How Do You Tell Parents Their Kid Is a Brat?
What do you say when the kids you watch are often whiny, demanding or uncooperative? It can be a touchy...
Child care options
Six Tips for Grocery Shopping with the Kids
Grocery shopping with kids can be a real challenge! I remember when my kids were little – they would pull...
10 Ways to Make Drop-off Less Painful — For Both of You!
Drop-off can have a lot of tears, no matter how old your child is — and how much they love...
Bad caretaker!
It’s so very sad when caregivers steal and lie. Becarful who you hire.
Helpful Playgroup Tips
As we start to windup our information about playgroups, I thought that it would be helpful to give you a...
How Meditation Can Keep Cold and Flu Season at Bay
Yes, it’s that time of the year again. Not only do our school aged children descend upon us with pounds...
Teaching Kids About Stranger Danger Without Scaring Them
This past week, I received two Amber Alerts on my phone. Scary! I know many child kidnappings are domestic in...
The Best — and Worst — States for Child Care, Ranked in Order
This week, Care.com introduced the Care Index, the first comprehensive data report on the current state of child care in...
Mariel S.
Meet Mariel. She is a high school guidance counselor and part- time babysitter. Three years ago she joined Care.com in...
4 Ways to Have Helpful Conversations With Teachers When Problems Pop Up
On most days, your child bounds into the classroom with nary a backward glance, but lately she’s been having a...
To My Son: Why Going Back to Work Will Be the Best Thing for Us
Dear Son, I can’t sleep. I’ve been lying here in bed for the past two hours, staring at my alarm...
How My 20-Year-Old Babysitter Helped Me Deal With My Anxiety Disorder
I saw the black Toyota pull up in front of my house. Right on cue, my chest tightened and butterflies...
What if She’s Shy?
You got the job! Congratulations! You have always loved children and feel such a connection with them. You’ve started to...
Real Story: How I Hired a Sitter for a Destination Wedding Vacation
We could take the kids to the destination, but not to the destination wedding. So, we needed to find child...
30 Day Challenge – Clear Clutter
Do you have too much stuff in your house? My kids can’t even clean their bedroom because they feel overwhelmed...
Ever Been Asked If You Have Kids During a Job Interview? Well, It’s Technically Illegal
The process of applying to jobs is already stressful enough. Between all the applications you have to fill out (whoddathunk that...
No Smoking Section
Trust is a huge factor in any relationship. This is especially true when someone is watching your children. So what...
I’m Not Throwing a Birthday Party for My 5-Year-Old
The boy turns 5 this month, and we’re happily celebrating the occasion by doing as little as possible. It won’t...
How much do the holidays cost?
According to the new Care.com 2019 Cost of Holidays Survey, 68% of families identify lack of time as the No....
5 Reasons You Didn’t Get the Job
It’s hard not to get discouraged after going on interview after interview and not getting the job. It may seem...
What if You’re Concerned About the Child Caring For?
As a caregiver, you are in a unique position and have the opportunity to notice if the child in your...
Experts Weigh In: Questions You Should Ask at the Next Preschool Parent-Teacher Conference
We all know that preschool is a whole lot more than macaroni paintings and Playdoh sculptures. And preschool parent-teacher conferences are...
Yup, Preschoolers Get Stressed Out — but Teachers Can Fix This
Many parents find it extremely stressful to send their little ones off to preschool. But what about the children themselves? Does simply...
7 Parenting Trends for 2016
At Care.com we like to think about parenting trends. What’s happening, what will happen, and how we can help. We...
Our 4-Year-Olds Are Watching…and They’re Picking up on Our Biases
While most parents watch what they say around kids, it turns out that our nonverbal signals are just as powerful...
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Hire a Housekeeper
I’m terrible at cleaning. My place is a mess. I admit it. I try to clean—I really do. But I’m...
SAFETY ALERT: Your Child’s Teething Toy Could Be Full of Mold
Parents beware: Mold may be lurking in your child’s favorite teething toy. Revelations of the fungus growing inside of the...
More American families are doing nanny shares — here’s why
Considering sharing a caregiver? Be sure to do your homework: Nanny shares and shared care arrangements may be subject to...
This Company Introduced a Gender-Blind Parental Leave Policy. You Won’t Believe What Happened Next
Last spring, online retailer Etsy rolled out a gender-blind parental leave policy offering 26 weeks of paid leave to all...
Dads Are Getting Way More Involved on Valentine’s Day — Here’s How
Parents: It’s almost Valentine’s Day…so, who’s planning YOUR date night? Is it you? Or is it your partner? We ask simply because,...
Texas Day Care to Parents: ‘Get Off Your Cellphones!’
A Texas day care is making headlines after they apparently posted a sign telling parents to get off of their...
These are the easiest cities to find a Valentine’s Day babysitting job
According to 2019 Care.com data, Valentine’s Day was the second-most popular holiday for parents to post babysitting jobs (right after New...
What Would You Do If This Happened to Your Baby?
A North Carolina mom wants an ex-employee from her son’s day care arrested after she says the employee breastfed her son...
New Program Helps Parents Cope With Fussy Babies
The joy of bringing your new baby into the world can quickly become overshadowed by baby’s less pleasant moods. Parents...
How to Prepare for Your Carer’s First Day
You’ve done the hard work, including background checks, securing recommendations, and negotiating pay. You’ve also probably spent some time going...
8 Person Kidney Chain Saves 4 Lives, Including Police Officer’s
A “chain” of kidney donations involving eight people helped save the lives of four individuals including a police officer from...
A Parents’ Guide to Heart-Healthy, Kid-Friendly Cooking
A healthy heart is a happy heart, right? And while exercise and regular activity can do a whole lot of...
Your Weight at Birth Could Affect Your Mental Health as an Adult
A new study suggests that your weight at birth could be linked to your mental health later in life. The...
What to do when the kids nap
If you are a babysitter or nanny, do you ever wonder what to do when the kids nap? My kids...
Laying the Groundwork – “Ultimate Nanny” Guide
In my new book Ultimate Nanny: How to Find, Interview, and Manage the Most Important Person You Will Ever Hire – Your Child’s...