Does anyone have a not frum/non-jew babysitter in their home

anon

Mon, Oct 08 2007, 8:00 pm

If so, what do you do about their lunches? I am really not in the mood of preparing some lady's lunch everyday, but the other option is to let them bring treif food into the house.

What do you do? And if you prepare their lunch for them, what do you serve?

nicole81

Mon, Oct 08 2007, 8:46 pm

I always had bread, crackers, fruits, veggies, peanut butter and jelly, tuna, cheese, sometimes cold cuts, cooked eggs, yogurts, etc and always told her to help herself. that's what I eat for lunch every day anyway. who needs a big meal?

baseballmom

Mon, Oct 08 2007, 8:48 pm

Get a shopping list from her of the things she likes/wants. Make sure the house is always stocked with these things. Also, stay on top of this...have sitter add items to family shopping list or something of the sort or you may not know when she runs out. Now you have plenty of kosher food that she likes available for her.

SingALong

Wed, Oct 10 2007, 5:14 pm

I have a non jewish babysitter living by me. so I always ask her what she wants from the grocery, I make extra supper for her that she can eat the next day at lunch.
Additionally, I open the milichig fire for her so she can cook herself macaroni or rice. its just 4 her, not for us, andi only let her do this after she was working by me awile and understood meat and milk need to be separate.. I dont let her cook by the fleishig side though...I dont love the situation but she asked if she can cook for herself some basic stuff so I said ok...

Sparkle

Wed, Oct 10 2007, 8:48 pm

My babysitter/cleaner knows all about kashrus since I trained her when she first started with me. She makes herself a sandwhich (no need to cook) or heats up leftovers in the microwave. I trust her enough to wash my dishes etc - she can make herself a ready made lunch without treifing up things. Also, I am in and out so I often am able to see what she is doing.

Marion

Thu, Oct 11 2007, 12:23 am

GAMZu wrote:

Let's not get into politics. If they bring treif in the house, does it matter if it's Jewish chazer or non jewish?

Why automatically assume that a non-frum person will bring treif into the house? Why automatically assume that a non-Jew will bring treif into the house?

(And when the Italian Catholic kitchen guys were installing my mother's new kitchen and put a ham sandwich down on her brand new counter, her ORTHODOX Rabbi told her to stop panicking...it was cold.)

amother

Thu, Oct 11 2007, 2:42 am

I have a non-Jewish babysitter in my home. I wasn't sure how to go about the food sit. so I asked my Rav. He said that she absolutely may not touch anything fleishig and she may not bring anything into my home except maybe bottled water, but not even soda. He strongly suggested that I even tell her that if she goes over those rules, I have to fire her. Instead, I make sure that there is something in the house she can have and take herself for a light lunch, snacks, etc. It is a plus for her job that she can eat from me and doesn't have to bring food. If I am cooking or have something leftover, I show her what she can take. I also always keep paper which she is only allowed to use (bowls, plates, forks, cups) and then if a mistake is made, I don't have to be upset and she won't try to hide it b/c there is nothing for me to be upset about (like ruining my dishes or something).

anon

Thu, Oct 11 2007, 5:26 am

Thanks all for your replies. I asked her what she'll want to eat, and she basically said not to worry about it. She said she'll go to the pizza stores nearby and maybe I can have so yogurt and cheese stocked. EASY....YAY!

Plus, she's Jewish and perhaps a little frum and she worked for a frum family for years beforehand. The first thing she asked when she walked into my kitchen was "Where's the milchigs and the fleishigs?". She then opened up my cabinets, saw the labels and said "Ah, milchigs.....and fleishigs...now I know". Yay again!

Marion, I really don't understand what the problem is. I don't want people bringing unkosher foods into my kosher home. I run that risk when hiring someone who doesn't keep kosher (I.e., not frum and not jewish). What on earth is controversial about that?

Marion

Thu, Oct 11 2007, 10:54 am

anon wrote:

Marion, I really don't understand what the problem is. I don't want people bringing unkosher foods into my kosher home. I run that risk when hiring someone who doesn't keep kosher (I.e., not frum and not jewish). What on earth is controversial about that?

What's wrong with it is your assumption that "not frum" equals "eats treif". It doesn't always. And if you don't trust someone, don't hire them, no matter how frum they are.

Twizzlers

Thu, Oct 11 2007, 11:35 am

amother wrote:

You trust a person with your children but you don't trust them in the kitchen? Something is wrong with this picture. Rolling Eyes

I agree. you're worried she might mess up your dishes...why arent you worried she might mess up your kids? Confused

anon

Thu, Oct 11 2007, 3:42 pm

Marion wrote:

anon wrote:

What's wrong with it is your assumption that "not frum" equals "eats treif". It doesn't always. And if you don't trust someone, don't hire them, no matter how frum they are.

I was under the impression that "frum" is defined by keeping shabbas, kashrus, and taharas hamishpacha. I was lumping the two categories together for purely practical purposes regarding kashrus. I'm still unsure why you got offended.

And what does this have to do with trust?

anon

Thu, Oct 11 2007, 3:47 pm

Twizzlers wrote:

amother wrote:

You trust a person with your children but you don't trust them in the kitchen? Something is wrong with this picture. Rolling Eyes

I agree. you're worried she might mess up your dishes...why arent you worried she might mess up your kids? Confused

Please, YOU explain to me the logic. Because it makes no sense to me.

And yes, the pizza store is kosher.

Everyone can caaalm down. I asked advice regarding a specific matter. It doesn't mean I'm brainless with regards to everything else, and I'm not sure why you would assume such.

Marion

Thu, Oct 11 2007, 5:59 pm

anon wrote:

Marion wrote:

anon wrote:

What's wrong with it is your assumption that "not frum" equals "eats treif". It doesn't always. And if you don't trust someone, don't hire them, no matter how frum they are.

By that definition, someone who doesn't keep TH is not frum...but doesn't mean they don't keep kosher, or know anything about it.

Clarissa

Thu, Oct 11 2007, 6:45 pm

Marion wrote:

By that definition, someone who doesn't keep TH is not frum...but doesn't mean they don't keep kosher, or know anything about it.

True. I was raised kosher, know plenty of kosher people from my youth, and not one of them kept TH.

That said, I understood what OP meant, since I have plenty of Jewish friends who are at various levels of observance.

I don't have a babysitter, but I have had various cleaning women over the years. It seems that every one I've had has extensive experience with kosher kitchens, and they seem to understand how it works.