Elise M.

I'll start by saying that I truly do not believe that I have ever written a poor review in my life. I tend to let things go, but I thought this situation warranted a honest post about my experience with Elise. After many discussions and meeting with Elise, we were interested in hiring her as a full-time nanny. During our in-person meeting, she seemed very sweet and mature for her age. After reaching out to a few of her references and doing additional pre-employment checks, there were some concerns that popped up that we openly discussed with her. We decided to overlook those issues because we got a good feeling from her and thought we clicked. Not only that, but she came at a good price. We discussed salary multiple times, I sent her a contract with information on wages/compensation (among other things), and multiple times verified that she was happy with the arrangement, approved of all the details in the contract, and intended to nanny for us. I agreed to let her bring the signed contract when she started work (a few days before I started work again), instead of sending me a signed copy via email. Less than one week before I started work, Elise sends me a text saying that she was reviewing the contract and, in a nutshell, was not happy with the agreed upon salary. She asked if there was any room for negotiation. I expressed my surprise given the timing, and told her I'd be more comfortable sticking with our agreed upon contract and then discussing a raise in 3 months. She, without any apologies, just said she has to back out. Once again, less than one week before I start work, over two weeks after I sent her the draft contract that she reviewed and agreed to. I'm not sure I need to say more, but just to put it out there, I will say that there was room for negotiation and I would have considered paying her more if it was discussed at the proper time and not already agreed to weeks prior. Less than a week before work, it felt coercive and manipulative to basically say "pay me more or I won't be there." I wanted to post this because I thought the behavior was very unprofessional and I wouldn't want any other family to be put in this situation. It is stressful enough ending maternity leave and going back to work, and no one should be dealing with this type of situation at the last minute.

She's wonderful! Asks what else she can do to help, kind, helps the kids be kind to each other, and the kids love her too. Open and easy to talk to, love her!