Monthly Archives: May 2015

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Nanny Know-How with Lindsay

Finding the right nanny for your family is essential! We work with both caregivers and nannies to pair up the best match for both our member families and caregivers. However, maintaining a great nanny-client relationship is equally important.

Lindsay sat down with Leigh Goldman, a Gymtime Mom, to share some strategies.

Some of the key points are:

  1. Outline expectations
  2. Clarify your policy on days off
  3. Spread good karma
  4. Talk the talk
  5. Avoid being over friendly
  6. Exercise common courtesy

Check out the full article here to learn more about each of those bullet points and get the full run-down on Lindsay’s nanny know-how!

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BFL – City Treehouse

With summer just around the corner, Spring is getting in its last few showers. With a few rainy weeks ahead, we wanted to share one of our favorite indoor play spaces in the city:  City Treehouse.

City Treehouse offers a really cute treehouse-themed indoor play area with an interactive water play area, a treehouse to climb and slide from, classes, storytelling, and child-directed activities throughout. Learn more about how your child can dip, dunk, and pour at the interactive area here.

If you are looking for a little more of a hands-on activity, register your child for one of the classes at City Treehouse. Classes are offered in subjects such as dancing, yoga, arts & crafts, baby playgroup, new moms support group, and music. Another great feature is City Treehouse can custom-design a class for your little ones, as long as there are six or more interested children.

Make sure you call ahead, as the facility is reservation based!

Events

MDW: Red, White, & Bell

Memorial Day is a federal holiday for remembering the people who died while serving in our armed forces. The weekend is also the much-anticipated start to the summer season. We’re excited for another summer of adventuring, camps, family vacations, beach time, relaxation, and more!

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Check out some of our favorite memorial day activities for little ones below:

1) Celebrate all of the solider and veterans in your life by attending your local parade. Also check out fun events such as the Grand Procession at the Green-Wood Cemetery, which will be transformed into a Civil War-era commemoration and festival on Saturday.

2) If you’re looking to get out of the city, but don’t want to hit a lot of traffic, Governor’s Island.

3) Head to the beach, and take a BFC sitter if you need an extra hand! Beaches like Coney Island, Jones Beach, Brighton Beach, Orchard Beach, and Rockaway Beach are all easy commutes from the city and boast plenty of sand and sun-filled fun!

4) We also love heading to museums and the zoo on weekends like this! Since so many people are headed out to the beach, attractions like this usually have shorter lines.

5) As the sun heats up on Monday, you might want to bring the kids to some water attractions. Mommy Poppins created a great list of water parks in the area here.

Overall, enjoy spending time with your family and celebrating

Partner

VMV Hypoallergenics

We’re excited to be working more with one of our great partners, VMV Hypoallergenics! VMV Hypoallergenics is a fantastic skincare company that offers safe, proven effective, and clinically-published products and services.

We’re also excited about their Grandma Minnie line, which is specifically designed for expecting moms!

VMV is proud of six core characteristics that make VMV so unique:

1) Proven Hypoallergenic

2) Published Studies

3) Created + formulated by a world-renowned dermatologists

4) Each product tested to within an inch of its life

5) Regularly Updated Formulations

6) Head-to-Toe Care from Diapers to Dermabrasion

Check out VMV Hypoallergenics for all of your summer skincare needs; we know we will be!

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BFL – Pager

Bell Family Company is excited to announce a new partnership with Pager!

Pager is an on-demand medical services company that offers doctors visits to your NYC home, hotel, or office. Pager doctors can evaluate patients for illness, injury, minor skin conditions, school and employment physicals, and much more.

We love the concept of Pager’s on-demand model, and we’ve seen how effective it is for families in need of services! Pager says, “Waiting rooms aren’t kid-friendly. Pager sends board-certified doctors to you within two hours — so your child doesn’t have to leave home when sick or injured.”

Between BFC and Pager, all of your on-demand family needs are covered!

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BFF – How we Keep the Family

Company culture is something that’s important everywhere, and we agree! The BFC culture and amazing staff are what keeps our member families and sitters coming back year after year. Ever wonder what the special sauce is?

We recently came across this great article on former start-up Airbnb and how they handle bureaucracy and maintaining the close-knit feel.  CEO Mike Curtis noted: “the antidote to unproductive bureaucracy is good old-fashioned judgment — having it, hiring for it, and creating conditions that allow people to exercise it.” He also noted that one of the most crucial elements of this is building a trustworthy team filled with trustworthy people.

As many of you know, our hiring process is intensive and thorough. We make sure that our people are coming in with the right attitude and “special stuff” to fit in with the company goals. We support and trust all of our sitters and staff, and as a result, so do our member families!

Check out the rest of the Airbnb article here for some more interesting tidbits!

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BFL – Lyft

Ride-sharing and on-demand ride services have been all the rage lately, especially for city-dwellers without cars. One of our favorite new services is Lyft.

Lyft gives you the option to ride solo, or to hook up with another group of travelers headed in the same direction for a reduced fare. This is a great mode of transportation for our sitters and families looking for a reliable service.

What we love about Lyft is you can track your drivers. So parents sending kids to soccer practice with a BFC sitter can see when the ride is scheduled to arrive at the house, the route the car is taking, and get notified when they are dropped off.

Tried Lyft before? We’d love to hear what you thought of it!

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WWW – Sheryl Sandberg and “Leaning In”

Sheryl Sandberg has been in the news a lot this week, showing her incredible strength and drive as not only an executive, but a woman as well. We wanted to honor one of the world’s most visible  working women by highlighting some of her infamous “Lean In” tips.

Sandberg’s notes in her best-seller, Lean In, that it is difficult to manage both career and motherhood even before giving birth (something many women can relate to as they head to work in the same flats they wore before their feet ballooned up a size!).

Sandberg believes despite obstacles many women face in the workplace (discrimination, lower compensation, etc), it is possible to still “lean in” with careful planning and a supportive partner. Forbes notes that the five best pieces of advice Sandberg offers are as follows:

  1. Be more open to taking career risks
  2. Skip the people pleasing
  3. Visualize your career as a jungle gym, not a ladder
  4. Allow yourself to fantasize about your career
  5. Start a Lean-In circle or peer group of women you can talk to monthly

 

Do you agree with Sandberg’s tips? Leave a comment below about your experience with working and motherhood!