The straw that broke the camel's back

[Anonymous]

He may have ADHD. ADHD kids have low impulse control and forget everything so this would explain the constant reminders. I also don't plan to leave my kids home alone everyday when they are teenagers. Most people that I know have a housekeeper who is there so there is another adult around the house.

[Anonymous]

If you're 15 and need to be supervised to use a knife, your problem isn't ADHD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He may have ADHD. ADHD kids have low impulse control and forget everything so this would explain the constant reminders. I also don't plan to leave my kids home alone everyday when they are teenagers. Most people that I know have a housekeeper who is there so there is another adult around the house.

I would want to make sure he's doing his homework and not getting into trouble but micromanaging to the point OP has described is very odd.

[Anonymous]

This sounds like a fake post.

15 year olds don't run around playing with kids their age, as you posted. This gives you away.

Also, your problem isn't a problem. Quit. A 15 year old doesn't need a nanny and you hate your job. Why bother staying?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does he have Aspergers or any kind of learning or social disorder?

I highly suspect he does. But, unfortunately, that's information that the parents choose to keep private from me. I would never ask but I do have a strong suspicion.

If this is the case that is a very different story. I'm not saying this isn't still a crappy job and the parents are normal but it definitely explains a lot more. A 15 year old on the autism spectrum may truly need a lecture in knife safety as well as the whatever the other "weird" things are that they asked you to do. If this is the case though the parents should have told you. This job may just be a really bad fit for you so it might be a good idea to look around for something else.

[Anonymous]

Gotta wonder what the parents' mental condition is.

[Anonymous]

^^ not great I'll tell ya that

[Anonymous]

I feel so bad for kids growing up now. How sad to have a nanny at 15. At that age, I was taking care of children on my own.

[Anonymous]

OP here. If he is SN, that definitely would explain a lot of it. But I was never told he was, nor did they ask if I have any experience with SN kids (I don't). So I'm just left with frustrations that can't be validated.

[Anonymous]

How long have you been there, OP? You'd think that special needs would be noticeable after a while.

[Anonymous]

Uh, why can't you ask OP? When your job is to provide care to someone you need to know if they have food allergies, physical restrictions, anger management problems, or special needs. It would make you MORE professional to inquire than not.

[Anonymous]

OP again. Knowing the parents' personalities, it would be very awkward to ask. At the risk of sounding like a troll, the parents are pretty "off" and socially awkward themselves.
This is why I hesitate to ask- for risk of severely offending them if they just have a quirky family. It's much easier to suck it up and give a five minute lecture on knife safety than to potentially risk losing my job. I just needed to vent!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay maybe its weird for a 15 year old to have a nanny, but elementary aged kids home alone is also not the norm (or legal for that matter).

But it was legal 20 years ago, when a lot of people who nanny today were kids.

Okay, but lets not tout it as a great idea. There is a middle ground between coddling, and being thrown off the deep end.

15:48 here. I loved being "thrown off the deep end," as you put it. The incredible amount of freedom at that age was awesome. Between the six of us (starting when the youngest was 6, oldest 10... often our 11 year old cousin who lived downstairs) we'd play fight (we'd pretend to be each other's Pokémon and did battle... or Power Rangers), walk around the house on furniture to avoid the "lava," play hide-and-go-seek, etc. all without parents around to yell at us, stop us, and/or interfere with our games. It was pure joy!!! The stories I could tell, lol.

My older brother and I managed our younger siblings. We got homework done, etc. Hell, I loved doing my homework, studying, and being a high achiever in school. Now at 23, with a B.S. in Biochemistry (my other siblings graduated or still in college), we're no worse for the wear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the 15 year old your charge? The fact that he has a nanny at that age....it wouldn't surprise me that he can't do anything for himself.

Yes, he is my charge. I'm instructed literally to treat him like a child. I have to stand over him constantly and demand he does his homework. He's not even allowed to run around the neighborhood and play with kids his own age. His mom still instructs him to put a helmet on before riding a bike. The list goes on and on.

"Play"? 15 year olds don't "play". What the hell.