Nanny Rants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. My employers are actually lovely people and I loved their son - but working with basically a SAHM just was not for me. I felt like a mother's helper! As her child got older, I had no authority in the child's eyes because his mother would undermine me. The child would just look at me and do what he wanted. I got back up in words only - no actions. We parted on very good terms and I still see them.[\quote]

Yes! So much yes to all the bolded! I’m actually kind of glad to hear that this is the standard occurrence when a parent is at home, and that I’m not trapped in some special kind of hell!

Anonymous wrote:My situation now is brilliant for me. The mother and father both work out of the house and I have total autonomy over the child during the day. We have our classes and our friends as well as our routine and schedule. My employers also let me design the entire playroom and garden play area outside. My charge is amazing! And the job is well paid with travel, healthcare and a new Lexus! And I love the parents. The perfect job for me.

That sounds amazing, pp! The Lexus has the be the icing and cherry on top, though. That’s so freakin’ cool! I’m glad to hear you bettered your life.

[Anonymous]

^ Oml, I’m the op sorry

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should insist on hazardous duty pay when working for Work at home parent. Twice your hourly rate.

I laugh, but I wouldn’t do it again for anything less than a movie star’s salary.

-Op

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the previous poster who mentioned a free Lexus....
Did your employers actually purchase a brand-new vehicle just for you??!

Can you use it during non-working hours too?

Is it your car overall....??
That is awesome as heck!!

Yes. I can use it for my personal use. It is leased.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My youngest charges slept poorly last night, and he told me himself, after I had already lost track of the number of tantrums. This is information I should have gotten in a text before work or during hand off! Add in that he didn’t want to eat, and it all adds up to the start of a monster of a growth spurt!

Yeah, you definitely should’ve been warned. If that happens alot, you could start asking how he slept first thing. Just a friendly, “Oh hey, how did you sleep?”

My nanny family tells me every morning how he slept, because it affects the whole routine! If he sleeps like crap, I have to do everything a little bit earlier so he can get to sleep. I think mine is also going through a growth spurt, too! I can hardly keep up with all the leaps and spurts, lol.

-Op

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My youngest charges slept poorly last night, and he told me himself, after I had already lost track of the number of tantrums. This is information I should have gotten in a text before work or during hand off! Add in that he didn’t want to eat, and it all adds up to the start of a monster of a growth spurt!

Yeah, you definitely should’ve been warned. If that happens alot, you could start asking how he slept first thing. Just a friendly, “Oh hey, how did you sleep?”

My nanny family tells me every morning how he slept, because it affects the whole routine! If he sleeps like crap, I have to do everything a little bit earlier so he can get to sleep. I think mine is also going through a growth spurt, too! I can hardly keep up with all the leaps and spurts, lol.

-Op

You should always ask how the charges slept the night before. My MB sometimes doesn’t tell me and so I ask her. Sometimes I forget, but most of the time I try to ask

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My youngest charges slept poorly last night, and he told me himself, after I had already lost track of the number of tantrums. This is information I should have gotten in a text before work or during hand off! Add in that he didn’t want to eat, and it all adds up to the start of a monster of a growth spurt!

This happened to me too. But my charge didn't get enough sleep because she was throwing up, which is what I was told hours later, when I sent a text saying she was refusing food. This is stuff you need to let your nanny know!! Do you think they hold back this type of information because they're scared were going to call out? I also like to know when my charges are sick in advance so that I can take extra vitamins, bring gloves, hand sanitizer etc. so that I don't get sick- you text me for everything else. I also like to wipe down the toys when they are sick or getting over something. I just don't get it. Two weeks prior to that, I developed a cough and I came in the next day and heard the child coughing so I said "ah, you gave me this cough!" The parent goes, oh yeah, she was sick over the weekend and now I have it. Really?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This happened to me too. But my charge didn't get enough sleep because she was throwing up, which is what I was told hours later, when I sent a text saying she was refusing food. This is stuff you need to let your nanny know!! Do you think they hold back this type of information because they're scared were going to call out? I also like to know when my charges are sick in advance so that I can take extra vitamins, bring gloves, hand sanitizer etc. so that I don't get sick- you text me for everything else. I also like to wipe down the toys when they are sick or getting over something. I just don't get it. Two weeks prior to that, I developed a cough and I came in the next day and heard the child coughing so I said "ah, you gave me this cough!" The parent goes, oh yeah, she was sick over the weekend and now I have it. Really?!

That’s just just rude. Sometimes, there’s no avoiding getting sick, but they should definitely at least warn you.

-Op

(At what point does me signing my posts get weird? Lol...this’ll probably be the last time I do it unless someone addresses me specifically).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My youngest charges slept poorly last night, and he told me himself, after I had already lost track of the number of tantrums. This is information I should have gotten in a text before work or during hand off! Add in that he didn’t want to eat, and it all adds up to the start of a monster of a growth spurt!

Yeah, you definitely should’ve been warned. If that happens alot, you could start asking how he slept first thing. Just a friendly, “Oh hey, how did you sleep?”

My nanny family tells me every morning how he slept, because it affects the whole routine! If he sleeps like crap, I have to do everything a little bit earlier so he can get to sleep. I think mine is also going through a growth spurt, too! I can hardly keep up with all the leaps and spurts, lol.

-Op

He's now out of school for the summer, but during the school year, I didn't see the parents until they got home. Now, there's no excuse!

[Anonymous]

So, I have something kind of stupid to share.

My nanny family has been hinting lately that they want me to take my charge outside more, which is something that I’ve actually been trying to do, funnily enough. They want him to get exercise so he’s tired enough to sleep and I agree!

The problem? Every weekend, they go out and buy him new LEGO sets and racetracks. He gets so obsessed with them that he refuses to go outside all week. He literally wants to play with them all day and ends up throwing a fit if I push him too hard to go out. I maybe get him out twice a week, and that’s if my bribes are good enough and he’s in a good mood. I do my best to get him running around indoors on days he refuses, and on the days that have been too hot or too rainy recently.

I just don’t understand the parents’ logic. They know how he gets, so if it’s that important that he go outside, why keep buying him all this new stuff?!

Just frustrated. There’s my rant-ish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just like any job, being a nanny has some downsides. I’ve seen a few rant threads, so I thought it would be nice to have a place for nannies to vent after a long, hard or ridiculous day.

yes how "nice"!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just like any job, being a nanny has some downsides. I’ve seen a few rant threads, so I thought it would be nice to have a place for nannies to vent after a long, hard or ridiculous day.

yes how "nice"!

I’m sorry, are you above needing to blow off steam?

If you never have a bad day, that’s great for you, but some of us nannies would like the opportunity to vent to people who understand the frustrations of the job. Not everything can be rainbows and sunshine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, I have something kind of stupid to share.

My nanny family has been hinting lately that they want me to take my charge outside more, which is something that I’ve actually been trying to do, funnily enough. They want him to get exercise so he’s tired enough to sleep and I agree!

The problem? Every weekend, they go out and buy him new LEGO sets and racetracks. He gets so obsessed with them that he refuses to go outside all week. He literally wants to play with them all day and ends up throwing a fit if I push him too hard to go out. I maybe get him out twice a week, and that’s if my bribes are good enough and he’s in a good mood. I do my best to get him running around indoors on days he refuses, and on the days that have been too hot or too rainy recently.

I just don’t understand the parents’ logic. They know how he gets, so if it’s that important that he go outside, why keep buying him all this new stuff?!

Just frustrated. There’s my rant-ish.

You need to tell the parents to stop buying him toys! Even without the new toys would your charge still want to stay home? I had a charge who hated going out! I always had to bribe and convince!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the previous poster who mentioned a free Lexus....
Did your employers actually purchase a brand-new vehicle just for you??!

Can you use it during non-working hours too?

Is it your car overall....??
That is awesome as heck!!

Yes. I can use it for my personal use. It is leased.

Did you not have a car prior to this position?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, I have something kind of stupid to share.

My nanny family has been hinting lately that they want me to take my charge outside more, which is something that I’ve actually been trying to do, funnily enough. They want him to get exercise so he’s tired enough to sleep and I agree!

The problem? Every weekend, they go out and buy him new LEGO sets and racetracks. He gets so obsessed with them that he refuses to go outside all week. He literally wants to play with them all day and ends up throwing a fit if I push him too hard to go out. I maybe get him out twice a week, and that’s if my bribes are good enough and he’s in a good mood. I do my best to get him running around indoors on days he refuses, and on the days that have been too hot or too rainy recently.

I just don’t understand the parents’ logic. They know how he gets, so if it’s that important that he go outside, why keep buying him all this new stuff?!

Just frustrated. There’s my rant-ish.

You need to tell the parents to stop buying him toys! Even without the new toys would your charge still want to stay home? I had a charge who hated going out! I always had to bribe and convince!

You had a charge like this, too? I’ve never seen a kid so adamant about not going outside before this one, haha! Yeah, mine always took a lot of convincing to go outside, even without new things. So, it’s not as if the toys are the sole reason he wants to stay in. It’s just that if the parents are now going to put (however inadvertent) pressure on me to get him out of the house, they need to stop making it more difficult than it already is!