DD told me nanny dropped toothbrush in toilet, made her brush her teeth anyway

[Anonymous]

My 6yo just mentioned to me that our nanny dropped her toothbrush in the toilet accidentally, took it out and washed it and then made my DD brush her teeth with it. I am totally grossed out and sort of questioning my nanny's ...I don't know... Empathy with my kids and caring for them if she made her brush her teeth after doing that. Thoughts on this?

[Anonymous]

That's disgusting and very unsanitary. I don't care how many times she washed it. I would never tell a child much less an adult to brush their teeth with a toothbrush that has been in the toilet. I would certainly questions her abilities to care for my child at that point. If I was in your shoes I'm fairly certain I would let her go.

[Anonymous]

Fire her.

[Anonymous]

Gross

[Anonymous]

Trollllll.

[Anonymous]

I'm the OP. I'm not a troll. Why is that the cry on like every post? I'm not overly excited about her in other areas, I'll be honest. But this seemed really odd to me and I wondered how others felt. I'm going to mention it to her Monday and see what she says.

[Anonymous]

It a toothbrush. Its dirty anyway. She cleaned it. Move on.

[Anonymous]

Does your nanny know where you keep the new ones? If I couldn't find a new one, I could see boiling the old one for a few min if I thought that was less likely to garner your wrath than the kid not brushing her teeth at all, or if the kid was having a major meltdown about the perils of not brushing once.

[Anonymous]

Seriously, no one is questioning whether a six-year-old was an accurate reporter in this situation? I have definitely done six-year-old who would tell a story like this when the reality was at least slightly different (eat. G the nanny dropped the toothbrush on the floor and cleaned it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, no one is questioning whether a six-year-old was an accurate reporter in this situation? I have definitely done six-year-old who would tell a story like this when the reality was at least slightly different (eat. G the nanny dropped the toothbrush on the floor and cleaned it).

From personal expetience, I remember when I was 6 or 7, thiat I couldn't brush my teeth because I dropped my toothbrush in toilet. My motjer poured boiling water over it, handed it back, and said, "brush. Now!" 40 years have passed and I'm still alive. OP. children tell fibs,whoppets, big whoppers. Get used to it and learn to tell when.

[Anonymous]

OP here - why the nastiness? I was simply asking for opinions and said I'd ask my nanny about what happened on Monday. Why do posters feel the need to be so mean? If you don't think it's a big deal, then why not just say that? If you are wondering if I have reason to believe the story isn't true, why not just ask me if I'd considered that?

[Anonymous]

Who was being so mean and nasty, OP??

[Anonymous]

Someone told me to "move on," someone else assumed the nanny was so afraid of my wrath that that was why she made er brush her teeth, someone cried troll, someone told me that my kid was lying and I need to get used to it and learn to tell when she was lying and acted like it was bizarre that I even cared that she might have brushed her teeth with a toothbrush that had been in the toilet after rinsing it in the sink. The overall tenor of this board is to assume the poster is an idiot, or a terrible MB or nanny, and to post whatever response with an attitude.

It's possible of course, that my kid is lying, but she's never made something up like this before. She's not one of those kids that fibs (at least not yet). She brought it up unprompted and didn't change her story when I asked her a few casual questions. Just wondering if people think this is something I should address with my nanny and how. That's all. I like the suggestion of making sure she knows where other toothbrushes are in case they need one.

[Anonymous]

I'm the wrath poster...bad word choice I guess. I just meant are you one of the really uptight rigidmb's who is a complete germophobe and makes the kids brush their teeth at all costs, or is your kid one of those rigid i must follow the nightly routine to the letter kind of kids that might have made the nanny feel backed into a corner where she felt like that kid had to get her teeth brushed at all costs. Most of us respond the way we do because we've had controlling and micromanagerial mbs before. You may be perfectly reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Thanks 19:46. Got it. It would be more helpful to assume that MBs on here are trying to do their best, particularly when there's nothing controversial in the post. I'm not a germophobe (I don't think I've said anything about teeth brushing more than when she first started and then only as a step in the normal bedtime routine). Neither of my kids are routing-obsessed either. In fact, when I expressed surprise that the nanny would still make her use the toothbrush, my DD said she really didn't want to and told the nanny no, but "[nanny] said I had to anyway."