Those who grew up watching The Nanny might imagine thatnannyingis an easy job where one has all the free time in the world. In reality, you’re taking care of someone else’s kid, and that can be stressful and time-consuming. Not to mention that some strange characters in the family might make you feel uncomfortable at times.
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I was nannying for a 12, 9, and 3 yo.One time the eldest, a boy, said that he had his parents' permission to stay up late and watch a soccer game. I had been informed of no such thing, so at the child’s insistance, I quickly called the parents to check, as the boy had a habit of not telling the truth.Well when the parents came home the dad screamed at me for interrupting their date and for insinuating that their kid didn’t tell the truth.All could have been avoided had the parents simply informed, the adult in charge, of their permission.I quit three weeks later. F that, I’m not here for you to scream at and power trip on.
I was a nanny (age 19) for three little girls, two were in school, and one was at home. They were wonderful girls that never gave me any trouble. I cooked for them, cleaned the house, polished the silver, did laundry, and set up dinner for the family before the parents came home. I even sewed the girls matching dresses. I had been there almost a year when one night the mother came home and was so happy to see her youngest as she came through the door. She bent down with arms outstretched and called her to come to her. The little one ran and hid behind me, hung onto my leg, and wouldn’t go to her. I was horrified and felt so embarrassed for the mother. I soon gave my notice as I couldn’t bear to see that happen again. I found out later that the parents figured out a way for one to work at home (unheard of in those days) so a parent was always there. I was so glad. It was one of the reasons I found a way to stay at home when my children were small.
I used to be a nanny for my co-worker’s 7 and 3 year old girls, at the time I was also studying for nursing, anyways at the time I was looking after the girls, the parents warned me to keep an eye on the 3 year old because she likes to wonder off and into the street, long story short, wondering off was not her only issue, I caught her trying to eat the wall and whatever else she could wrap her mouth around. When her parents got home I was pulling her away from the table she was trying to chew on. I informed her parents that they should get her looked at because she’s showing signs of having pica (an eating disorder that makes you crave things that aren’t considered food) the parents yelled at and fired me for not feeding the kids, then turned around and tried to convince me to come back after their doctor officially diagnosed the 3 year old with pica after he caught her chewing on the cushion of the medical bed. I told them “F-that” and no longer speak to that coworker.
I was a nanny for a long time, so I have lots of stories, but this is the most recent.In the six months after I graduated college, I nannied for a family with three girls. The job seemed too good to be true: $16 an hour, 38 hours a week, travel reimbursement… and things went okay for awhile. When I was hired the family did ask me to take care of some “light” daily household chores (even though they had a maid service) and I agreed. I was also asked to handle errands and help “manage” the home, which included supervising the maids, letting handymen into the home, signing for packages, etc. I would arrive at 10 AM each morning and handle household tasks until it was time to leave to pick up the youngest around 1 PM. I liked the job even though it was a lot of pressure - it kinda made me feel like I had a purpose. I loved those girls so much. Over time, though, the “light chores” turned into a lot more work. They would leave dirty dishes everywhere, messes on the floor - it went from general upkeep to a full-on house cleaning almost every day. One afternoon, after shuffling the kids from school to activities and back to their house and then making sure homework and baths were taken care of, I was stressed out of my mind. I was looking forward to going to my home, but, as always, I made sure everything was clean before the parents got home.The next morning the house was an absolute wreck when I showed up and I lost it. Nobody was home, thankfully, and I dissolved into tears and kept crying while I cleaned everything up (this was a 4,000 square foot home on four acres of property - it was no small feat). I’d had enough, and I needed to say something. That night I left a very polite note - I seriously went out of my way to make sure it was submissive and gentle - asking that the family place the dishes in the sink when they were finished with dinner. That, I thought, would make me feel a little better.I got a text the next morning an hour before work saying that my things (apron, snacks, water) and a severance check were in the outbox outside of the property and I was no longer needed. I didn’t even try to ask why. I got my stuff, left my keys, garage remote, and parking pass where they had left my things, and walked away. I haven’t heard from them since.
I was interviewing to be a nanny to a medical needs young boy, maybe 3–5 years old (I originally wrote 2 but my memory is a little fuzzy and part of me is remembering him older). His mother was a bit immature but she was desperate because she was starting a job in a few days. The little boy was poorly behaved. At one point he physically took my face in his hands as I was trying to speak to his mother. She laughed it off and said it was normal and that I’d need to just let him do that without correcting him because any sort of discipline was the parents job. He had issues with his bowels that he was born with and I’d need to give him medicine multiple times a day while also keeping a close eye on him, his bowel movements, and become acquainted with all his doctors and healthcare providers. Near the end of the interview his mother told me it was good I was pretty because her husband said he wanted a hot nanny. I could have dealt with all of this except for the fact that what she was offering was way under minimum wage. I think it came out to about $2.75/hour. When I declined she went on a rage telling me she was desperate because her job was starting. I think I sidestepped a landmine. I have to add that I’m uncomfortable around men because of abuse I suffered through as a child. I’m also experienced taking care of kids with special medical needs. Making so far under minimum wage while dealing with those specific needs is degrading, especially if I wasn’t even allowed to teach him how to respect people’s bodies.
YES! I was a nanny for two young boys for one summer when I was about 17. Their mom and stepdad both worked full time, and so I kept them from the time their parents left in the morning until they came home at night. The mom was pregnant with her first child with the stepdad, they had been married about 2 years or so.The step dad was always really nice. But after a while he seemed too nice. He always complimented me on my hair or said I looked nice. He would make it a point to touch my arm or hand a couple times. He started coming home on his lunch breaks to spend time with us (though the mom was still at work and didn’t know). He would always sit right next to me, even when there were plenty of other places to sit. And he just gave me this really creepy vibe.I remember the last day I worked there, he came home for lunch and sat right next to me on a little loveseat I had been sitting on when he came in. When he sat, he was angled a little bit to face me, and his knee was touching mine. He gave me lots of compliments, touched my arm several times, and kept looking at me in a very uncomfortable way. Up until this point, I had been trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I was done. Keep in mind he was 40-something and I was 17, and that his two young stepchildren were right there seeing how he was acting the whole time. The summer was over, but he had been asking me to keep nannying them when school started. I told him I wouldn’t be able to, and when I left that day I never came back.Just a few months later he was divorced and got in trouble for stealing money from his job. All around not a great guy. I’ve seen him a few times since then in passing, but I always avoid him. Last time I saw him, I don’t think he recognized me, thankfully.
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My first Nanny job was when I was twenty-years-old. I worked for an Assistant District Attorney for Juvenile court. She had been in a car Accident when she was eighteen and was a quadriplegic.She and her spouse would have big fights with all-out screaming, her running over his feet on purpose and her throwing things. This freaked me out as there was no way to escape it because I lived there.When I could no longer handle it I gave my two-week notice. I had to go on vacation with them to a cabin outside of Bend, OR. It was tense.When we got back the Dad was helping me haul my stuff upstairs and out to the car. She put her wheelchair at the top of the stairs and refused to let him help me.My next Nanny job was for a newly widowed mother with a two-year-old boy, five-year-old girl, and ten-year-old boy.When I was hired it was not clarified that my job was to Nanny the Mom as much as the kids.I was young and going through severe panic attacks and depression that I was not yet being treated for. I had no skills to able to deal with her grief as well as the kids. I was making five meals a day ( breakfast for kids, breakfast/lunch for mom, lunch for kids, snacks and dinner, laundry, picking up kids, running errands for Mom and dealing with how angry she was at him for dying. Also, the kids would physically attack the previous Nannies. The kids were fine. It was the Mother’s situation that I wasn’t able to cope with.
Few years ago I was the care taker for 2 children. One 7 and the other 5. They were both somewhat decent kids but lacked good parents.They lived in a $2M house (most expensive house in town at the time) went to private schools and got picked up in very expensive cars everyday. (Divorced parents, wife got very rich through the divorce)The younger child was pretty well behaved. Me growing up in a very poor household was often shocked to see how other people lived.The father was a successful business man which in turn gave him little time to be a dad.The kids had little to no parenting but at the same time had unlimited money.Couple years into my job I saw many actions that the children performed that you would not believe.Finally the oldest brought a firearm to school, got sent off to boarding school, escaped and tried to break into a dollar store until the police came. He flew home and the father didn’t care a single bit. I quit the next day.
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