Many automatically think of a nanny or a personal assistant when they hear the phrase “family assistant.” However, while the family assistant role shares similarities with the nanny and personal assistant, a family assistant can help you succeed in all life areas, including your home, children, and career.
Maybe you’re a business owner or executive leader. Perhaps you’re a stressed-out parent. Or maybe you’re both! Hiring a family assistant could be exactly what you need. Below, Pocketbook Agency explains the role of a family assistant, why you should hire one, and more.
A family assistant serves as a household’s personal assistant. You might provide childcare, help parents knock out errands and chores, handle specific housekeeping duties, and more. Your responsibilities might differ from other assistants, depending on your employer’s specific needs and schedule.
Some family assistants spend the majority of their time cooking and cleaning the house, others concentrate on childcare in a home with multiple kids, and others devote a lot of energy to helping their employer run a business or manage their schedule. You may even divide your time evenly among all of these tasks! It’s common for family assistants to live with their employer, and most work full-time.
Some households need a nanny while others need a family assistant. There are critical differences between the two professions, and it’s essential to understand them to determine who to hire for your family and specific situation.
Perhaps the simplest way to understand the difference between a family assistant and a nanny is that family assistants serve the entire family while nannies focus primarily on children.
Yes, a qualified assistant will take care of your kids, but they will also help all the other family members when necessary. A nanny manages the well-being of the children, while a family assistant acts as the entire family‘s personal assistant and manages the household. Many parents hire a nanny when they’re uber-busy and need someone to watch their kids. Hiring a family assistant will leave you more time to spend quality time with your children.
The same applies to feeding responsibilities. You don’t hire a nanny to cook you and your spouse dinner but to feed the children they care for. This means it’s up to you to figure out dinner when you come home after a hard work day. A family assistant will prepare dinner for the whole household, shop for groceries, and stock your refrigerator and pantry with anything you ask for.
A family assistant will also do everyone’s laundry, which comes in handy when you don’t have the time for it. You wouldn’t expect a nanny to launder anyone’s clothing but the kids’.
A good nanny will tackle any errands related to your children, but a family assistant will do that for every family member. You can have them do the grocery shopping, take your vehicle in for service, drop off your clothes at the dry cleaners, and more.
The education requirements are also different between family assistants and nannies. It’s common for a nanny to have a degree or certification in child education or childcare. On the other hand, most family assistants have at least a bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance, accounting, organizational skills, or computer skills, helping them perform a wide range of tasks.
Family assistants are responsible for many more tasks than nannies and must remain highly flexible. So, they usually make quite a bit more money. But keep in mind that hiring a family assistant is much cheaper than hiring a nanny and a separate personal assistant.
A family assistant can handle nearly any administrative duties you put in front of them. You can have your assistant field phone calls, check your emails, pick up lunch, schedule home repairs, plan your trips, schedule appointments, and more. Nannies will only handle administrative responsibilities related to your kids (e.g., arranging playdates, scheduling doctor appointments, handling school drop-offs/pickups, etc.).
Finding a top-notch family assistant can give you more time with your children. You can ask your assistant to tackle many tasks that would otherwise prevent you from hanging out with your kids. Nannies, however, care for your children when you’re too busy to be there.
A nanny can contribute when planning a special event for your children, such as a birthday party or graduation dinner. A family assistant will do the heavy lifting of planning any event or gathering you need, whether family or business-related. They will find a caterer, rent a venue, create and send invitations, and more.
Another advantage of hiring a family assistant is that they can walk your dog, meaning you don’t have to hire a separate professional to handle the task. When you don’t have the time, simply ask your assistant to take your dog for a stroll or keep them company at home. Most nannies don’t expect to walk a dog unless they’re also taking the kids.
If you have any gardening or landscaping needs, your family assistant can help with those as well. Many assistants help the families plant a flower garden or indoor vegetable garden. Others schedule regular yard maintenance, hire a landscaper, and handle other duties related to the property’s exterior.
To sum things up, family assistants wear many hats. You get to choose what your assistant does for the entire family.
If you need help dropping off the kids at school and picking them up, your assistant can step in at the last minute. If you need help keeping your house clean, you can assign your assistant a regular cleaning schedule. Your assistant can take you to the airport, shop for your groceries and clothes, pay your bills, invoice your customers, cook your meals, and much more.
Nannies will handle a range of tasks as well, so long as they are directly related to your children’s health and well-being. Both types of professionals can help reduce stress and improve your quality of life. The key is determining whether you need someone to help your whole family or focus their energy on the kids.
You likely have an idea of whether or not you need to hire a family assistant. But let’s dive into a few specific reasons it could benefit your family and career.
As discussed, your family assistant will probably possess a wide-ranging and flexible skill set to help you with your household and job. Some assistants are highly skilled at cooking for specific dietary restrictions, while others are trained for emergencies.
Some assistants are very tech-savvy while others know several languages. If you’re a business owner, you can hire an assistant with previous PA experience in your specific field. You might be surprised how quickly you can find the ideal family assistant with the necessary skills to help your home and job run more smoothly, especially when you work with experts like Pocketbook Agency.
Keeping up with your family’s schedules can feel impossible. Maybe you scheduled your client meeting at the same time as your son’s baseball game or planned a work trip during your daughter’s piano recital.
The right family assistant will stay on top of everyone’s schedules and alert you of any issues. You won’t have to worry about missing an appointment or double-booking yourself, and they’ll remind you of every relevant birthday, wedding, school event, and holiday.
Most nannies care for younger children, but your family assistant can support your whole family, regardless of age. They can feed your toddlers, take your fifth-grader to basketball practice, or help your teen get supplies for their first year of college.
When we spend enough time around people who are really good at what they do, it tends to help us improve in those areas. You’ll naturally pick up time management and organizational skills from your family assistant.
Plus, you must learn to delegate tasks successfully so your assistant can do their job, which will also sharpen your skills. Whether you’re a business executive or a small business owner, becoming a more effective manager changes the ball game.
Feeling insecure about your family‘s well-being saps your energy and distracts you from excelling at running your business or leading your employees. Knowing your assistant is taking care of your family will reduce stress and leave you with more energy to focus on your work. That way, you can spend more time checking off tasks from your work to-do list and less time trying to remember your family‘s commitments.
One fundamental advantage of hiring a qualified family assistant is that they can help you take control of your time. They’ll knock out personal errands and chores to free up your time to spend on family and leisure activities.
An assistant can also save you money in the long term. You won’t have to worry about paying for a dog walker, delivery services, or many other services.
If you need help with your family, job, or business, hiring a family assistant should be a priority. The right assistant will reduce stress in all areas of your life and create more time for you to spend with your family.
Pocketbook Agency connects entrepreneurs and professionals with family assistants all the time. We can help you connect with a highly trained assistant to relieve you of many household or career-related duties.
Sources:
5 Things You Should Know Before Hiring a Nanny | ParentMap