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Adventure Nannies On Air
The team behind Adventure Nannies is joined by industry experts and dear friends to share anecdotes and resources for nannies, childcare providers, and families. Adventure Nannies is a nationwide agency that helps humans find the support and tools they need to build their dream lives. They have been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, and Marie Claire and are well-known in the industry as being progressive innovators and advocates.
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Adventure Nannies On Air
Unraveling the Mysteries of Legal Pay
Note: This episode was recorded in 2024, for updates on tax information in 2025 visit https://info.homeworksolutions.com/blog/2025-household-employment-coming-changes
Unlock the mysteries of legal pay and taxes for nannies and domestic workers with us on Adventure Nannies On Air. With expert insights from Rachel Lawrence of Homework Solutions, we navigate the complexities families and nannies face in understanding payroll, workers' compensation, and insurance requirements. Rachel shares her journey from nanny to industry influencer, emphasizing the importance of bridging knowledge gaps to advocate for fair pay and employment rights. Together, we explore the historical backdrop of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its profound impact on labor rights in the nanny industry.
Get ready for an engaging conversation as Rachel delves into her unique experiences as a former nanny and Senior Partner Specialist at HomeWork Solutions. Her firsthand knowledge illuminates the intricacies of employment laws, from travel and sleep time considerations to the nuances of classifying nannies as employees or independent contractors. We also uncover the fascinating history of domestic workers' fight for inclusion in labor laws and the invaluable contributions of marginalized groups, urging our listeners to acknowledge these often-overlooked narratives.
From childhood adventures to the dynamics of homeschooling, we weave a tapestry of personal stories that highlight the unique dynamics of caregiving. As we wrap up this enlightening episode, we invite you to connect with Adventure Nannies through our website and social media channels for the latest opportunities. Whether you're a nanny, a parent, or simply curious, this episode offers a blend of practical advice and heartfelt stories that you won't want to miss.
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you're listening to adventure nannies on air in each episode we'll dive into a topic from the wide world of nannying from what to pack for your next adventure, professional development opportunities, industry standards, legal pay and anything else we see crossing our desks at adventure nannies, the nationwide agency for families, nannies, private educators and newborn care specialists. I'm Danielle, I'm Shenandoah and this is Adventure Nannies On Air. The policies and views expressed in this episode are those of the individuals and do not necessarily represent the views of Adventure Nannies.
Speaker 1:Also, this episode has a little salty language in it and may not be appropriate for kids. Hello Shenandoah, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2:Well, I am glad that you asked. I am doing wonderful today because I just finally finished my GD taxes. They have been a weight on my head for many, many years.
Speaker 1:You know, I understand. For many, many years, you know, I understand. Taxes are probably one of the least fun topics just worldwide that anybody ever wants to talk about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just can't. I think I saw someone on TikTok a few weeks ago, which is when the actual tax filing deadline was for those of us that did it on time. Filing deadline was for those of us that did it on time was talking about how taxes work in other countries and how sort of ridiculous it is in the us that the government system for collecting taxes is okay, just um, why don't you just guess how much money you're gonna owe us throughout the year and how much you want to take out on your paychecks, and then at the end of the year we'll just tell you how, like you will have to do a bunch of math and fill out a bunch of forms and then you can find out only after the year is over, like how right or wrong you guessed, and that system just does not feel like it's really set up for anyone to be a total rock star. And you know a lot of the families who we work with as an agency. They are entrepreneurs, some of them are tax people or finance people, and it's really complicated because paying people legally who are working in nanny roles is still it's a relatively new concept that most people don't know about, and so every time we're talking to a new family who's coming to us looking for a nanny, we you know, we're like, okay, and you have to pay this people as an employee. And the families are like, of course, sure, I'm going to do everything the right way.
Speaker 2:And then when they start to get into the weeds of all of the things that that means and what it means to be a domestic employer and adding someone to their car insurance and getting a worker's comp policy and making sure that their home insurance policy is updated by having an employee and making sure that employees getting classified the right way and Medicare and all the right percentage of all of the things are getting withheld sort of new to the concept it can feel almost kind of punishing because of the amount of steps and research and information that's required just to get it set up the right way and that a lot of times will put nannies in a really difficult spot, especially if they're not working with an agency that's advocating for legal pay, because then they are in the position of sort of either really deciding to stick to their guns and get paid legally and haranguing and annoying the family of yes, you have to fill out this form. Yes, you have to do this. Yes, now you have to pay a payroll company, or just sort of giving up and saying, ok, I guess I'm just going to get paid illegally. Or someone's going to Venmo me and I hope nothing bad happens.
Speaker 2:Where I would need workers comp, I hope I don't lose my job in a way that I would need unemployment insurance, and we just saw so much of that kind of unfold in some really terrible ways during the pandemic. But I think you know as much as taxes are hard for you and I to figure out and I would consider us to be relatively intelligent Borderline, Borderline relatively intelligent. But this stuff can be so complicated, I think, for everyone to understand and figure out and to make sure you're getting the right information on it and even know sort of where to start and what to do when things don't work or when someone isn't into legal pay.
Speaker 1:I really think that, from the perspective of an agency and just as human beings, we all care so much about trying to advocate for the nannies who are making this industry possible, and I think payroll is such a great opportunity for us as an agency, and for all agencies, to really step in that gap between the understanding and the requirements for compliancy in an arena that nobody particularly feels super stoked to talk about because it's challenging.
Speaker 1:But that kind of brings us to this amazing conversation that we had with Rachel. Rachel from Homework Solutions is one of the most uplifting, engaging and just delightful people that you could ever speak with, and one of the things that she is so talented at is taking really complex concepts and breaking them down in a way that feels really manageable and that feels very understandable and accessible and actionable. And she has created so much more understanding for me personally and I know, for so many of all of us that have interacted with her in this industry, for so many of all of us that have interacted with her in this industry. So it's just such a joy to get to learn from her and to be around her, because she she really makes all of this so much more interesting.
Speaker 2:She really does, and I mean we just I know that the price of eggs is sort of dropping now, but she and I, separately from the conversation that we had with her, she and I had a conversation with eggs during the sort of egg crisis of 2023. And I found out that she's a secret egg millionaire because of, because of all of the chickens they have. I think she I don't want to spoil her surprise, but we were in a webinar together and I was I can't remember what I was saying because you know again, borderline, relatively intelligent, but I was just talking about financial decisions and saying, hey, when a dozen eggs are $2, I'm going to make a quiche on Sunday, but when eggs are $8, like there's no quiche getting made in the day afterwards. She was like thanks for the quiche idea.
Speaker 2:I actually made one this weekend and I was like what are you? Are you rich? Are you crazy? Do you know how many eggs go in a quiche? It's like all the eggs. So, if you know, if, if things go down, I am going to be heading to Rachel's family's house.
Speaker 1:All right, she's rich in eggs and rich in knowledge, and such an incredible person. I'm so excited. Will you kind of tell us a little bit more about Rachel and some of her accomplishments within this industry?
Speaker 2:Yes, I would be happy to so. Rachel Lawrence is passionate about the nanny industry and her work shows it from From attending and speaking at industry conferences put on by INNTD, Nannypalooza, INA, APNA and USNA, to speaking with smaller groups via webinars. Her focus is always on education and improvement. Rachel believes that when we know better, we tend to do better, so knowledge is the natural first step to change. She focuses on educating household employers and employees about why legal pay and adhering to labor laws is so important. She also works to encourage the industry as a whole to strive for higher industry standards.
Speaker 2:Rachel's passion and knowledge comes from an 18-year foundation in the industry and a variety of roles. Her career began as a nanny in the industry. In a variety of roles, Her career began as a nanny, later moving on to work for local and national placement agencies, own a boutique nanny agency and work as the operations manager for the International Nanny Association, all before joining the Homework Solutions team in 2019. As a working mom with three children, she has also been a nanny employer. As a working mom with three children, she has also been a nanny employer and just as a heads up.
Speaker 2:Before we dive in with Rachel, the information that she is discussing today is for general knowledge. It is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, professional legal or tax advice. And while we're talking about that, also, for sure, nothing that, Danielle, you or I ever talk about should be considered professional legal or tax advice. If you are looking for personal advice on a legal issue or a tax issue, please consult an attorney or tax professional. And if you were just looking for some general info or have questions for Rachel or her eggs or her chickens or kids, that is completely appropriate.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Well. I'm so excited to be able to hear this episode. Let's dive in. Welcome, rachel. We're so glad to have you here today with us. Today we're going to be talking about FLSA and the way that it impacts the nanny industry, and I'm really excited to jump into that today.
Speaker 2:Rachel, what is the Fair Labor Standards Act and why do we?
Speaker 3:care about it? Sure. So I will admit to being a geek of history. I really enjoy it. If you look at my desk, there's a history calendar, like a daily calendar, that tells me something about history and I have. My novels are usually historical fiction.
Speaker 3:So basically, the short version of the history is that back in 1938 in the New Deal they decided they needed to put some labor I guess I'll call them limitations in place, rules in place. I guess I'll call them limitations in place, rules in place to address things like child labor and how long is a workday and how many days in a week do you have to work, as a norm. Those sort of things we, meaning the domestic work industry, did not get added to the Fair Labor Standards Act until 1974. So you can see there's a pretty big gap there. Before we were considered sort of eligible, I guess I'll say, for these rights and they are really what defines the work that we do and how it's paid out and what's allowed and what isn't. So it's a really good sort of skeleton framework for everyone to know in the industry so that they know how to go into that job interview or how to write up that work agreement or how to pay that employee, those sort of things.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Can you tell us a little bit about why domestic employees were not added until 1974 as a history buff?
Speaker 3:Well, I guess to do it from a very high level. The work our industry originally did was done either by enslaved individuals or later by indentured servants or later by indentured servants. Also, it's always been primarily women who. Anyone who knows much about history knows that women's work wasn't always considered to be real work. Even if they were doing the same job as a man, it was considered like pickup work, like not that big of a deal Really. People didn't even start thinking about women's role in the workplace in what I would consider a serious way, until all the men left to go to war and someone had to do the work. Also, people that know history will know when the men came back, people kind of forgot that we kept the country running, and so that, I think, is really where a lot of the additional parts of FLSA come in. Between, say, 1938 through, you'll see it sort of happen in the 50s and 60s. You see some things. And then domestic workers really lobbied and came on the scene and were included in 1974.
Speaker 1:It's undeniable to see the way that people who have been pushed to the sidelines in society have often upheld so much of the work in society. And there's an Instagram page called Domestic Workers History and it is so, so cool because every day or every other day they make a post about a lot of the things that you're saying, Rachel, but throughout history they have kind of a daily calendar where they'll say this happened at this day in history with this particular person who was, in a lot of different ways, making a difference in domestic workers' rights, and it's heartbreaking to know the sort of origin of how this industry came about. But I think it's also so important to acknowledge that and I think it's a really big piece of this conversation that a lot of times people don't necessarily want to acknowledge. But I think that's part of what makes the history really interesting and also, I think as people working in the industry in present day, we have a responsibility to be aware of that history and how it relates to where we're at now.
Speaker 3:I couldn't agree more. I think that when you know where things come from, you better understand their meaning and why they're important.
Speaker 1:And I think that you know that is part of why you're passionate about history is really looking at what has happened and where we've been and being one of the change makers to propel us into, you know, a better future, which I think is admirable and really cool, because these topics can be really complex. You know, I was talking to you a little bit before we hit record about, you know, tax season and how a lot of people, myself included feel intimidated by discussing things like really anything to do with finances and laws. It's kind of scary to think about. And when you look at the FLSA, though, one of the things that I really love about you and the way that you and Homework Solutions kind of tackle these subjects is that you make the information really accessible, and there are so many cool resources just on, and Homework Solutions kind of tackle these subjects is that you make the information really accessible, and there are so many cool resources just on the Homework Solutions blog about this topic that make it, you know, bullet point and really straightforward, so that's really cool.
Speaker 3:Yeah, a lot goes into FLSA, that you're right. It's really complex, right. It's this huge thing that has been added to over the years. There are sort of four major parts of it that I think apply to our industry, and it goes over things like when are you working, right? What are considered hours worked? What about wages? What about overtime? How about travel? What about if you're sleeping there, either as a live-in or a 24-hour shift?
Speaker 3:How do you know if any of this even applies to you? What kind of classification is what they call it of worker are you, and how is that determined? And so you know a lot of it. Is you know if-then scenarios which are clear, if you know where to look for them, but then some of it is totality of circumstance, right? Which then you have to know. The whole scenario. For instance, whether or not you're an independent contractor or an employee isn't necessarily FLSA, but that's a totality of circumstance. And so that's where you have to start. Before you can even look at FLSA and see how it applies to you, is you have to look and say I'm an employee and now I can do the if that right?
Speaker 2:Well, Rachel, I know a lot of folks who are listening to this podcast are nannies and they're probably listening during a nap. They might not have time to read the entire Fair Labor Standards Act on their phone right this second Standards Act on their phone right the second. So would you mind giving us sort of the cliff notes of some of the scenarios that you run into on a daily basis?
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I will try to give very quick references, meaning something you could jot down in Google, you know, since this is an audio format. So I think the first place to start there's a really great resource. Again, if you're just Googling FLSA, you can start with just putting domestic worker and that will get you half the way there. But if you want to specifically look, for instance, at wages how do I know about that it's they do these fact sheets because it's so extensive that give you sort of pieces of it and explain it. So fact sheet 76A talks about wages and it talks about things like you have to be paid minimum wage. There is a federal minimum wage, but don't forget that localities, states, local governments, cities can set minimum wages too, and those are often higher. Well, they have to be higher than the federal minimum wage. So those are things to consider where FLSA is a jumping off point, but there may be other things to consider in your local area. Same is sort of true for overtime. There are rules regarding overtime at the federal level for domestic employees. For a live-out nanny, that would be 40 hours in a week. Anything above that's time and a half. But again, there are more and more states these days that have additional overtime laws, california being sort of the most noted that they have daily overtime, but we're seeing other states jump in in different ways too. Another bullet point would be hours worked.
Speaker 3:This is probably the one I get the biggest or the highest number of questions on. A good reference point is fact sheet 79D as in dog so 79D and it goes over different scenarios and it gives examples which I think are really helpful about when are you on the clock. So it goes over things. One of the big definitions is if you're engaged to wait. One of the big definitions is if you're engaged to wait. So in the nanny industry, if you're listening to this on a nap, you are engaged to wait and need to be paid for that, because while you might not actively be holding a baby right now or teaching a song or whatever you might do, an hour from now, you are not able to leave and go do what you want. So you are not on the equivalent of like a lunch break in other industries or, back in the day, a smoke break. But those are questions that come up a lot in our industry and so it goes through different scenarios where you can kind of like I said. It's sort of if-then, and you can work your way down this one-sheet document and sort of figure out the answer to your question. I think pretty easily, but of course you can always call me.
Speaker 3:It goes over things like travel. So how to tell whether or not you should be paid for your travel time has a lot to do with, again, whether you are traveling with a child and therefore, even if they're sleeping in the seat next to you, you are engaged to wait, meaning when they wake up and they need a snack, you're on. And if it crosses over your regular workday versus, like if you work Monday through Friday and you're traveling on a Saturday, it also goes over sleep time If you're working a 24-hour shift and how that can be calculated. On that one again, california has a state law that applies as well, that waives a sleep time exemption, meaning you get paid the whole night, even if you have a legitimate time off where you're allowed to rest. And then I guess, two more sort of bullet points that are not as extensive as the last Classification of a worker.
Speaker 3:I sort of alluded that something called an ABC test helps determine if you're an independent contractor or an employee. A little side note. Basically, if you're listening to this, you are an employee almost without, unless you're an NCS, in which case there's an argument to be a contractor. So that's not Fair Labor Standards Act. But you do have to know the answer in order to apply what is in the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is that you're a non-exempt employee, meaning you have to be paid hourly, you have to be paid over time. You can't have what people think of as a true salary, meaning we're going to pay you X number of dollars per year to be our nanny, without any qualifiers to that, because you don't meet the exceptions which are for things like office workers they call learned professionals, meaning you know attorneys, doctors, those sort of people, computer outside sales, those things have actually spelled out exemptions to that and we don't fall under any of those in this industry. And that's 17A if you want to go look it up. And that's 17A if you want to go look it up 17A.
Speaker 3:And then the last one maybe is for a smaller section of this group, which is for live-ins, because rules are a little different if you are a live-in nanny. Basically, who is a live-in nanny is defined in this? So someone who maintains no other residence, so you indeed full on live with your employer, or if you are there for an extended period of time, they actually define that out it's 120 hours consecutively in a week, which, for those of you who want to sort of break that down, it's five 24-hour shifts. Want to sort of break that down, it's five 24-hour shifts. And then, if you do meet those qualifications, what's different? How is overtime different? Again, federal and state vary some on this. So start with federal and then work your way to the more detailed. State is a good place to start.
Speaker 1:So what'll happen? Because I just I could bet my last bottom dollar that somebody listening is wondering you know what if we don't want to do it? What if both parties decide we don't want to comply with this, we want to do it differently? What? What'll happen?
Speaker 3:What will happen?
Speaker 3:Sure, I actually, whenever there's a question that could either be divisive or combative or make someone feel bad, I try to use a really outlandish example, because I think it often illustrates the point and takes it farther away from home, right, and so you can see the point a little bit better.
Speaker 3:So the one that I always use because people realize I am not judging them in any way is if we could just write laws and rights out by putting them in a contract, if we could just make them not apply to us by saying, sure, we agree to this and everybody's on the same page, so it's really cool. Well then we could hire hit people, right, like we could hire a hit man, if that were true, and be like well, you know, it wasn't really for screen murder because, cool, we put it in contract and everybody was on the same page. So you know, no harm, no foul. So it just doesn't really work that way. You can't sign away your rights. So it's worth knowing at least a baseline of what your rights are. And then, when questions come up, our industry is really lucky to have a strong group of professionals that are willing to help and answer questions, and, you know, answer questions about parts of the industry that they do and then refer you to someone else if it's not what they do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's amazing. Well, you know, there are so many different resources that you've mentioned and I just want the listeners to know when this blog or when this post comes out, we definitely will have a blog to accompany it with a lot of these resources shared there. So if you weren't able to jot everything down, don't worry, it'll be all in one spot for you. And then you know, rachel, there is sort of a little thing that we do with this podcast.
Speaker 2:I'm so sorry, daniel. Oh, no, please. I would love for her to answer. You know, because we're recording this during tax season and, as you know, every single year during tax season a lot of nannies take to Facebook, because that is when people realize that something that has been going on in their employment relationship is maybe not totally kosher, it's not totally OK.
Speaker 2:Communications that we have been seeing happening online, or you know, nannies are sort of asking other nannies in their community to help them draft their you know their text to the boss that you know that basically says like hello, employer, it has come to my attention that the way you're employing me is illegal and you're in violation of FLSA statute as detailed in 79.1. Do you maybe have some examples of ways that employees could approach this with employers that might land a little bit better, or sort of what or what employees resources are, if their employers are like no, we're cool with salary, we're cool with paying you as a 1099, like, we're just not going to do that like, so what's the step to get it resolved? And then, if you're not able to get it directly resolved, what are your options after that as a domestic employee?
Speaker 3:sure. So whether it is an agency or a nanny that calls me, and I deal with a lot of parents who have realized this on their own, sometimes without anyone telling them. They get halfway through a year and they're like, oh goodness, what have I done? So that is the first point I would make is, in all of these calls I take all the time all year long, most of them are not malicious. Of these calls I take all the time all year long, most of them are not malicious. Tax code is crazy. Labor law is wide. These families, I will tell you.
Speaker 3:Sometimes I get an email from my kid's teacher and it takes me a week to respond, right, Because my life is just bananas. So know that a lot of the time this is not malicious, this is just purely they had no idea what they did not know. So I would always start from a place of what I would refer to as grace to say, hey, I didn't know this either and I just found this out from a nanny friend of mine or wherever. You found it out it out and I was a little surprised to hear this, so maybe we could chat about it. And sometimes now is not that moment, right, they say I'm busy, how about tomorrow morning? Or whatever it is. So know that you should go into a conversation like that with grace and then present them the information that you know, as I don't want to say softly as you can, because I don't mean it that way just as information, right, that's not loaded with emotion. Just hey, realize this, Gosh, we haven't been doing that. What shall we do now? And then, of course, if this person says, yeah, thanks for the pointer, I don't care, Then there are options.
Speaker 3:If you have gone to them and it's obvious that this is not going to resolve itself, there are forms you can file for a missing W-2 where you say either I was given the wrong form, meaning a 1099, or I was given no form at all. We have articles on our website about how to fill these out because, again, tax code is crazy and what's going to happen is that then the IRS is going to say, hey, we have no record of you as an employer. That doesn't look like it's right, because your employee says that they were your employee and missing a W-2. So they'll resolve it with the IRS. But then the nanny isn't filing a false tax return and things like that. And obviously, if there are wage and hour disputes, again same thing Go to the family. They may not know, Be graceful. Go to the family. They may not know, be graceful. If it becomes clear that this, they have no interest in this conversation, Then if you feel like your rights have been violated, there are certainly wage and hour lines in each state.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's so helpful and just really practical advice. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Now you can do the fun part. Danielle, Thank you for your Yay.
Speaker 1:My favorite part. Okay, so for each, for each podcast episode, we ask our guests some silly questions, funny questions, and I'm excited to ask you some. Are you ready for these exciting, funny questions, shoot. So when you were four years old old, who would your dream nanny have been?
Speaker 3:I had my dream nanny. That's the best question oh my gosh no one has had a dream nanny yet nobody has said must see she was my nanny.
Speaker 3:That wasn't really her name, her name was Joe Sperling um, but we called her muzzy and she was lovely. And she was lovely and a dream nanny in a way. That's probably a little outdated now that we all have conferences and things, because you see I'm old, so that was a long time ago. But she was loving, she cared, she was the kind of person who, if there was a roly-poly on the sidewalk, would squat down with you and tell you what she did know, which maybe was something and maybe it was nothing, or maybe she asked you questions about it, and we had fun and I felt so loved. In fact, I saw her many, many years later. In fact I saw her many, many years later and you know she was sort of I know it's sort of cliche, but she was sort of like a grandmother to me and I loved it.
Speaker 1:She sounds like a dream nanny to me. I want to have experience. Muzzy, Muzzy, you said Muzzy.
Speaker 2:I have no idea why we called her that. My husband is trying to learn Spanish on Duolingo right now because we've been going to Mexico for Christmas and I'm okay at Spanish, but he has none, and so I've just introduced to him the way that I learned Spanish as a child, which was also named Muzzy. But Muzzy is like this large cartoon monster and there are like little songs that they sing about vowels. But there's been, there's been a lot of Muzzy getting thrown around in our house lately, and I love that. That was your nanny's nickname. It was.
Speaker 1:It's such a cool story, okay, so for all of the candidates that come to Adventure Nannies, we ask them to list out 10 fun facts that we share with families. And you know they can be kind of anything ranging from some exciting adventure that they went on or the you know some really cool experience, or something goofy and funny, and it's just kind of a little way for the families to get a deeper sort of insight into who the person is. But also it doesn't have to be serious. So my question is do you have three fun facts about Rachel?
Speaker 3:Three fun facts, let's see. I will try to do unusual ones that people have maybe never heard. Okay, so all through my teenage years I was big into sports, but the biggest sport I was into was horse vaulting, and so if you have no idea what that is and I'm sure you do not because it is not common go ahead and look it up. It is not the kind of gymnastics that you do like in the olympics and a gymnasium. It is probably you would call it trick riding. It is gymnastics on the back of a moving horse and that is like the most random talent I have. I probably I may not have it anymore, let's be honest, but it was one of my more interesting life experiences and I went around the country on a team and did that and it was fun.
Speaker 1:That is so cool. I love that, and when I was younger I was obsessed with horse vaulting. Our listeners are probably tired of hearing this, but I was and probably deep down still am kind of a horse girl, so I was really into dressage and eventing way of writing. Looking at horse vaulting was just like mind-blowingly cool because it was wild and also terrifying. I honestly can't imagine it. So that's a really cool fact. You have any more facts for us?
Speaker 3:I do. Let's see what can I come up with. That's unusual, one that people probably know. Of my three children, two are twins, and I only survived this experience because of the women in this industry. The NCSs probably saved my sanity, and when I would go to conferences with my children, people would come up and I mean this in a nice way lovingly steal my children, and my husband would always have a slight moment of pause, and I would always remind him that the women that were in this room with me and a few men back then had a much higher skill set than we could ever hope to have, and so children were in better hands than they would have been with us in the hotel room.
Speaker 3:And then let's see another fact. I have sort of like a mini zoo at my house. It's like a mini farm around here. My husband did grow up on a farm in the middle of nowhere. He's never even been to a day school in his life. He was homeschooled his whole life because they lived in the middle of nowhere. But so we have a green acres scenario where we have blended those two things together.
Speaker 3:So we live in suburbia but we have, let's see, a rabbit, eight chickens, a bearded dragon, two fish, a cat, a dog, an enormous vegetable garden and fruit trees and stuff. So that's our menagerie. When's the horse coming? You know I love a miniature horse, so I keep joking. And then I watched the I can't remember the name of the movie the other day the Banshees of Hirshwin. I'm not getting that island's name right, but there's a donkey that lives in the house in it and I have to say it was my favorite character.
Speaker 1:Oh, that sounds like a dream to me.
Speaker 2:Danielle and I were also both homeschooled, so we may need to bring Aaron on here for a future podcast episode. No one else will listen to us. We'll let you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly, I think homeschooling is such a unique experience, for sure, but the amount of independence that you get is kind of unmatched outside of the house, and so they were always together. And then I grew up like total suburbia right. My parents both had jobs they went to. We always had a nanny or an afterschool or a summer program. You got on board with society and it's sometimes super restrictiveness, and so it was interesting to blend those into raising children. But it's been good.
Speaker 1:I was just thinking how lucky your children are to have such a cool mix of parents and your menagerie, as you put it, sounds really exciting and cool. I love it.
Speaker 3:I often think of Shenandoah when I'm petting the bunny, because I know she likes bunnies.
Speaker 2:I left my bunny in Tacoma when I moved.
Speaker 3:You can come visit me.
Speaker 1:I would like to do that Shenandoah could have a farm too. All I'm saying is, somebody needs to get a horse, and that's that's just what I'm getting at. So mini regular sized. I just think it'll add to everybody's joy.
Speaker 3:They do bring joy, they really do Well.
Speaker 1:Rachel, thank you so much for taking the time out of your probably really wild schedule during tax season to share all of your knowledge with us, and I do just want to thank you again for distilling some of these really complex processes and rules into really palatable information that is so accessible. So thank you for that, and would you mind sharing where our listeners can go to learn more and to get more resources?
Speaker 3:Sure. So if you're just going to jump on Google, the best thing to do is just do FLSA domestic worker or domestic employee. That will get you most of the way there. We also have a tremendous number of resources on our webpage, which, again, we try to take tax language and make it accessible or labor law language, and it's homeworksolutionscom. You can click on the Knowledge Center tab and then search by keyword.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Rachel.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. It's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening. You can find all of our episodes on Apple Music, spotify and wherever podcasts are streamed.
Speaker 2:And you can find Adventure Nannies off air on our website adventuredanniescom, or you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on our latest opportunities.
Speaker 1:If you love this episode, please give us a review if you're feeling so inclined.
Speaker 2:And if you hated this episode, well, sorry.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening.
