Mother's Day is right around the corner, and many working mothers acknowledge that their nanny, a true helper to the whole family, plays an important balancing role for mom in her day to day life. Our Mother's Day gift is this discussion on how a mom (or dad) can have a great relationship with the family's nanny.

When you’ve found a household employee that you and your family loves and trusts, it’s a wonderful feeling. Soon, you can start relying on this person to take care of things in your absence. But, if this means that you start asking for them to work more hours during the week or on the weekends, you should know the facts about overtime versus banking hours.

Tie their shoes. Make their beds. Prepare breakfast or lunch for themselves. Load the dishwasher. Laundry. These are all essential to-dos for children to learn. Are you teaching them these kinds of responsibilities or just doing it for them? Or, is your nanny doing most of the work rather than teaching the kids essential life-skills while she’s on duty?

Once you find the perfect nanny for your family, it is important to put to use some strategies that can help establish boundaries and keep your family happy and protected. Even the most well-meaning nannies can unintentionally overstep boundaries, so make sure you set the ground rules early on. Here’s how:

Summer is a wonderful time of year that your kids are probably really looking forward to. There’s nothing like a little fun and relaxation during the warm summer months, but for you, it could be the opposite. Your schedule likely doesn’t slow down once summer rolls around and it may even be causing you some anxiety thinking about trying to scramble to find reliable childcare while you’re at work. Day camps, relying on friends and family to serve as babysitters, and taking vacation time will only go so far. The short term solution: hiring a summer nanny. Your kids will be happy to have someone to hang out with and you’ll have a stress free summer season because you won’t have to figure out childcare on a week by week basis. Here are some other perks of hiring a summer nanny.

Finding the right caregiver for your family can take time. Once you’ve found the perfect person for your family, now comes to the work of maintaining a great working relationship. Here are some helpful tips on how to manage a caregiver relationship.

The nannying career is one that’s highly rewarding. To make yourself successful as a nanny, undergoing training and committing to be a continual learner is key. A good nanny is truly invaluable. More and more people have recognized the advantages of being a nanny, which makes the competition a bit steeper. If you’re considering a career as a nanny, it’s a great idea to equip yourself with as much training as possible. Not only will it make your resume look more desirable and open doors for higher salaries, but it will give you the skills you need to be a great nanny for as long as you choose to work as one.

The recent release of Donald Trump’s 2005 tax return has been getting a lot of attention. Everyone is looking at the larger numbers, but we’ve noticed what’s not on the return. Look at line 62 on page 2 of the 1040. This is where the Schedule H information would be seen if President Trump had paid household employment taxes (the so called “nanny taxes”) with his personal tax return. This number would show the amount of tax he paid on the salaries of his household staff. With a household staff as large as his, one would expect that number to be substantial.

Considering hiring a caregiver, nanny, or other in-home employee? You may think it’s more convenient to pay them under the table, but in fact, this could be a very costly decision if you end up getting caught. There are some important legal must-knows before hiring a household employee and here, we will go over what those are.

You’ve found a nanny to care for your children and now comes the conversation of payment and taxes. If your nanny doesn’t want you to report her wages or pay taxes, how should you respond? It may be convenient to pay your nanny under the table, but not only is this illegal, it could be very costly if you end up getting caught. Failure to pay nanny taxes could result in hefty penalties and fines, often in the thousands of dollars range.