Top GTA Mommy Blog features a Review on TheNannyPages.com

My good-friend Anna was 9 months pregnant and about to move houses.  To say the least, she was going to need some assistant in the coming months with house cleaning.  I had a great opportunity come up through my blog and I thought she might be interested in reviewing it on my behalf. TheNannyPages.com is a one-stop-online-shop for help in the GTA whether you’re looking for a nanny, elderly care or a house cleaner.  Here’s her review:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a mommy-to-be I am looking for help wherever I can, so when the opportunity came up to review TheNannyPages.com, I jumped at the opportunity.  I am a month away from mat leave (if this baby comes on time) and desperately need a cleaner because we just moved in to a bigger house. At 8.5 months pregnant, my mobility is limited and I need a nap after walking up a flight of stairs.

TheNannyPages.com is a service for families looking for Nannies, Elder Caregivers, and Cleaners in the Toronto area. It also helps caregivers, nannies and house cleaners find work. It’s a win-win service!

I signed up for the service and filled out my job ad information which took me about 5 minutes.  Once signed up, I was able to contact any potential cleaners on the site as well as be contacted by interested cleaners who saw my job ad. I am only looking for service once or twice a month, and I received 25 applicants within six hours. This is great!  You have the option of receiving the applications via text or e-mail. My one recommendation is to ask people to send their applications via e-mail. I clicked on both e-mail and text as an option, and all of the people looking for work, sent me messages via text. I love text messaging as much as the next girl, but when you receive 22 messages from phone numbers you don’t know, it becomes really hard to track. I am still going through the people who sent me messages!

That said, I have been looking for a good cleaner for a couple of years and have only ever used other corporate services that charge an arm and a leg and  pay their cleaners an hourly wage. I like that I was able to go straight to the source for just $19. Soon I am going to have a house cleaner that I can work with and pay directly. No more strangers coming in to clean my home when I am desperate for a break. Relationships are important and if you find a good cleaner, you’ll never let her go which is why I am excited to have somebody to connect with. When the time comes for me to go back to work, I will definitely look at TheNannyPages.com as an option for child care services as well.

Fun And Educational Activities For Your Nanny and Baby To Do Together

While its much easier to plop the baby in front of the TV and let your nanny clean, consider some of these activities for your nanny and baby to do together.

1) Walk to your nearest Library & Read Books Together- It is never too early to expose your baby to books. The earlier the better.

2) Go for Walks- It is healthy to go out and get fresh air every day.

3) Talk- Babies love information. Whether your nanny is around the house or out and about encourage her to talk to your baby. Let her point out everything around her; trees,  the sky, bees, flowers, laundry basket etc. Babies love to learn new things.

4) Visit your nearest Ontario Early Years Centre, they offer wonderful education programs for children up to the age of six. It is free. Click here to find a centre near you. http://www.oeyc.edu.gov.on.ca/locations/index.aspx

5) Sing Songs – Babies love music. Purchase some instruments or make your own (Pots and spoons can work). Turn on the music and let your nanny and child dance and sing together.

6) Outdoor Water Play- Babies love to play with water. Let your baby pour water from one cup to another, water the plants or squirt with a spray bottles. (You can purchase spray bottles at the dollar store!)

7) Count out loud-  Count blocks together as you build them, count cheerios together as he eats them or count how many stairs there are as you go up.