Ah, summer. The season of sunshine, melting popsicles, and your toddler loudly announcing their bathroom needs mid-Zoom call.  As a work-from-home mom running a nanny agency, I completely understand the daily juggling act of trying to work while your kids are home for the summer. It’s sweet having them around, sure—but let’s be real, “mom mode” and “work mode” do not mix well. We shuffle them off to summer camps, playdates, grandma’s house—you name it. But somehow, there are always those awkward in-between gaps where no one’s available, and you just need a little more help. 

As much as we love the Lone Star State, we all need somewhere to cool off in the summer! While searching for some of the best waterparks and splash pads in DFW, we discovered that opportunities to get wet are everywhere. To start, check out this free guide from DFW Child that includes splash pads in most major suburbs.

As we wind down the craziness and excitement of May I wanted to share something with you. May is Maternal Mental Health Month and while that may not be circled on your calendar between school pickups, nap schedules, and dinner plans, I want to pause for a moment and talk directly to you. Because I believe your mental health matters. Deeply.

For most people, the term “bucket list” conjures up images of personal achievements, foreign destinations, or skills yet to master, but you don’t have to travel beyond the borders of your hometown to create lifelong memories with your family. In fact, the hiking trail you discover a short drive from your house could hold more value to your child than the seven wonders of the world! That’s why this month we’ve compiled resources for creating a summer bucket list. Start from scratch and make your own list or explore links to fully developed calendars and blogs written by women who have blazed the trail for you. We hope the ideas below help you get started and try something new this summer! While you may be surprised by some of your kids’ greatest aspirations, you never have to guess what’s at the top of our bucket list - using our calling to help you pursue yours…We’re living the dream!

April showers bring May flowers and, for all the parents out there, lots of opportunities for rainy day crafts! Whether you’re a nanny or a full time working mom, we’ve searched the internet for some of the most endearing handmade crafts of the season and narrowed them down to our “Top 10”. No matter where these crafts meet you in life, one of our goals at Lone Star Nannies is to meet you where you are with your childcare needs. We’re here to help, rain or shine! Skim through the list below and find the best fit for your kids…

April is Autism Awareness Month, a time to recognize and celebrate the unique beauty of neurodiversity, while also acknowledging the very real challenges many families face—especially when it comes to finding trusted, compassionate care.

We’re all counting down the days until spring break! In Texas, this means highways covered with bluebonnets, no homework, and perfect temperatures for lunch outside. There’s something hopeful about the change of seasons, and spring holds an especially significant connection to new life. We all want a fresh start, we all want to try new things…and we all love the thought of sipping a coconut on the beach! If you’re looking forward to a family vacation in the coming months, this post is for you.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Lone Star Nannies! In the late 4th century, a teenage boy named Patrick was kidnapped from his home in modern day Great Britain and taken to Ireland as a slave. After his escape, he returned to Ireland to tell the country about Christianity. Today, Patrick is known as the patron saint of Ireland and March 17th still stands in his honor. Thanks to many Irish immigrants, St. Patrick’s Day has become a famous American holiday with 5K fun runs, shamrocks, parades, and wearing green…at least, if you don’t want to get pinched! There are so many legends surrounding St. Patrick and the activities we traditionally associate with his feast day, but for the sake of time, we’re going to devote this blog to one of the most engaging for kids - the legend of leprechauns! 

Dr. Gary Chapman’s book The Five Love Languages has been on the New York Times’ best seller list since 2007. Based on its popularity, you’ve probably taken a love language quiz at some point in your life! While serving as a marriage counselor, Dr. Chapman began to see patterns in the conflicts that led husbands and wives to feel unloved. After a deep dive into years of session notes, he ended up with five love languages. The basic premise of his book is that people with different personalities give and receive love in different ways. Since that time, his work has expanded beyond marriage to include practical advice for parents to identify the love languages of their children. You can check out the book and other resources here at the Love Languages website.

We all know date nights are important, but despite our best efforts, investing time in our marriage often gets placed on the back burner. Children, deadlines at work, and every day tasks such as laundry or dishes tend to take precedence over doing things we enjoy with our better half. All of this is part of doing life together, but there’s so much more to marriage than the demands of daily life! It’s time to freshen up the traditional “dinner and a movie” with some fun (and free) ways to date your spouse again! This post is completely devoted to helping you make date nights a new goal in 2025. You don’t have to break the bank to show each other your love, you just need a little creativity and a game plan! Here are a few ideas to help you get started…

Sometimes you just need to get away for a weekend! If you’ve lived in Texas long enough, you’ve heard of all the typical hot spots for families - touring Austin, camping in Broken Bow, or exploring the Fort Worth stockyards. It’s time for some new ideas! Check out these hidden gems and get something on the calendar with the ones you love…you know who to call if you need childcare! 

When most people think of Valentine’s Day, they think of two words - DATE NIGHT. At Lone Star Nannies, we use our calling to help you pursue yours. This year, let us use our calling so that you can take a break! There are loving and responsible nannies from our agency ready to spend an evening with your kids, and they would love doing any of the crafts listed below!

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, the month of February provides the perfect opportunity to show friends, family, and nannies how doing things together makes life so sweet (with or without candy on your valentine).

When temperatures drop and kids are no longer able to spend as much time outdoors, they can still travel all over the world by immersing themselves in the next best thing…the pages of a book! Whether you’re a nanny looking to pass time by reading chapters aloud or a parent wanting to encourage your avid reader with a new series, check out the list below for books we think are a great fit for elementary age students.

We know this is a busy time of year for most families. Whether you’re scrambling for last minute gift ideas, looking for keepsake crafts, or thinking about establishing new family traditions, you’ve come to the right blog! There are so many ways to fill the weeks before Christmas, but we don’t want you to feel overwhelmed. Instead, we hope the projects below give you a little creative inspiration for everyone on your Christmas list! Handmade crafts are priceless. You’ll never get tired of using them to decorate your home or surprise friends and family. If you’re a nanny, we hope you find the perfect activity to do with your kids. There’s a lot of pent up energy and excitement this time of year, but you’re masters at channeling restless hands into something memorable.

The most wonderful time of the year is just around the corner! Whether you’re planning to entertain family or looking forward to an upcoming date night, we’ve created a seasonal guide with some of the best (and most nostalgic) Thanksgiving and Christmas events across DFW. Sip on hot chocolate while you look for the perfect Christmas tree, visit Northpark for a free story hour with Santa, or take an evening to stop by a live nativity with real camels! We had a lot of fun making this list and hope you have even more fun celebrating this season with little ones. Check out the ideas below and don’t forget to tag us on social media if you find something you love. If it’s a date night you’re looking for…you know who to call! We’re here for all your childcare needs.

Welcome to our library, a place where nannies and parents can be inspired with ideas to engage even the most hesitant readers! In this post, we’ve compiled summaries of popular fall themed children’s books. Filled with humor and life lessons, we think these books will be a big hit…but don’t take it from us! Load up the kids and make a trip to your local library for an afternoon outing and some of the titles listed below.

With all the excitement about pumpkins this time of year, we’ve curated some of the best craft ideas on the internet so that you can extend the fun at home! Don’t worry if you have a wide range of ages and interest levels in your family. We’ve got you covered! Check out our thoughts below on crafts appropriate for everyone from preschool students to grandparents…

If you’re looking for a guide to some of the best pumpkin patches in north Texas, we’ve got you covered. In the links below, you’ll find everything from free week day outings to fun weekend destinations for the whole family. Bring home a few pumpkins and check out our blog next week for crafts and activities. There’s something about pumpkins that brings out the kid in all of us!

You’ve gone through the vetting process, interviewed a few nannies, and have found the perfect fit for your family. Now what? At Lone Star Nannies, we want to be there for you every step of the way, not just until you find the person you’re looking for. While we understand that nannies are employees, we also recognize that choosing someone to care for your children is the start of a long-term relationship. Whatever your expectations about welcoming a nanny into your home, communication makes a significant difference in your experience. As you establish rapport with your new nanny, check out the following resources to help make communication as smooth as possible.

If you Google “how to have a nanny when you work at home,” you’ll see some recurring topics emerge from all the online conversation. While the advice is practical, our experiences with families have taught us that no family is the same and every situation is different. Knowing (theoretically) the importance of setting boundaries is great, but how do you know where to start? There are always challenges to working in the same space, but it’s a fairly recent phenomenon for that space to be your own home. In this blog post, we took some of the most common topics referenced when navigating the blurred lines of working at home with a nanny and added a few of our own.