March 15, 2025 • 35 mins
The role of a nanny or childcare provider is evolving, especially with more parents working from home. This episode delves into the new expectations and challenges caregivers face, exploring how they can thrive in this changing landscape. We uncover the power of simple activities in child development and how incorporating personal interests into caregiving can create richer learning experiences.
Join us as we chat with Annie Delaney, creator of the innovative Rayz Kidz app, designed to revolutionize communication between parents and caregivers. Annie shares her insights on:
- The Evolving Role of the Caregiver: We discuss the increasing demands placed on caregivers and how they can rise to the challenge.
- The Impact of Everyday Interactions: Discover how seemingly simple activities can have a profound impact on a child's development.
- Bridging the Communication Gap: Learn how the Rayz Kidz app fosters seamless communication and strengthens the parent-caregiver partnership. This platform provides structure for planning educational activities and documenting developmental milestones, ensuring parents are always in the loop.
- Play-Based Learning: The Key to Development: We explore the importance of balancing independent and guided play, addressing the pressures parents often feel from online resources. Annie shares practical tips for creating engaging learning experiences, like a simple sensory sandbox, and how caregivers can educate parents on the benefits of play-based learning. The Rayz Kidz app offers structured prompts to support this approach.
- From Childhood Dreams to Innovation: Get to know Annie as she shares inspiring anecdotes about her childhood and the experiences that led her to create the Rayz Kidz app.
Featured Guest: Annie Delaney, creator of the Rayz Kidz app
Key Takeaways:
- Caregivers are essential partners in a child's development.
- Simple, everyday activities can have a significant impact on learning.
- Open and consistent communication between parents and caregivers is crucial.
- Play-based learning is a powerful tool for fostering development.
- The Rayz Kidz app provides a valuable resource for caregivers and parents alike.
Visit Rayz Kidz at https://rayzkidz.com/ to learn more and download the app!
Links mentioned in the show:
https://rayzkidz.com/play
https://rayzkidz/communication
- Have any questions? Reach out to us on Facebook, and Instagram, and check out the resources on our blog!
- If you’d like to join our newsletter to be the first to know about our new positions, click here.
- Are you looking for an exceptional nanny, newborn care specialist, or private educator? Get in touch!
- Do you have what it takes to be an Adventure Nanny? Apply Now!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
you're listening to adventure nannies on air in each
episode we'll dive into a topicfrom the wide world of nannying
from what to pack for your nextadventure, professional
development opportunities,industry standards, legal pay
and anything else we seecrossing our desks at adventure
nannies, the nationwide agencyfor families, nannies, private
educators and newborn carespecialists.
(00:30):
I'm Danielle, I'm Shenandoahand this is Adventure Nannies On
Air.
The policies and viewsexpressed in this episode are
those of the individuals and donot necessarily represent the
views of Adventure Nannies.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Also, this episode has a little salty language in
it and may not be appropriatefor kids.
Hello Danielle, Hi Shenandoah,how are you today?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I am doing so well, how are you?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I'm great and I'm so excited to be here today.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Me too, a hot topic that has been coming up for us,
particularly with so manyparents working from home now
because of COVID.
A lot of nannies are feelingthis extra pressure to really
create even more off the chartsamazing experiences and
activities for them to do withtheir nanny kids throughout the
(01:32):
day, because families arewitnessing a lot more of it and
there's kind of this unspokenpressure or desire to like show
me at the end of the day how youmade my child a rocket
scientist, or how my child isfluent in five languages now
than there maybe was before thebefore the pandemic.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Absolutely.
It's such a strange feeling Ithink, even if you have never
worked as a nanny, I think youcould understand.
I mean, both of us have workedas nannies, so I think we
definitely understand.
But, regardless of the industrythat you're working in, any
time that you've got youremployer kind of looking over
your shoulder on a regular basis, it can add quite a bit of
(02:12):
pressure and I think in a lot ofways kind of maybe have a
different impact than might beintended.
So I think it's true that withmore families and more parents
that are all sort ofcongregating at home after
within around the pandemic, itmakes for a different challenge
for people that are workingwithin the home, because a lot
(02:33):
of the work that they do that isso valuable day-to-day can look
maybe not as exciting ifsomebody's kind of looking over
their shoulder and saying Ithought we were going to build a
rocket ship every day.
You know what are you doing overhere, Just playing in the
sandbox, when really playing inthe sandbox is developing all of
these incredible skills,including things from fine motor
(02:56):
skills and I think you knowunderstanding perception, and I
think it's interesting to seethis sort of burden of activity
planning that you kind ofmentioned, shift in a way that
impacts nannies so much to wherethey have this kind of undue
pressure every day.
And one of the things that'sreally important, I think, to
balance that perspective with isthat the work that nannies are
(03:19):
doing every single day have alifelong impact on the children
in their care, and some of themost what might appear in their
care and some of the most whatmight appear as basic activities
can be some of the mosteducational and supportive
activities for the child at thatparticular age and where
they're at in their development.
So the key is kind of creatinga communication where families
(03:41):
are able to really see andunderstand the developmental
impact that the nannies arehaving on their children, even
in those moments that might justlook like day-to-day care.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Yeah, I feel like when I was a nanny, because
during that time I was also atouring musician and so I had it
really easy.
I had kind of a freebie,because A the family I nannied
for lived 10 blocks away from myhouse and my house had a piano
in it and an accordion and allof these instruments and so if
(04:13):
we were having sort of a aboring day together or a slow
day, and you know, or the parkwas too crowded or sort of
whatever, I had permission tojust bring my four-year-old
nanny charge back to my houseand we would just sit and hang
out at the piano or we learned alot of Raffi songs together.
There's still there's a videoof me wearing a dinosaur hat and
(04:36):
this child, who now is about tograduate from high school,
sitting on the couch singingBaby Beluga together that his
parents repost every two orthree years on social media and
they're like Shenandoah, youwere the best nanny to our kid
and it truly.
You know it was just my hobbyor my interest that I was
bringing in, but that was reallyvaluable to them and I think
(04:59):
that plays in really nicely towhat today's conversation with
Annie Delaney is all about.
Annie Delaney founded RaiseKids, which is an app that helps
caregivers and parentscommunicate about what's going
on in the day to day and whatskills are being worked on.
(05:25):
While parents may be reading alot of books or articles or
talking to friends about whatchildhood development should
look like for their kids, at anyof these sort of developmental
milestones they often don'trealize or need a little bit of
extra help or extracommunication and understanding
that any day-to-day activitythat you're doing with a child
other than parking them in frontof a TV and taking a nap is
(05:46):
contributing somehow into thesemajor developmental categories.
And so the difference between afamily thinking this is a you
know, this is a great nanny whokeeps my kids safe while I'm at
work, versus this is anexceptional, amazing nanny who
is doing all of these very cooldevelopmental, age appropriate
(06:08):
activities with my kids mightnot be you spending your whole
weekend on Pinterest and goingto a craft store and bringing
$100 worth of crafts over to tryto make you know the most fancy
popsicle stick house thatanyone has ever seen and trying
to turn one of your nannycharges into the next Frank
Lloyd Wright.
It could just be.
(06:29):
Instead of saying we had agreat day.
We just went and sat at thepark for three hours of saying
we had a great day.
We went to the park, we workedon our fine motor skills, we did
a nature walk, we identifiedsome plants, we worked on
sharing.
We had this communicationsituation that came up and it
really is just about the waythat you're communicating it and
(06:51):
sharing and transferring someof the knowledge that you have
as a professional caregiver overto the parents.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yes, that's so true.
I could not agree with you more.
You add this extra value to thejob it's.
Parents are then able to reallyunderstand the impact of your
work, and I love the examplesthat you gave, and also I, just
as an aside, can you imagine howincredible it would be to have
a world touring musician as yournanny, and your kind of laid
(07:21):
back task, if you're having ahard afternoon, is to just sit
back and listen to her playinstruments, like get out of
here.
I would be reposting that onsocial media all the time, too,
as either the parent or the kidthat was so so benefited by that
.
So I think it's reallyimportant to remember the impact
that you're having on thesekids' lives and the longevity of
(07:41):
that impact.
So we're so excited to speakwith Annie.
So Annie Delaney is theco-founder and CEO of Raise Kids
, a childcare app for parentsand caregivers specifically
designed for the homeenvironment.
She's a mom who became anentrepreneur to solve her
personal need, leaving her13-year career in corporate
America to design and build thisapp to benefit families in a
(08:05):
similar position.
She has a passion for childrenand understands the unique
challenges of home child care,and she is on a mission to
improve the experience forparents and caregivers, while
putting the child first.
Annie resides outside of Bostonwith her husband and three
children and their 30-poundrescue pup, mikey.
Without further ado, let'swelcome our guest.
(08:27):
Hi, annie.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Hi.
Thank you for having me Welcome, we're so glad to have you here
today.
I was so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Thank you, so today we're going to be talking a
little bit about the parentperspective on child development
, but I think first to give ouraudience a little general sense
of kind of where we're comingout with this, would you mind
telling us just a little bitabout Raise Kids and kind of how
this all came to be?
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Yeah, and it ties in really well with the topic,
because the how it came to bewas about my passion for child
development for my own kids, andso I really wanted to be able
to have a way to bring the toolsto caregivers to provide that
learning environment and themeaningful activities that
really make a difference in achild's learning, and couple
(09:22):
that with some tools thatcaregivers need about
communication that help tostrengthen that caregivers need
about communication that help tostrengthen that relationship
and that bond between a parentand a caregiver.
And so that's what we createdwas a tool to really serve the
home environment, which is a bitof a unique space to be in, and
what we do is we really focuson that child development and
give a caregiver a means to beable to really intentionally
(09:45):
lean into activities and providethe balanced environment that's
needed in that zero to fivetime, when child development is
just so critically important andbrain developing at just a
rapid speed.
What are some things thatcaregivers can do to be able to
use best practices in harnessingas much of the learning as they
can, and doing that throughplay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
I love that.
So I personally reallyappreciate your app.
I have a couple of nieces andnephews and I love to use the
app, especially when I'm goingto hang out with them, because I
don't have kids of my own, soI'm not personally interacting
with a lot of child developmenton a regular basis or even
really thinking too much aboutit.
So getting the opportunity tohang out with nieces and nephews
(10:30):
and have some activities kindof just in my pocket that are
going to be really engaging andalso offer something that's
really valuable to them has beensuch a cool opportunity.
So can you tell me a little bitmore about some of the ways
that parents might also benefitfrom this interaction within the
app?
One of the things that Iappreciated was the way that
(10:52):
there's a communication toolbetween care providers and the
families.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Yeah, I mean at the base of it, every relationship
is built on trust, right, andthat connection.
And for a parent and caregiverthat's so important to be able
to be speaking the same languageand there's an element of
transparency that just helps tobuild that trust.
And when you're communicatingwhat's gone on during the day,
the parent feels involved.
(11:18):
And the other part of it is theidea of how you develop a child
.
I think can vary depending onyour perspective, where you came
from and to appreciate what'sreally the best way for children
to learn, which is through play, having parents see the same
(11:39):
thing that a caregiver is seeing.
You're quite literally speakingthe same language, and so what
we try to do is to bring thatlanguage to you and make it in
plain English terms, not thestandard sort of ECE terms, so
that a parent and a caregivercan really understand it.
And then when there's an areaof development that you want to
(11:59):
be working on with a child, youknow how to do that more easily
and a parent can appreciate whatthey're getting out of that and
a caregiver feels really goodabout the value that they're
providing for that child.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
That's so, so great and such a cool perspective.
Because you know from some ofthe care takers that I've
interacted with some of thenannies at different conferences
who've utilized raise kids.
One of the great benefits is,when it comes to doing their
performance reviews, they've gotsuch a sort of trackable, easy
way to show the impact of theirwork because so much of it is
(12:30):
being captured day to day.
So there's not only alignmentin terms of what the goals are
with that child between thenanny and the parent, but
there's also a sense of justreally.
You know, when maybe there'ssome misconceptions about what
the day-to-day life of a nannylooks like, the parents able to
really get an insight into thatand be an active participant in
(12:51):
guiding that growth, but alsoknowing like, okay, they're not
just sitting on the couch,they're really doing a lot of
incredible things here.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Yeah, I mean a base of a nanny's job is taking care
of the child and making sure.
I mean about most important issafety, and then next in line is
child development.
Right Like that, whether youreally consciously go into it
thinking that you're, you arethe the one of the first
teachers for a child and for ananny to really harness that
(13:20):
role is it shows the value thatthey bring beyond just caring
for the child while the parentsaren't there, but really the
harnessing that and takingresponsibility for the idea that
child development is a majorpart of their role.
And then parents can see thatand taking responsibility for
the idea that child developmentis a major part of their role,
and then parents can see thatand really appreciate the value
that that nanny's bringingAbsolutely.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Well, and I know for a lot of nannies the nannies who
are investing in childdevelopment and who are
prioritizing it just the processof coming up with the
activities and researching themis almost like a second
full-time job.
I see so many nannies inFacebook groups Like I think
nannies are single-handedly likenannies and people planning
weddings are just keepingPinterest in business.
(14:03):
Yes, and so I.
I really love the idea.
No, we've talked to so manynannies who have used it who
were like, cool, I don't have tomake, like Thanksgiving, hand
turkeys out of constructionpaper every day for the entire
month of November and and youknow, and be like, okay, we need
some, we need this Right.
(14:24):
I'm curious about, just from avalue perspective for the
parents, what is the easiest wayfor a caregiver to approach the
idea of using the app or a toollike that without it kind of
accidentally backfiring and theparent's perspective being oh no
(14:44):
, you're the nanny, I'm payingyou to invent all this stuff and
be magical and pull magiccrafts and ideas out of your bag
all of the time.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Yeah, and I think there's some education for the
parents that's necessary hereand we want to help bring that.
Child development doesn't haveto be as hard as it sounds and
in fact, a lot of times whenthey're doing these sort of
Pinterest-worthy activities forthe sake of showing the parents,
it actually has the reverseeffect on a child, which is the
(15:17):
most important part, right?
So if you're doing a lot ofthese Pinterest-y crafts a lot
of time it's just for the sakeof showing something.
But the child those are limitedin the depth that you can go
with for the skills that a childis building and a nanny really
should be harnessing their powerin serve and return and the
(15:39):
exchanges that they have to beable to create this bond with
the child, to be able to givethem confidence, to help with
their social and emotionalskills, their self-regulation,
in addition to their physicalskills, their cognitive skills,
some school readiness.
There's so much that you can bedoing with these activities
that don't show in a beautifulcraft at the end of the day that
(16:03):
the nanny probably had to endup finishing.
Really, some of the ones thatare the most valuable are the
simplest and that's where Ithink parents can need to sort
of reframe.
I think a lot of times we endup being on two ends of the
spectrum, where there's eitherthese beautiful looking crafts
and that we spent so much timeon, and that's the output, or
(16:24):
there's these worksheets andthat's the school readiness part
, and oftentimes parents say, ohwell, I have to send my child
to a preschool or have to sendthem to some sort of academic
setting to get this In reality.
Home is a wonderful place forthat learning to happen, but it
really can't be either end ofthose.
It has to be in the middle,where there are activities that
(16:46):
are approachable and are simple,and it's also a mix.
You know you want a blend ofsome independent play, you want
some guided play, and an Annieneeds to understand the target
balance that they want to behaving and really approach that
with intentionality and thoughtwhen you go into your week or
(17:07):
your day, and then how toutilize that guided play for
that more in-depth learning,which is where the school
readiness actually comes from.
And the simplest ones are theones where the most can happen,
whether it's just a sensory boxfilled with sand and some toys
that are in there.
You're talking about thesoftness of the sand and oh,
sand's soft.
The S oh, what else starts withan S.
(17:29):
And you're appreciating howsoft the sand is and how it goes
through your fingers.
And what else can we use toplay with this?
How could we mold it?
You put some water in with it,you make a sand castle another
thing that starts with an S,what else can we build with this
?
And you really just take thatone simple sensory sandbox and
build it into something that isso much more meaningful for a
(17:50):
child, all while bonding withthem.
Build it into something that isso much more meaningful for a
child, all while bonding withthem.
Like that's the beauty of thesimplicity of it.
We kind of had to know how todo that, and so what we do with
the app is give you play promptsto say you know, taking these
simple activities, how could youbreak that down?
What area can you intentionallythink about leaning into?
Is it some physical development, cognitive development?
(18:11):
And how can you incorporatesome school readiness into this
without it having to be wrote?
Learning with a worksheet.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
It's so wild because I can kind of feel, as you're
describing, more about this.
I think that there are so manydifferent ways that the app
could really support any styleof parenting technique and I
think that kind of knowing as ananny that that conversation
doesn't actually need to besuper intimidating.
It actually is kind of anassistant manager to the work
(18:39):
that you're already doing.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Right, right, yeah, and I think parents probably
spend some time doing someresearch, but we also are just
in this age of being floodedwith information around us and
not really understanding whatall those terms really mean.
So you have, you know, you'reon Pinterest and you're like,
well, these things are cool.
You're on Instagram and you'relike, oh, these parents are
doing this or these accounts aredoing these things.
(19:01):
What does it really mean?
Or, you know, I follow someMontessori accounts.
Okay, montessori, that soundslike it's what I should be doing
, but really to set up aMontessori environment is like
there's a lot involved insetting up a Montessori
environment, and so to be allone thing or all another, I
think, probably does adisservice to not think of the
value that you can get from.
(19:22):
Multiple is sort of her style,but she also loves outdoor
learning and she alsoappreciates Montessori and.
But at the end of the day, it'sall about the experience that
you can get with a child andthat bonding and the connection
that you can get.
So, however, you get there fora parent to appreciate the
(19:44):
nature of that nanny in whatseems to be very simple.
That's where I think a lot ofthe education can come from that
makes them still feel goodabout it, because there's so
much societal pressure on usparents to make them feel like
their child is ready.
And when you have parents thatare in the same class as your
(20:06):
child and they're saying theirkids are doing X, y and Z things
, well, of course you feel likeI have to be doing that, but you
have to have the confidence toknow you're doing the right
thing by leaning into play andthat play is really the most
effective way that a childlearns.
I mean one.
It's fun, right.
So by nature someone's going totake to that a lot more.
(20:27):
But think about language in theway that you would learn
Spanish If you were to just sayflashcards and say escuela and
teach them that this is school.
Or if you're to be outside in aplayhouse and make that be the
escuela oh, we're going to govisit and you start to
incorporate some language inthere.
(20:48):
A child is going to pick up onthat a lot more than they're
going to pick up on flash cardsand worksheets and things.
And so the nanny, althoughunfortunate, has some education
to do for parents about why thatis a more effective way.
But that's because we were allraised on worksheets and flash
cards and things.
(21:09):
It's really only been in thelast 10 years or so that play
has taken.
The science behind play andchild development has really
become obvious that play is themost effective way.
So a nanny has to educatethemselves, to educate a parent.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
but utilizing the app , which we try to make it super
easy because we put all thelanguage right there- Awesome
and for nannies who really havekind of fallen into the pattern
and maybe brought their parentsor their employers into the
pattern of having sort ofresults-based activities like a
Pinterest craft where at the endof it there's going to be this
(21:46):
beautiful thing or a worksheetto say look your child, did you
go?
Abby, did a 92% today.
What is the?
What is the experience likethrough raise kids, for families
to be able to see some of thevalue in what's going on
throughout the day without thenanny sort of needing to feel
(22:07):
like they're going on thedefensive and saying no, like no
, I did stuff today.
It's just not a worksheet.
We went, we made a whole lot ofsqualor, like, come on guys,
this was a great day for us.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Yeah, it is a little bit tricky.
I mean, we give the opportunityto be able to show pictures and
to be able to write in what wasdone.
So for me that passes my test.
If I see a picture of my childlearning and and it's a video of
them doing it, like that isjust evidence right there and I
can see how much fun they'rehaving doing it.
And some of the evidence comesafter the fact, when you start
(22:40):
to hear their vocabulary and theway they're talking and it's
like, okay, it might be a littlebit slower than the immediate
satisfaction of a worksheet thatthey completed correctly, but
it's going to be more longlasting.
But the beginning of this youhave to start to align on that
it should come in the interviewprocess and it should come in
those monthly check-ins thatyou're doing, and so it's not
(23:01):
just in the day-to-dayinteractions.
There's a lot more foundationalthings that need to happen, but
the day-to-day can come in theform of pictures and updates and
also, I think, even justrunning a parent through.
Oh, here are some things thatI'm planning on for the week.
Take a look at this activity andI'm really planning on leaning
into sort of the cognitivedevelopment here and you push
our dropdown and it talks abouthow you lean into that cognitive
(23:23):
development, school readiness.
I think this is a greatopportunity for us to focus on
the letter S and all the Ssounds and we'll start reading
some things.
Maybe we'll focus on snailsthis week and I'll get a book on
snails and we'll sing a storyabout snails or trying to wrap
it around, a concept that cantake you through the week.
And I think the thing for aparent that is impressive for a
(23:45):
nanny to do is to approach itwith intentionality, to say
here's my plan, here's what Ihope to get out of this, because
, just like anything,approaching something with
intentionality is going to leadto better outcomes, right.
So, even if you don't doexactly what you set out to do,
really start about it and theapp's there for prompts and fun
ideas and fresh ideas to be ableto do that, and also the
(24:07):
structure for a parent to beable to see the same thing.
But really it's on a nanny tocome up with that intentional
approach and make sure that theparent is looped in on that.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
I think that's so cool and one of the things I
really appreciate about what youjust said is this idea of
setting an intentionality andreally moving forward with a
plan.
And I think you know toShenandoah's point a lot of
times you know families that arepaying, you know, a very great
wage to have somebody care fortheir children.
They really do want to see theimpact of that.
(24:37):
So having a way to quantifythat that isn't necessarily a
score on some sort of a weirdsheet where somebody's had to
memorize something at six yearsold.
I think it's so much morevaluable to see the impact of
that in the day to day life.
You're going to see the growththat's happening with the child
in the way that they interact atthe dinner table, in the way
(24:58):
that their language isdeveloping, in the way that
they're sort of adjusting andlearning different social cues.
So I can see so many practicalways that this benefits the
children, which, of course, isalways the main focus here.
But I also love the idea, likeyou said, of doing check-ins
with the parents.
We recommend weekly check-ins.
Just stay on the same page, andI think if I were a parent and
(25:22):
I had an amazing nanny coming tome during our weekly check-ins
with a quick rundown of okay,this is what we're focusing on.
I checked out the Raise Kidsapp and these are the things
that we're going to be workingon this week.
I'm really excited about XYZ.
I would feel really thrilledabout having that person care
for my child, so I love thatidea of incorporating it into
(25:44):
check-ins and being superintentional.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Yeah, for me when I see my daughter, our
five-year-old, and I see some ofthe things that she's learning
and she's in kindergarten nowand so she brings back some
tools there.
But I also see it in theday-to-day of our own household,
her self-regulation that she'slearning to have, so she'll now
unprompted if she's having ahard time and she has some big
(26:09):
emotions that she's trying tomanage, she'll go into a corner
and she'll do her fingerbreathing, which is you go to
the top of each finger and youinhale and wait, exhale and
she'll go and she'll do herfinger breathing.
And she's taught us all how todo her finger breathing.
And just the power of thatself-regulation to bring her to
a totally different mindset issuch an amazing tool to have.
(26:30):
And so bringing that into thehome environment and doing it
through some activities andgenerally maybe more the sensory
activities, something where youcan talk about social and
emotional.
We have one on routines, whereroutines are important too.
We talk about bedtime routinesRoutines by themselves are
important and utilizing thoseopportunities to talk about what
(26:52):
makes you feel safe, what makesyou feel secure, what makes you
feel happy and what can calmyou down if you're having a hard
time and then practicing thosethroughout the week.
I mean, those are such powerfulthings as a parent that you
appreciate so much.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Absolutely, I really think it's cool too to kind of
imagine the way that you canutilize this sort of tool to
create an opportunity within thehome where learning is just a
continuous ongoing process foreveryone.
You know, not just the childthat is benefiting from the app,
but for everyone in the home.
So, for instance, your daughteris teaching everybody this
(27:29):
really cool regulation skillthat she learned, and how
amazing would every boardroom beif more people understood that.
You know so.
I think there's something right,like everybody should know that
.
But I think it's so helpful andcool to think about learning
not, as like you said, this sortof rigid activity that happens
in only one specific setting,but instead to really build
(27:51):
within your child thisunderstanding that learning is
never ending, that we're allalways learning and that
learning is a part of everysingle part of our day.
You know, I think that's justsuch a cool approach.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Yeah, and and I think you end up appreciating it so
more, but so much more.
When you understand what a childis getting out of something, it
makes you feel really good andthen you lean into it more and
you want to do it more and it's,you know, it's about that
connection and relationship thatyou have with the child, but
it's also about seeing that thathappen.
I can see a direct correlationwith the amount of time that I
spend with my child and thequality time that I spend with
(28:26):
them and their behavior that dayor later on that day, like
they're easier to put to bed,like there's there's a really
big difference in a child.
And and then I also see thingslike the fine motor skills Like
our daughter has incredible finemotor skills because she spends
so much time cutting things andI see that all develop.
But what I I think I've come toappreciate more in having
(28:50):
developed this app and reallystarted learning more about
child development is the beautyof of watching a child grow and
that we all take part in that.
And to appreciate that is tolean into it more.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
That's so beautiful.
And, annie, we have a couple ofquestions that we'd like to ask
you before we wrap up our timetogether.
Sure, of course, they're reallytough questions.
We ask them to everyone.
Danielle, would you like tobreak out your investigative
journalism chops and ask Annieher first question?
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Absolutely Brace yourself, Annie.
This one's going to behard-hitting journalism.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
I'm nervous.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
So when you were four years old imagining and just
assuming that you knew what ananny was at four years old who
would your dream nanny have been?
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Who would my dream nanny have been?
I mean, the nannies that werefront and center were like Mary
Poppins, of course.
We did a test.
We did a test for nannies, likea quiz of which kind of nanny
would you be?
And I went back and watchedclips of these nannies to really
get a sense of theirpersonalities, to put together
the test.
(30:02):
And it was Mary Poppins, NannyMcPhee and Mrs Doubtfire, who
wasn't really a nanny, but MrsDoubtfire like hands down,
because you'd want like that funperson, and so it was fun going
back and watching the clips ofthat.
But yeah, you want somebodywho's going to engage and have
fun and play games and be silly,because that's what childhood's
(30:23):
about.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Absolutely.
I completely agree.
I think Mrs Doubtfire wouldhave been a blast as a nanny
just wildly fun and you know,throwing pies in people's faces,
hopefully, and dancing in thekitchen.
I love it, yes.
So all of the candidates atAdventure Nannies list out 10
fun facts that we share withfamilies when we're going
through the application process,and I would love to hear your
(30:49):
three fun facts.
Just as like kind of a littlepreface to this.
Your facts can be reallyanything.
We get a variety of fun facts.
Just as like, kind of a littlepreface to this.
Your facts can be reallyanything.
We get a variety of fun facts,some of which are maybe not
quite as fun as you mightimagine and some are really
bizarre, but anything fun orinteresting that you'd like to
share about yourself I'd love tohear.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Some things that are unexpected about me, because I
seem pretty maybe vanilla is theright word.
I fully appreciate hip hopmusic and can like turn into a
totally different person when Ilisten to it and actually get
really focused when I'm likeworking and writing, on writing
something.
If I just have it in thebackground, you know, it just
brings you back to where youwere at that time when you heard
(31:28):
that, and so that's probablyunexpected.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
I'm a middle child, which isn't very interesting in
and of itself, but I think itmight explain the part of me
that is the person who tries toconnect people and be the
peacekeeper.
But I also got really good atarguing, because I felt like I
had to always sort of be arguingmy point and finding creative
ways to get the attention thatkids so much crave my point and
(31:55):
finding creative ways to get theattention that kids so much
crave.
And then this is always a likea big story that we don't have
time to talk about right now.
But I went on a trip to Italyfor work for my old job and two
jobs ago and I got an emergencyappendectomy at like a little
town in Italy so that's anotherstory for another day, but I
(32:16):
spent a week in the hospitalthere.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
That's like the antithesis of fun.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Unless there was pasta, I don't know the only
person that spoke English was awoman who helped to.
She was like a custodial personthere, and so she would come
and speak to me, and some of thedoctors did too, but the nurses
would go home and tell theirkids about the American was at
the hospital.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Oh my goodness, that sounds really scary, honestly,
but also intriguing.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
I want to hear the whole story sometime yeah, now.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Yeah, that's so interesting.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Well, Annie, where can people who are excited to
learn a little bit more aboutyou or about Raise Kids find you
on the internet?
Speaker 3 (32:59):
So we are on Instagram, facebook, linkedin.
I've dabbled a little bit inTikTok.
It's a bit of a challenging one, but all the handles are at
Raise Kids and then, of course,RaiseKidscom.
You can find the app on the AppStore or on Google Play.
It's available to download forfree, and so with the free part
of it, you get the communicationtools, you get some photo
(33:21):
storage and things.
You get limited activities, butyou do get some activities to
get a sense of what's there, andthen you can upgrade to premium
.
It's $20 a month and then youget access to all the activities
.
You get the scheduling featureand chat and then boatloads of
storage.
So I encourage you to do that,and, of course, you can always
reach out to me as well.
My email is anniedelaney atraisekidscom, and we look
(33:43):
forward to connecting with theamazing nannies of the Adventure
Nannies Network, because weknow that they're awesome.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Thank you for being here with us today and for your
time.
I think it's just been reallycool to get a deeper, deeper
understanding of raise kids andall of the benefits that it can
offer both nannies and parents,and I just want to thank you for
your time.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Thanks for having me.
I really appreciate it.
Love talking to you guys, asalways.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Well, we look forward to seeing you, hopefully at
some conferences this year.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
Yes, coming up, yay, awesome.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Thank you so much.
Thanks for listening.
You can find all of ourepisodes on Apple Music, spotify
and wherever podcasts arestreamed.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
And you can find Adventure Nannies off air on our
website adventuredanniescom, oryou can follow us on Facebook
and Instagram to stay up to dateon our latest opportunities.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
If you love this episode, please give us a review
if you're feeling so inclined.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
And if you hated this episode, well, sorry.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Thanks for listening.
you're listening to adventure nannies on air in each
episode we'll dive into a topicfrom the wide world of nannying
from what to pack for your nextadventure, professional
development opportunities,industry standards, legal pay
and anything else we seecrossing our desks at adventure
nannies, the nationwide agencyfor families, nannies, private
educators and newborn carespecialists.
(00:30):
I'm Danielle, I'm Shenandoahand this is Adventure Nannies On
Air.
The policies and viewsexpressed in this episode are
those of the individuals and donot necessarily represent the
views of Adventure Nannies.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Also, this episode has a little salty language in
it and may not be appropriatefor kids.
Hello Danielle, Hi Shenandoah,how are you today?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I am doing so well, how are you?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I'm great and I'm so excited to be here today.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Me too, a hot topic that has been coming up for us,
particularly with so manyparents working from home now
because of COVID.
A lot of nannies are feelingthis extra pressure to really
create even more off the chartsamazing experiences and
activities for them to do withtheir nanny kids throughout the
(01:32):
day, because families arewitnessing a lot more of it and
there's kind of this unspokenpressure or desire to like show
me at the end of the day how youmade my child a rocket
scientist, or how my child isfluent in five languages now
than there maybe was before thebefore the pandemic.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Absolutely.
It's such a strange feeling Ithink, even if you have never
worked as a nanny, I think youcould understand.
I mean, both of us have workedas nannies, so I think we
definitely understand.
But, regardless of the industrythat you're working in, any
time that you've got youremployer kind of looking over
your shoulder on a regular basis, it can add quite a bit of
(02:12):
pressure and I think in a lot ofways kind of maybe have a
different impact than might beintended.
So I think it's true that withmore families and more parents
that are all sort ofcongregating at home after
within around the pandemic, itmakes for a different challenge
for people that are workingwithin the home, because a lot
(02:33):
of the work that they do that isso valuable day-to-day can look
maybe not as exciting ifsomebody's kind of looking over
their shoulder and saying Ithought we were going to build a
rocket ship every day.
You know what are you doing overhere, Just playing in the
sandbox, when really playing inthe sandbox is developing all of
these incredible skills,including things from fine motor
(02:56):
skills and I think you knowunderstanding perception, and I
think it's interesting to seethis sort of burden of activity
planning that you kind ofmentioned, shift in a way that
impacts nannies so much to wherethey have this kind of undue
pressure every day.
And one of the things that'sreally important, I think, to
balance that perspective with isthat the work that nannies are
(03:19):
doing every single day have alifelong impact on the children
in their care, and some of themost what might appear in their
care and some of the most whatmight appear as basic activities
can be some of the mosteducational and supportive
activities for the child at thatparticular age and where
they're at in their development.
So the key is kind of creatinga communication where families
(03:41):
are able to really see andunderstand the developmental
impact that the nannies arehaving on their children, even
in those moments that might justlook like day-to-day care.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Yeah, I feel like when I was a nanny, because
during that time I was also atouring musician and so I had it
really easy.
I had kind of a freebie,because A the family I nannied
for lived 10 blocks away from myhouse and my house had a piano
in it and an accordion and allof these instruments and so if
(04:13):
we were having sort of a aboring day together or a slow
day, and you know, or the parkwas too crowded or sort of
whatever, I had permission tojust bring my four-year-old
nanny charge back to my houseand we would just sit and hang
out at the piano or we learned alot of Raffi songs together.
There's still there's a videoof me wearing a dinosaur hat and
(04:36):
this child, who now is about tograduate from high school,
sitting on the couch singingBaby Beluga together that his
parents repost every two orthree years on social media and
they're like Shenandoah, youwere the best nanny to our kid
and it truly.
You know it was just my hobbyor my interest that I was
bringing in, but that was reallyvaluable to them and I think
(04:59):
that plays in really nicely towhat today's conversation with
Annie Delaney is all about.
Annie Delaney founded RaiseKids, which is an app that helps
caregivers and parentscommunicate about what's going
on in the day to day and whatskills are being worked on.
(05:25):
While parents may be reading alot of books or articles or
talking to friends about whatchildhood development should
look like for their kids, at anyof these sort of developmental
milestones they often don'trealize or need a little bit of
extra help or extracommunication and understanding
that any day-to-day activitythat you're doing with a child
other than parking them in frontof a TV and taking a nap is
(05:46):
contributing somehow into thesemajor developmental categories.
And so the difference between afamily thinking this is a you
know, this is a great nanny whokeeps my kids safe while I'm at
work, versus this is anexceptional, amazing nanny who
is doing all of these very cooldevelopmental, age appropriate
(06:08):
activities with my kids mightnot be you spending your whole
weekend on Pinterest and goingto a craft store and bringing
$100 worth of crafts over to tryto make you know the most fancy
popsicle stick house thatanyone has ever seen and trying
to turn one of your nannycharges into the next Frank
Lloyd Wright.
It could just be.
(06:29):
Instead of saying we had agreat day.
We just went and sat at thepark for three hours of saying
we had a great day.
We went to the park, we workedon our fine motor skills, we did
a nature walk, we identifiedsome plants, we worked on
sharing.
We had this communicationsituation that came up and it
really is just about the waythat you're communicating it and
(06:51):
sharing and transferring someof the knowledge that you have
as a professional caregiver overto the parents.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yes, that's so true.
I could not agree with you more.
You add this extra value to thejob it's.
Parents are then able to reallyunderstand the impact of your
work, and I love the examplesthat you gave, and also I, just
as an aside, can you imagine howincredible it would be to have
a world touring musician as yournanny, and your kind of laid
(07:21):
back task, if you're having ahard afternoon, is to just sit
back and listen to her playinstruments, like get out of
here.
I would be reposting that onsocial media all the time, too,
as either the parent or the kidthat was so so benefited by that
.
So I think it's reallyimportant to remember the impact
that you're having on thesekids' lives and the longevity of
(07:41):
that impact.
So we're so excited to speakwith Annie.
So Annie Delaney is theco-founder and CEO of Raise Kids
, a childcare app for parentsand caregivers specifically
designed for the homeenvironment.
She's a mom who became anentrepreneur to solve her
personal need, leaving her13-year career in corporate
America to design and build thisapp to benefit families in a
(08:05):
similar position.
She has a passion for childrenand understands the unique
challenges of home child care,and she is on a mission to
improve the experience forparents and caregivers, while
putting the child first.
Annie resides outside of Bostonwith her husband and three
children and their 30-poundrescue pup, mikey.
Without further ado, let'swelcome our guest.
(08:27):
Hi, annie.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Hi.
Thank you for having me Welcome, we're so glad to have you here
today.
I was so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Thank you, so today we're going to be talking a
little bit about the parentperspective on child development
, but I think first to give ouraudience a little general sense
of kind of where we're comingout with this, would you mind
telling us just a little bitabout Raise Kids and kind of how
this all came to be?
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Yeah, and it ties in really well with the topic,
because the how it came to bewas about my passion for child
development for my own kids, andso I really wanted to be able
to have a way to bring the toolsto caregivers to provide that
learning environment and themeaningful activities that
really make a difference in achild's learning, and couple
(09:22):
that with some tools thatcaregivers need about
communication that help tostrengthen that caregivers need
about communication that help tostrengthen that relationship
and that bond between a parentand a caregiver.
And so that's what we createdwas a tool to really serve the
home environment, which is a bitof a unique space to be in, and
what we do is we really focuson that child development and
give a caregiver a means to beable to really intentionally
(09:45):
lean into activities and providethe balanced environment that's
needed in that zero to fivetime, when child development is
just so critically important andbrain developing at just a
rapid speed.
What are some things thatcaregivers can do to be able to
use best practices in harnessingas much of the learning as they
can, and doing that throughplay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
I love that.
So I personally reallyappreciate your app.
I have a couple of nieces andnephews and I love to use the
app, especially when I'm goingto hang out with them, because I
don't have kids of my own, soI'm not personally interacting
with a lot of child developmenton a regular basis or even
really thinking too much aboutit.
So getting the opportunity tohang out with nieces and nephews
(10:30):
and have some activities kindof just in my pocket that are
going to be really engaging andalso offer something that's
really valuable to them has beensuch a cool opportunity.
So can you tell me a little bitmore about some of the ways
that parents might also benefitfrom this interaction within the
app?
One of the things that Iappreciated was the way that
(10:52):
there's a communication toolbetween care providers and the
families.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Yeah, I mean at the base of it, every relationship
is built on trust, right, andthat connection.
And for a parent and caregiverthat's so important to be able
to be speaking the same languageand there's an element of
transparency that just helps tobuild that trust.
And when you're communicatingwhat's gone on during the day,
the parent feels involved.
(11:18):
And the other part of it is theidea of how you develop a child
.
I think can vary depending onyour perspective, where you came
from and to appreciate what'sreally the best way for children
to learn, which is through play, having parents see the same
(11:39):
thing that a caregiver is seeing.
You're quite literally speakingthe same language, and so what
we try to do is to bring thatlanguage to you and make it in
plain English terms, not thestandard sort of ECE terms, so
that a parent and a caregivercan really understand it.
And then when there's an areaof development that you want to
(11:59):
be working on with a child, youknow how to do that more easily
and a parent can appreciate whatthey're getting out of that and
a caregiver feels really goodabout the value that they're
providing for that child.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
That's so, so great and such a cool perspective.
Because you know from some ofthe care takers that I've
interacted with some of thenannies at different conferences
who've utilized raise kids.
One of the great benefits is,when it comes to doing their
performance reviews, they've gotsuch a sort of trackable, easy
way to show the impact of theirwork because so much of it is
(12:30):
being captured day to day.
So there's not only alignmentin terms of what the goals are
with that child between thenanny and the parent, but
there's also a sense of justreally.
You know, when maybe there'ssome misconceptions about what
the day-to-day life of a nannylooks like, the parents able to
really get an insight into thatand be an active participant in
(12:51):
guiding that growth, but alsoknowing like, okay, they're not
just sitting on the couch,they're really doing a lot of
incredible things here.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Yeah, I mean a base of a nanny's job is taking care
of the child and making sure.
I mean about most important issafety, and then next in line is
child development.
Right Like that, whether youreally consciously go into it
thinking that you're, you arethe the one of the first
teachers for a child and for ananny to really harness that
(13:20):
role is it shows the value thatthey bring beyond just caring
for the child while the parentsaren't there, but really the
harnessing that and takingresponsibility for the idea that
child development is a majorpart of their role.
And then parents can see thatand taking responsibility for
the idea that child developmentis a major part of their role,
and then parents can see thatand really appreciate the value
that that nanny's bringingAbsolutely.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Well, and I know for a lot of nannies the nannies who
are investing in childdevelopment and who are
prioritizing it just the processof coming up with the
activities and researching themis almost like a second
full-time job.
I see so many nannies inFacebook groups Like I think
nannies are single-handedly likenannies and people planning
weddings are just keepingPinterest in business.
(14:03):
Yes, and so I.
I really love the idea.
No, we've talked to so manynannies who have used it who
were like, cool, I don't have tomake, like Thanksgiving, hand
turkeys out of constructionpaper every day for the entire
month of November and and youknow, and be like, okay, we need
some, we need this Right.
(14:24):
I'm curious about, just from avalue perspective for the
parents, what is the easiest wayfor a caregiver to approach the
idea of using the app or a toollike that without it kind of
accidentally backfiring and theparent's perspective being oh no
(14:44):
, you're the nanny, I'm payingyou to invent all this stuff and
be magical and pull magiccrafts and ideas out of your bag
all of the time.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Yeah, and I think there's some education for the
parents that's necessary hereand we want to help bring that.
Child development doesn't haveto be as hard as it sounds and
in fact, a lot of times whenthey're doing these sort of
Pinterest-worthy activities forthe sake of showing the parents,
it actually has the reverseeffect on a child, which is the
(15:17):
most important part, right?
So if you're doing a lot ofthese Pinterest-y crafts a lot
of time it's just for the sakeof showing something.
But the child those are limitedin the depth that you can go
with for the skills that a childis building and a nanny really
should be harnessing their powerin serve and return and the
(15:39):
exchanges that they have to beable to create this bond with
the child, to be able to givethem confidence, to help with
their social and emotionalskills, their self-regulation,
in addition to their physicalskills, their cognitive skills,
some school readiness.
There's so much that you can bedoing with these activities
that don't show in a beautifulcraft at the end of the day that
(16:03):
the nanny probably had to endup finishing.
Really, some of the ones thatare the most valuable are the
simplest and that's where Ithink parents can need to sort
of reframe.
I think a lot of times we endup being on two ends of the
spectrum, where there's eitherthese beautiful looking crafts
and that we spent so much timeon, and that's the output, or
(16:24):
there's these worksheets andthat's the school readiness part
, and oftentimes parents say, ohwell, I have to send my child
to a preschool or have to sendthem to some sort of academic
setting to get this In reality.
Home is a wonderful place forthat learning to happen, but it
really can't be either end ofthose.
It has to be in the middle,where there are activities that
(16:46):
are approachable and are simple,and it's also a mix.
You know you want a blend ofsome independent play, you want
some guided play, and an Annieneeds to understand the target
balance that they want to behaving and really approach that
with intentionality and thoughtwhen you go into your week or
(17:07):
your day, and then how toutilize that guided play for
that more in-depth learning,which is where the school
readiness actually comes from.
And the simplest ones are theones where the most can happen,
whether it's just a sensory boxfilled with sand and some toys
that are in there.
You're talking about thesoftness of the sand and oh,
sand's soft.
The S oh, what else starts withan S.
(17:29):
And you're appreciating howsoft the sand is and how it goes
through your fingers.
And what else can we use toplay with this?
How could we mold it?
You put some water in with it,you make a sand castle another
thing that starts with an S,what else can we build with this
?
And you really just take thatone simple sensory sandbox and
build it into something that isso much more meaningful for a
(17:50):
child, all while bonding withthem.
Build it into something that isso much more meaningful for a
child, all while bonding withthem.
Like that's the beauty of thesimplicity of it.
We kind of had to know how todo that, and so what we do with
the app is give you play promptsto say you know, taking these
simple activities, how could youbreak that down?
What area can you intentionallythink about leaning into?
Is it some physical development, cognitive development?
(18:11):
And how can you incorporatesome school readiness into this
without it having to be wrote?
Learning with a worksheet.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
It's so wild because I can kind of feel, as you're
describing, more about this.
I think that there are so manydifferent ways that the app
could really support any styleof parenting technique and I
think that kind of knowing as ananny that that conversation
doesn't actually need to besuper intimidating.
It actually is kind of anassistant manager to the work
(18:39):
that you're already doing.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Right, right, yeah, and I think parents probably
spend some time doing someresearch, but we also are just
in this age of being floodedwith information around us and
not really understanding whatall those terms really mean.
So you have, you know, you'reon Pinterest and you're like,
well, these things are cool.
You're on Instagram and you'relike, oh, these parents are
doing this or these accounts aredoing these things.
(19:01):
What does it really mean?
Or, you know, I follow someMontessori accounts.
Okay, montessori, that soundslike it's what I should be doing
, but really to set up aMontessori environment is like
there's a lot involved insetting up a Montessori
environment, and so to be allone thing or all another, I
think, probably does adisservice to not think of the
value that you can get from.
(19:22):
Multiple is sort of her style,but she also loves outdoor
learning and she alsoappreciates Montessori and.
But at the end of the day, it'sall about the experience that
you can get with a child andthat bonding and the connection
that you can get.
So, however, you get there fora parent to appreciate the
(19:44):
nature of that nanny in whatseems to be very simple.
That's where I think a lot ofthe education can come from that
makes them still feel goodabout it, because there's so
much societal pressure on usparents to make them feel like
their child is ready.
And when you have parents thatare in the same class as your
(20:06):
child and they're saying theirkids are doing X, y and Z things
, well, of course you feel likeI have to be doing that, but you
have to have the confidence toknow you're doing the right
thing by leaning into play andthat play is really the most
effective way that a childlearns.
I mean one.
It's fun, right.
So by nature someone's going totake to that a lot more.
(20:27):
But think about language in theway that you would learn
Spanish If you were to just sayflashcards and say escuela and
teach them that this is school.
Or if you're to be outside in aplayhouse and make that be the
escuela oh, we're going to govisit and you start to
incorporate some language inthere.
(20:48):
A child is going to pick up onthat a lot more than they're
going to pick up on flash cardsand worksheets and things.
And so the nanny, althoughunfortunate, has some education
to do for parents about why thatis a more effective way.
But that's because we were allraised on worksheets and flash
cards and things.
(21:09):
It's really only been in thelast 10 years or so that play
has taken.
The science behind play andchild development has really
become obvious that play is themost effective way.
So a nanny has to educatethemselves, to educate a parent.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
but utilizing the app , which we try to make it super
easy because we put all thelanguage right there- Awesome
and for nannies who really havekind of fallen into the pattern
and maybe brought their parentsor their employers into the
pattern of having sort ofresults-based activities like a
Pinterest craft where at the endof it there's going to be this
(21:46):
beautiful thing or a worksheetto say look your child, did you
go?
Abby, did a 92% today.
What is the?
What is the experience likethrough raise kids, for families
to be able to see some of thevalue in what's going on
throughout the day without thenanny sort of needing to feel
(22:07):
like they're going on thedefensive and saying no, like no
, I did stuff today.
It's just not a worksheet.
We went, we made a whole lot ofsqualor, like, come on guys,
this was a great day for us.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Yeah, it is a little bit tricky.
I mean, we give the opportunityto be able to show pictures and
to be able to write in what wasdone.
So for me that passes my test.
If I see a picture of my childlearning and and it's a video of
them doing it, like that isjust evidence right there and I
can see how much fun they'rehaving doing it.
And some of the evidence comesafter the fact, when you start
(22:40):
to hear their vocabulary and theway they're talking and it's
like, okay, it might be a littlebit slower than the immediate
satisfaction of a worksheet thatthey completed correctly, but
it's going to be more longlasting.
But the beginning of this youhave to start to align on that
it should come in the interviewprocess and it should come in
those monthly check-ins thatyou're doing, and so it's not
(23:01):
just in the day-to-dayinteractions.
There's a lot more foundationalthings that need to happen, but
the day-to-day can come in theform of pictures and updates and
also, I think, even justrunning a parent through.
Oh, here are some things thatI'm planning on for the week.
Take a look at this activity andI'm really planning on leaning
into sort of the cognitivedevelopment here and you push
our dropdown and it talks abouthow you lean into that cognitive
(23:23):
development, school readiness.
I think this is a greatopportunity for us to focus on
the letter S and all the Ssounds and we'll start reading
some things.
Maybe we'll focus on snailsthis week and I'll get a book on
snails and we'll sing a storyabout snails or trying to wrap
it around, a concept that cantake you through the week.
And I think the thing for aparent that is impressive for a
(23:45):
nanny to do is to approach itwith intentionality, to say
here's my plan, here's what Ihope to get out of this, because
, just like anything,approaching something with
intentionality is going to leadto better outcomes, right.
So, even if you don't doexactly what you set out to do,
really start about it and theapp's there for prompts and fun
ideas and fresh ideas to be ableto do that, and also the
(24:07):
structure for a parent to beable to see the same thing.
But really it's on a nanny tocome up with that intentional
approach and make sure that theparent is looped in on that.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
I think that's so cool and one of the things I
really appreciate about what youjust said is this idea of
setting an intentionality andreally moving forward with a
plan.
And I think you know toShenandoah's point a lot of
times you know families that arepaying, you know, a very great
wage to have somebody care fortheir children.
They really do want to see theimpact of that.
(24:37):
So having a way to quantifythat that isn't necessarily a
score on some sort of a weirdsheet where somebody's had to
memorize something at six yearsold.
I think it's so much morevaluable to see the impact of
that in the day to day life.
You're going to see the growththat's happening with the child
in the way that they interact atthe dinner table, in the way
(24:58):
that their language isdeveloping, in the way that
they're sort of adjusting andlearning different social cues.
So I can see so many practicalways that this benefits the
children, which, of course, isalways the main focus here.
But I also love the idea, likeyou said, of doing check-ins
with the parents.
We recommend weekly check-ins.
Just stay on the same page, andI think if I were a parent and
(25:22):
I had an amazing nanny coming tome during our weekly check-ins
with a quick rundown of okay,this is what we're focusing on.
I checked out the Raise Kidsapp and these are the things
that we're going to be workingon this week.
I'm really excited about XYZ.
I would feel really thrilledabout having that person care
for my child, so I love thatidea of incorporating it into
(25:44):
check-ins and being superintentional.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Yeah, for me when I see my daughter, our
five-year-old, and I see some ofthe things that she's learning
and she's in kindergarten nowand so she brings back some
tools there.
But I also see it in theday-to-day of our own household,
her self-regulation that she'slearning to have, so she'll now
unprompted if she's having ahard time and she has some big
(26:09):
emotions that she's trying tomanage, she'll go into a corner
and she'll do her fingerbreathing, which is you go to
the top of each finger and youinhale and wait, exhale and
she'll go and she'll do herfinger breathing.
And she's taught us all how todo her finger breathing.
And just the power of thatself-regulation to bring her to
a totally different mindset issuch an amazing tool to have.
(26:30):
And so bringing that into thehome environment and doing it
through some activities andgenerally maybe more the sensory
activities, something where youcan talk about social and
emotional.
We have one on routines, whereroutines are important too.
We talk about bedtime routinesRoutines by themselves are
important and utilizing thoseopportunities to talk about what
(26:52):
makes you feel safe, what makesyou feel secure, what makes you
feel happy and what can calmyou down if you're having a hard
time and then practicing thosethroughout the week.
I mean, those are such powerfulthings as a parent that you
appreciate so much.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Absolutely, I really think it's cool too to kind of
imagine the way that you canutilize this sort of tool to
create an opportunity within thehome where learning is just a
continuous ongoing process foreveryone.
You know, not just the childthat is benefiting from the app,
but for everyone in the home.
So, for instance, your daughteris teaching everybody this
(27:29):
really cool regulation skillthat she learned, and how
amazing would every boardroom beif more people understood that.
You know so.
I think there's something right,like everybody should know that
.
But I think it's so helpful andcool to think about learning
not, as like you said, this sortof rigid activity that happens
in only one specific setting,but instead to really build
(27:51):
within your child thisunderstanding that learning is
never ending, that we're allalways learning and that
learning is a part of everysingle part of our day.
You know, I think that's justsuch a cool approach.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Yeah, and and I think you end up appreciating it so
more, but so much more.
When you understand what a childis getting out of something, it
makes you feel really good andthen you lean into it more and
you want to do it more and it's,you know, it's about that
connection and relationship thatyou have with the child, but
it's also about seeing that thathappen.
I can see a direct correlationwith the amount of time that I
spend with my child and thequality time that I spend with
(28:26):
them and their behavior that dayor later on that day, like
they're easier to put to bed,like there's there's a really
big difference in a child.
And and then I also see thingslike the fine motor skills Like
our daughter has incredible finemotor skills because she spends
so much time cutting things andI see that all develop.
But what I I think I've come toappreciate more in having
(28:50):
developed this app and reallystarted learning more about
child development is the beautyof of watching a child grow and
that we all take part in that.
And to appreciate that is tolean into it more.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
That's so beautiful.
And, annie, we have a couple ofquestions that we'd like to ask
you before we wrap up our timetogether.
Sure, of course, they're reallytough questions.
We ask them to everyone.
Danielle, would you like tobreak out your investigative
journalism chops and ask Annieher first question?
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Absolutely Brace yourself, Annie.
This one's going to behard-hitting journalism.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
I'm nervous.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
So when you were four years old imagining and just
assuming that you knew what ananny was at four years old who
would your dream nanny have been?
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Who would my dream nanny have been?
I mean, the nannies that werefront and center were like Mary
Poppins, of course.
We did a test.
We did a test for nannies, likea quiz of which kind of nanny
would you be?
And I went back and watchedclips of these nannies to really
get a sense of theirpersonalities, to put together
the test.
(30:02):
And it was Mary Poppins, NannyMcPhee and Mrs Doubtfire, who
wasn't really a nanny, but MrsDoubtfire like hands down,
because you'd want like that funperson, and so it was fun going
back and watching the clips ofthat.
But yeah, you want somebodywho's going to engage and have
fun and play games and be silly,because that's what childhood's
(30:23):
about.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Absolutely.
I completely agree.
I think Mrs Doubtfire wouldhave been a blast as a nanny
just wildly fun and you know,throwing pies in people's faces,
hopefully, and dancing in thekitchen.
I love it, yes.
So all of the candidates atAdventure Nannies list out 10
fun facts that we share withfamilies when we're going
through the application process,and I would love to hear your
(30:49):
three fun facts.
Just as like kind of a littlepreface to this.
Your facts can be reallyanything.
We get a variety of fun facts.
Just as like, kind of a littlepreface to this.
Your facts can be reallyanything.
We get a variety of fun facts,some of which are maybe not
quite as fun as you mightimagine and some are really
bizarre, but anything fun orinteresting that you'd like to
share about yourself I'd love tohear.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Some things that are unexpected about me, because I
seem pretty maybe vanilla is theright word.
I fully appreciate hip hopmusic and can like turn into a
totally different person when Ilisten to it and actually get
really focused when I'm likeworking and writing, on writing
something.
If I just have it in thebackground, you know, it just
brings you back to where youwere at that time when you heard
(31:28):
that, and so that's probablyunexpected.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
I'm a middle child, which isn't very interesting in
and of itself, but I think itmight explain the part of me
that is the person who tries toconnect people and be the
peacekeeper.
But I also got really good atarguing, because I felt like I
had to always sort of be arguingmy point and finding creative
ways to get the attention thatkids so much crave my point and
(31:55):
finding creative ways to get theattention that kids so much
crave.
And then this is always a likea big story that we don't have
time to talk about right now.
But I went on a trip to Italyfor work for my old job and two
jobs ago and I got an emergencyappendectomy at like a little
town in Italy so that's anotherstory for another day, but I
(32:16):
spent a week in the hospitalthere.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
That's like the antithesis of fun.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Unless there was pasta, I don't know the only
person that spoke English was awoman who helped to.
She was like a custodial personthere, and so she would come
and speak to me, and some of thedoctors did too, but the nurses
would go home and tell theirkids about the American was at
the hospital.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Oh my goodness, that sounds really scary, honestly,
but also intriguing.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
I want to hear the whole story sometime yeah, now.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Yeah, that's so interesting.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Well, Annie, where can people who are excited to
learn a little bit more aboutyou or about Raise Kids find you
on the internet?
Speaker 3 (32:59):
So we are on Instagram, facebook, linkedin.
I've dabbled a little bit inTikTok.
It's a bit of a challenging one, but all the handles are at
Raise Kids and then, of course,RaiseKidscom.
You can find the app on the AppStore or on Google Play.
It's available to download forfree, and so with the free part
of it, you get the communicationtools, you get some photo
(33:21):
storage and things.
You get limited activities, butyou do get some activities to
get a sense of what's there, andthen you can upgrade to premium
.
It's $20 a month and then youget access to all the activities
.
You get the scheduling featureand chat and then boatloads of
storage.
So I encourage you to do that,and, of course, you can always
reach out to me as well.
My email is anniedelaney atraisekidscom, and we look
(33:43):
forward to connecting with theamazing nannies of the Adventure
Nannies Network, because weknow that they're awesome.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Thank you for being here with us today and for your
time.
I think it's just been reallycool to get a deeper, deeper
understanding of raise kids andall of the benefits that it can
offer both nannies and parents,and I just want to thank you for
your time.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Thanks for having me.
I really appreciate it.
Love talking to you guys, asalways.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Well, we look forward to seeing you, hopefully at
some conferences this year.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
Yes, coming up, yay, awesome.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Thank you so much.
Thanks for listening.
You can find all of ourepisodes on Apple Music, spotify
and wherever podcasts arestreamed.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
And you can find Adventure Nannies off air on our
website adventuredanniescom, oryou can follow us on Facebook
and Instagram to stay up to dateon our latest opportunities.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
If you love this episode, please give us a review
if you're feeling so inclined.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
And if you hated this episode, well, sorry.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Thanks for listening.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.