Keep track of kids, schedules, play dates and your life with these helpful apps.
Mary Poppins…Supernanny…Nanny McPhee…you have a lot to live up to. You love the children you look after, but between entertaining, chauffeuring and feeding them, you’re exhausted. And we don’t blame you!
Technology to the rescue! Your smartphone is a wonderful source of advice for getting organized, finding outing inspirations and taking better care of your little rascals. There are tons of fabulous apps out there, but we narrowed the list down to seven that we think will be a huge help to you. And the best part is…they’re all free.
1.Karoo
Do you want to stand out with the families you work for? Or do you need help organising those cute pictures and videos you took at the park of the boy you look after? Download Karoo, the mobile app from Care.com that helps parents, child caregivers and relatives stay connected and share all the moments of childhood as they happen. Once you and your employers create profiles, you can share pictures, videos and updates about what you and the children are doing. You can easily let parents know everything from what the kids ate for lunch to how long they napped. And your network is private — only people you share the information with can see it.
2. Around Me
Never again be stumped when you’re out running errands or looking for places to take the kids. This app uses your phone’s GPS to find and categorize all the places around you: banks, movie theaters, supermarkets, etc.
3. Schedule Planner
Does your brain hurt from trying to keep track of your busy schedule, along with the schedules of the parents you work for, the children you look after and your own family? Try an app like Schedule Planner. Plot out your day and organise any tasks you need to complete, such as taking the children to the doctors or getting them to hockey practice. You can also colour code each entry based on whether it’s for you, your family or your job.
4. Foodily Recipes
Need ideas for healthy meals you can cook for the kids you take care of? This app collects the best recipes from around the Internet all in one place — top chefs, food magazines and blogs are all represented. You can search by ingredient or diet specification and find ideas for picky eaters or vegetarians.
5. TimeCard Lite
This app makes keeping track of the hours you work simple. Set regular hours and record your checking in and checking out time, as well as any breaks. You can also set an hourly wage to calculate how much you earn based on the hours you record. Use the report page to see how many days and total hours you worked as well as your total earnings for the week.
6. Instagram
Improve the pictures you take of the children you nanny for with this popular app. During nap time or when you’re waiting to pick up the little ones, play around with different effects to make simple photos frame-worthy. And then post them (on Karoo of course!) for your employers to see!
7. WebMD
It seems like kids get sick at least once a week. With that in mind, this is an app to keep handy. You can check symptoms and make sure a simple sniffle isn’t really something more serious. There’s also lots of helpful first aid information — useful when watching kids who have continuously skinned knees.
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7 Great — and Free — Apps for Nannies
