Nannies - what's your worst shortcoming, and how do you deal with it?

[Anonymous]

For me, it's that I really don't know how to cook. When I started, the baby was a newborn so the parents never asked in the interview. Now the kid is on the verge of turning two. I've basically been pureeing/chopping the parent's leftovers from the night before. But lately, the mom has just been stocking the fridge and telling me "make something for lunch." I guess I need to learn to cook.

[Anonymous]

Surfing on my phone for hours while the kids are playing. I only do this at home, will only glance occassionally at the park or library.

[Hydro]

I'm not great at homework help, but i try my best. I let parents know right off the bat and it's never been too big of a problem. I have a hard time guiding kids to the right answer without just telling them what it is or describing how to solve a problem with kid language.

[Anonymous]

I do not drive!
Parents have to be home to take kids to after school activities .

[Anonymous]

I'm sensitive. I've been with my family 7 yrs and we do everything over email which I appreciate. MB knows I'm sensitive and I appreciate having time to read her complaints vs having them in person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For me, it's that I really don't know how to cook. When I started, the baby was a newborn so the parents never asked in the interview. Now the kid is on the verge of turning two. I've basically been pureeing/chopping the parent's leftovers from the night before. But lately, the mom has just been stocking the fridge and telling me "make something for lunch." I guess I need to learn to cook.

Oh lord, I can't cook for shit. I'm also bad about making the. Do activities they don't want to, tummy time or reading time. I'd rather we play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not drive!
Parents have to be home to take kids to after school activities .

This. Im not a great driver to begin with and not comfortable driving children. For this reason I take jobs that are close to public transportation and walkable things to do.

Also it doesn't directly affect my care for the children, but I've noticed that since I have started working with children I have an almost endless amount of patience and compassion for CHILDREN. As a result, I expect a lot more from adults and have little patience for childish behavior from adults. (Not cleaning up after yourself, forgetting to do things you were supposed to do, being selfish and egocentric, etc) I expect this from kids but I can't tolerate it in adults. Something Im working on...lol

[Anonymous]

Bribing. I'm really bad about bribing the kids to do stuff they need to to. I've tried to shape it more into a system that teaches them math and patience, i.e. I give them tickets for good behavior and then they get to use those tickets to go to the "treasure box" where each price has a different ticket cost.

[Anonymous]

I have a lot of twin experience, and now I cannot work with singletons. They are boring and don't require enough attention, so I wind up texting or surfing. I need twins or at least two under 3 or I disengage.

[Anonymous]

I'm bad with details. I love spending time with my charges, all I want to do all day is hang out with them, read, talk, play learn ect. Although I always hand back the house in reasonable condition (it is tidy, toys are away, dishes in the dishwasher, I've wiped down surfaces and under the high chairs and the table) I'm not perfect and not as detail orientated as my MB

[Anonymous]

It's frustrating for me, when it comes to homework help and I know the answer but the child has such a hard time understanding or learning the problem/lesson/etc but I've gotten much better at being patient about it.

I am not big on pretend play. I love board games, crafts, going outside and other, but I find pp boring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not drive!
Parents have to be home to take kids to after school activities .

This. Im not a great driver to begin with and not comfortable driving children. For this reason I take jobs that are close to public transportation and walkable things to do.

Also it doesn't directly affect my care for the children, but I've noticed that since I have started working with children I have an almost endless amount of patience and compassion for CHILDREN. As a result, I expect a lot more from adults and have little patience for childish behavior from adults. (Not cleaning up after yourself, forgetting to do things you were supposed to do, being selfish and egocentric, etc) I expect this from kids but I can't tolerate it in adults. Something Im working on...lol

+1 Wow this sounds like I wrote it. Lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not drive!
Parents have to be home to take kids to after school activities .

This. Im not a great driver to begin with and not comfortable driving children. For this reason I take jobs that are close to public transportation and walkable things to do.

Also it doesn't directly affect my care for the children, but I've noticed that since I have started working with children I have an almost endless amount of patience and compassion for CHILDREN. As a result, I expect a lot more from adults and have little patience for childish behavior from adults. (Not cleaning up after yourself, forgetting to do things you were supposed to do, being selfish and egocentric, etc) I expect this from kids but I can't tolerate it in adults. Something Im working on...lol

This is SO me!!

[Anonymous]

I cannot cook for the life of me either!!

Thank God I usually care for younger children who don't demand anything complicated.

For the older ones, I usually keep it simple w/pastas, frozen meals, or hard boiled eggs, etc.

[Anonymous]

I really, really, hate pretend play and pretty much say no (but in a very nice way).