Dedicated Domestics Weblog

It has been interesting to listen to some of the many ideas of what some of our friends and families plan on doing with their anticipated rebate checks.  As expected, there is an almost daily barrage of advertising from companies offering to help you spend it before the check even arrives.  While some families will need the money now to help make ends meet others plan on spending it in an assortment of different ways.  Very few people have suggested they plan on saving the money since they feel that it is too small an amount to matter.  I beg to differ with that idea.  Even a few dollars can make a difference when saved and properly invested. 

Being in the childcare field might make us think of uses more geared toward children than most, but I think that is a good thing.  Our suggestion is starting a college fund.  If you receive a $1,200.00 check it may not seem like much right now, but invested at 8% in a college fund for 18 years and it will grow to almost $5,000.00.  If you can afford to add just another $100.00 per month to that rebate check your college fund will grow to over $50,000.00 by the time your little one is ready to go. 

With expenses at universities continually increasing that small check may be a big help someday.  Even if it doesn’t cover all the costs it can make a very big dent.   

So how much is that little check worth?

By now most of you have read the front page story that appeared in “The Orange County Register” last Friday, February 22, 2008.  For those who haven’t read the article, it talked about the recent death of a 6-month old infant and the previous death of another child in the same Laguna Hills house where the owner was operating a Day-care facility.  When stories like this develop, questions begin to rise about all types of child-care including nannies and babysitters.  Personally, we feel the more questions the better.  Parents should not entrust their children to the care of anyone unless they have been thoroughly screened and you feel comfortable that every precaution is being taken to protect your children.    Remember that accidents will happen whether someone else is watching your child or you are watching them yourself.  But, many accidents can be prevented or at least the severity reduced if parents and caregivers followed basic safety guidelines.  This is why at Dedicated Domestics we make time to meet every applicant personally and take so many precautions to find the most qualified caregivers available. We also insist that every nanny, babysitter, mother’s helper and caregiver take an approved CPR class before starting work.  Not every agency insists on certification and for some the courses are not nationally recognized. 

The biggest issue with the day-care facility mentioned in the article, was that it had several complaints over the years and families did not take the time to check them out.  We all assume the government agencies are doing their jobs, but there isn’t enough time or manpower for them to follow up on every facility.  Whether you choose to hire a nanny or use a day-care center, remember the safety of your child is at stake and if you are not comfortable don’t leave your child.  In the case of the day-care facility they had 20 prior complaints and still nothing was done.  If you have the luxury of being able to afford a nanny, then you can take action immediately if you believe the situation calls for it. 

Dedicated Domestics is a modern company with old fashioned ethics.  Just as we will not work with an applicant that we would not feel comfortable hiring ourselves to help our family, we also would not expect the families that we work with to leave their children with anyone they do not feel comfortable with.