Would you fire nanny for this?

[Anonymous]

Start from the premise of we’re not thrilled with her. She has been running lots of personal errands and just dragging the kids along. I told her that once in a while is okay but that she should be engaging the kids, taking them to the library and playground, doing crafts, etc. But she never lied about what she was doing. Until now...

We have a baby, a preschooler, and a kindergartner. Nanny typically picks up kindergartener, then preschooler. Today my kindergartener said she was so late he had to go wait in the principal’s office. Then my preschooler chimed in that she got to go in with the nanny to pick him up. And when I asked where the baby was, she said they left him in the car. So the nanny switched pick up order, was late, and left my baby in the car. I casually texted her about it and she lied.

She said the baby pooped and so she was a couple minutes late. That wouldn’t explain why my preschooler was there. I think she must have been running an errand and just got the closer kid first because she was running late. I haven’t called her on the lie but I’m furious and wonder how I can trust her in the future.

What would you do?

[Anonymous]

Look for someone else

[Anonymous]

I would fire her.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely. On the spot. No one should leave a baby in a car.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Immediately.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you for the gut check.

[Anonymous]

She left your baby in the car on a day with a high of 81?! She is lucky to not be dealing with a criminal charge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She left your baby in the car on a day with a high of 81?! She is lucky to not be dealing with a criminal charge.

Fire her right now!

[Anonymous]

But how can you confirm she left the baby in the car?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But how can you confirm she left the baby in the car?

Ask the school office folks?

[Anonymous]

can't trust her. It's too important. Fire her.

[Anonymous]

Fire her. She left your baby in the car when it was hot (illegal isn’t it?) runs errands and has three kids to care for? Disaster waiting to happen.

[Anonymous]

Op - you have to ask?

[Anonymous]

I can imagine that a messy poop diaper might lead to a situation where you'll be late for both kids, and figure that since the elementary school office is open later, or the kid is more resilient or something, switch the order. That seems believable to me, although perhaps unlikely. I might add it to other things and fire her, but I probably wouldn't fire her for just that.

But the baby in the car would only be forgivable if someone else was watching. I've left a baby in the car when someone else volunteered to sit there with him, or to stand by an open window and watch him sleep, and I've done the same for another mom, who was going back to fetch something at the playground or something. But, I would assume that if there was something like that going on, she would have explained it immediately when you asked why your kid said the baby was in the car. If that didn't happen, then I'd fire her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She left your baby in the car on a day with a high of 81?! She is lucky to not be dealing with a criminal charge.

You need to fire her immediately.