in the area they will be working – Ensure they have estate staff management experience – Once you hire them, hire the domestic staff with them and keep an open line of communication with the staff in case there are revolving door problems and it is the fault of the house manager – Make sure they have relationships with the top agencies in the area and ask who they liaise with at those agencies – Ensure they understand scheduling for staff – Pay them very well with the promise of a bonus at the end of the season In case you are doing the hiring alone or with a remote house manager, you will need to know how to attract the best staff (housekeepers, chefs and nannies) for your summer home Housekeepers: – Other than nannies, most high quality domestic are looking for a secure full-time job position, preferably with benefits. This is something every principle hiring only for the summer with deal with and lose staff too.

The best solution for this is to hire the best local candidates on a lower full time salary, offer benefits and give them a bonus at the end of the summer. This is the best solution for retaining top talent in a seasonal area such as the Hamptons – Housekeepers, more than any other domestic staff category, like a regular schedule with overtime, which is the law. A constant live in or Wednesday to Sunday schedule is always unpopular, but more-often-than-not needed for summer hires, especially in the Hamptons. Hire one more extra housekeeper than you need so each housekeeper gets one weekend of a month. This will attract the best talent – A standard and suggested formal housekeeper salary is $70,000 plus benefits and overtime. A seasonal housekeeper is $35 to $40 an hour.

Chefs: –

Chefs often like a temporary position that helps them earn a solid income and allows them more freedom to freelance during the year, or travel etc. – Yacht chefs are some of the best chefs you can find and they are accustomed to short-term gigs, long schedules, catering to large formal parties in a small space and working 7 day or more stretches. I would recommend this direction if you can accommodate a live- in chef. – Use an agency that works with both yacht and domestic staff – Top chefs are often happy to do the Hamptons in between jobs. Again, starting this search early and constantly checking in is an excellent way of increasing your chances of securing the best private chef for the summer – Suggested salary for a summer chef is $8-12,000 a month.

Nannies: –

Nannies fall into many different categories: 1. Career nannies 2. Mother’s helpers 3. Nanny/housekeepers 4. Second language nannies 5. Newborn Care Specialist nannies 6. Travel nannies Childcare is the most delicate of all domestic hires to make, as they need to be fully-qualified for your particular childcare situation. I recommend using an agency with a specialized childcare department. Screen the head of the department and make sure they are qualified in childhood education and development and hold the appropriate degrees (and newborn care specialist should be an expert in their field and should have experience training, screening and offering certificates to newborn care specialists). If your children are older (3 and up) a travel nanny or student nanny could be a great option. These nannies are often students, actresses, singers, writers or have another unrelated career during the year. They must be experienced nannies with your children’s age group and this should be screened by the agency childcare branch. This can be a good option if they are able to tutor and educate your children over the summer, or teach them a musical instrument etc. This is the more economical option, with a salary usually starting at $25 an hour plus overtime. Travel pay is not a legal prerequisite but overtime pay is. If you have an infant, or infant twins, a certified and educated newborn care specialist or baby nurse is the best option. A regular nanny (career nanny, nanny/housekeepers, second language nanny, mother’s helper or suchlike) will be looking for a permanent position, so they are harder to pin down for the summer. If you do, the career nannies will likely be expensive at $35-45 an hour. Some will accept a summer position in between jobs but this is rare. For all childcare positions we highly recommend going through the childcare division at a reputed agency. Again, screen the person who heads this branch.

Examples are British American Household Staffing (bahs.com) and British American Newborn Care (bababynurses.com). Ashley Mundt and Katie Morin are both childhood and infant development specialists and highly certified, their bios below. For more information on domestic staffing, temporary or permanent, feel free to reach out to me at: info@bahs.com

By Anita Rogers www.bahs.com www.babynurses.com

View on British American Household Staffing’s blog: http://bahs.com/news/detail/hiring-the-best-domestic-staff-for-your-summer-home1

6 Workouts You Can Do During Every Stage of Pregnancy

By Jenny Jin

If you need any motivation to get moving while pregnant, perhaps it’s this: According to a study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, exercising during pregnancy can help your body prepare for labor and recover more quickly after giving birth. Here, six workouts you can do throughout your pregnancy. (As always, just make sure to talk to your OB-GYN beforehand.)

Find the exercises, courtesy of Jenny Jin, on British American Household Staffing’s blog: http://bahs.com/news/detail/6-workouts-you-can-do-during-every-stage-of-pregnancy

What to Register for Your Baby

By Joanna Goddard

One of the most frequent questions we get from readers is how to prepare for a new baby — especially what to register for. It can be overwhelming! (I remember bursting into tears on the way to dinner when I was pregnant with Toby.) So, today I’ve updated my original post from six years ago with every single thing (big and small) we got for our newborn babies. Congratulations to all new parents! I hope it’s helpful, and I’d love to hear your suggestions…

WHERE TO REGISTER

When I was pregnant with Toby, I used MyRegistry.com, since it lets you register from all different stores. That way, you can bring together exactly what you’d like, instead of being limited to one store’s selection. Amazon also offers a registry, and you can install its Universal Registry button to your browser so you can add items from any other site online.

Read the full post on registry essentials on British American Household Staffing’s blog: http://bahs.com/news/detail/what-to-register-for-your-baby