MARY POPPINS WOULD BE PROUD; NANNIES FROM SOUTHEAST MISSOURI KEEP NEW ENGLAND TOTS IN TOW

Mary Poppins would be proud: her tradition of practical but tender care for tots is being carried on thanks, in part, to Annie's Midwestern Nannies.

Nannies from Southeast Missouri are being exported to New England under the direction of Mary Susan Trainor, who discovered a need for live-in child care and developed a business to meet that need.

When Trainor, a Jackson native who now resides in Wilton, Conn., was back in the Cape Girardeau area for a holiday visit a couple of years ago, she ran an advertisement as a favor to a friend who was looking for a nanny.

It was then that Trainor recognized a need for a service that could match prospective nannies from the Midwest with Fairfield County, Conn., families in need of quality, reasonably-priced, live-in nannies.

"When I got back home," Trainor said, "I began researching. I wrote to other nanny agencies to see their material and the things they required. There is lots of competition in this field, but I wanted to be better."

Trainor, a University of Missouri- Columbia graduate who has two children of her own Bethany, 6, and Ethan, 2 saw starting her own service as a way to meet a need in her area while working out of her home.

Thus began the existence of Annie's (Midwestern) Nannies. Founded in December 1989, Annie's Nannies was incorporated last January. Since then, Trainor and her mother, Peggy Knowlan, who recruits nannies here, have placed 25 nannies.

Trainor's placement fee of $800 is considerably lower than the typical fees in her area of $1,000 or more.

"I'm one of the few agencies I know of that screens the families to make sure the nannies are going into good homes," Trainor said. "I'll usually reject families if they are too fussy or seem to want too much; I don't want the girls to be slaves."

The duties of the nannies usually include supervising the children, cleaning up after them and doing their laundry, feeding and bathing them and driving them to their activities. Trainor said the nannies are not expected to do general housekeeping or other work unless they are paid extra.

"The work is not all fun and games," said Angie Basler, an Annie's Nanny from Cape Girardeau working in Westport, Conn., and the first nanny to be placed by the agency. "You have to keep after the kids all of the time, but you also have a lot of fun."

Trainor requires two references from interested clients and three from the nannies.

Knowlan, of Burfordville, is responsible for the recruiting and screening on her end. Trainor's best friend, Anne Steck, after whom the company is named, also helps recruit during busy seasons and when Knowlan is unavailable. Knowlan and Steck check the women's backgrounds and references.

"We are very careful about the kind of girls we take," said Knowlan. "I call their references myself."

Trainor said the women who make the best nannies are those who are willing to work hard and will speak out when problems arise.

"We usually only have problems when there has been a breakdown in communication between the nanny and the family," she said.

After a potential match has been made between a family and a nanny, the family will call the nanny, Knowlan said.

"It's a two-way thing," she said. "The clients ask the girls questions, and the girls get a chance to ask questions, too."

Trainor's concern for her nannies doesn't end once they have been placed with their families. She keeps in touch with the nannies, mediates problems that may arise between a family and a nanny, and holds "nanny parties" every three to four months.

"I know I'm the only agency that holds nanny parties," she said. "It helps the nannies meet each other. The new ones get more comfortable when they get to talk with the old-timers. It's a good way to network."

Basler said she finds the parties enjoyable and beneficial. "You get to hear about what some of the other families are like and what the other nannies are required to do," she said.

Trainor has several expectations of the families with which her nannies are employed.

Among the provisions the families must furnish nannies are full room and board with a private bathroom or a bathroom shared with the children, airfare to New York or Connecticut and ground transportation from the airport, use of kitchen and laundry facilities, auto insurance if nannies drive a family car, and return airfare if nannies fulfills their work agreement.

Additional benefits for nannies may include health insurance, use of the family car for personal errands and free travel with the family.

"The nannies have the use of a car in about 99 percent of the cases," Trainor said. "They often get to travel with the family; some of the girls have been to Cape Cod, Vermont, Boston. They get to see a lot of parts of the country."

This is one of the factors of the job that draws many of Annie's Nannies employees, said Trainor.

"One of the best things about the job is the girls get to experience a very different life here. It's a really good experience for them."

In addition, the nannies receive a minimum salary of $150 per week.

"That's not too bad when you consider that I get to use a car without having to pay for gas and insurance, and all of my other expenses are paid for," said Amy Knaup, a Cape Girardeau resident who works as a nanny for a 2-year-old child in Wilton, Conn.

Knaup, a University of Missouri-Columbia student, is holding her position for the summer only. She described her job as a "really neat experience, very different from any other job."

"I really like kids," she said, "and I've always wanted to come out here. One of the best parts of this job is getting to see a different part of the country, and I love being with kids all day."

Knaup often travels with her employer family to horse and dog shows and will vacation with them in Maine next month.

Knaup's sister, Susan, a 1987 Southeast Missouri State University graduate, also works as a nanny in Wilton.

"Having my sister there really helped a lot," Knaup said. She now has made several friends in Connecticut and sometimes goes to New York City in her spare time.

Basler's first job through Annie's Nannies was also a summer position, but she now works full time for a family with two children.

"It was hard when I first came up here," she said. "I didn't know a soul, but Mary Susan really helped me adjust."

Basler, a child-development graduate from Southeast Missouri State University, said the people for whom she works make her feel like part of the family, not just a nanny. "It's really rewarding that they consider me an equal to them," she said. "They always ask my input about things."

Basler has traveled with her employer family to Pennsylvania, Boston and Washington, D.C.

Lisa Johns, a full-time nanny in Easton, Conn., took her job because her boyfriend was stationed in Saudi Arabia and she wanted to divert her attention from the Persian Gulf War.

Johns, of Anna, Ill., takes care of two children who spend most of their days at camp and school. Johns does clerical work for the family and has a house-cleaning job on Mondays.

Johns will be moving with her work family to their apartment on New York City's Park Avenue in September.

"I really feel like part of the family," she said. "At first it was hard to get into the family because I was a little scared to talk to them, but now I can talk to my employer about anything."

Trailor said she usually experiences higher demand for nannies than supply. She has tried recruiting nannies in other areas, but, she said, "no recruiters are as good as my mother."

Most families prefer a nanny who will work for one full year with the option of staying on after the contract period.

She said, "The reason we try to recruit nannies who can stay for a year or longer is because there is the possibility of trauma to a child when they have to change nannies frequently."

The largest demand for nannies usually comes in September and October, Trainor said. Recruitment is very rare in November, she said, because Christmas is coming up and the nannies want to be with their families.

"The girls who we place frequently say they want to be home for Christmas," Knowlan said, "and they are usually able to."

Trainor said, "This is a great job for someone who loves children and would love to experience a very different part of the country."