It has not been my experience that having two adults in a room with a child means they are both just sitting there staring at the child doing nothing else all day ... I really can't imagine it actually. |
BINGO! You finally got it. At least one of them is focused on something else. Whew! |
Actually, I am genuinely confused. You can have two adults sitting in a room engaging a child or playing a game together. That is not harmful nor is it two adults sitting there just staring at a child. More importantly, I'm not sure what that has to do with your initial point that having a parent and a nanny there at the same time is harmful? |
Just do what you want. I was once hired to do babycare, so I thought. As it turned out, mb hung with me and baby ALL day, EVERY day. No joke. They had a full cleaning crew, so nothing for either one of us to do, but make small talk and stare at the newborn. Even though the pay was sky high, I still left. What professional would put up with that nonsense? At the time, I wasn't prepared to be her therapist. |
It's absolutely fair that that may not have been the job for you but I was responding to the statement that it was harmful to the child. How on earth is it harmful? |
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I am a live in and started when the baby was only 2 days old. He's two years old now. When I came here my MB took a 4 month maternity leave. I was MISERABLE. I did nothing. She didnt seem to want my help with anything and I was really resentful that I had moved 1000 miles away from home for this job and I wasn't needed. Anyway, I ended up talking to MB about it and just being honest with her. I told her I felt really awkward and out of place because they wanted me here but I had no role. Turns out she was just trying to keep her role as the primary caregiver and didnt really know how to fit me in the equation. She didnt realize. After that we came up with an actual schedule of when i would have the baby, even if it was just to let her sleep while I took him for a walk. Just talk to MB and tel her how you feel..you can come up with something that works for all of you. |
Art projects, cooking/baking, play wii, read to him - all while Mom is present. I am home right now (lost my job) and I don't want to fire our AP because she's really a great person, doing a good job, it's not her fault I'm unemployed and I hope to be employed again soon and would not want to find someone new at that point. So I am around here WAY more than either she or I planned at the start. And of course, my kids love me and want me to do everything. They are a little older, but I made it a point to push back when they came to me while she was on duty. I would send them to her for help or instruction or permission. I want them to be in the habit and I want her to retain/build her authority for the future when I am hopefully back at work. It's working - they have really decreased their clinging to me and are treating her like she's the boss. It takes time. You need to gently and pleasantly insinuate yourself b/w mom and toddler to win him over and give her a break. You could also offer to watch new baby for an hour or two so mom could take toddler to the park, etc. |
It was a job for a "companion", don't you think? |
| OP here: I haved talked with mb. She is going to let me leave early if she doesn't need me in the afternoon with pay. |
Again, the job may not have been for you. That is totally fair. You are always free to accept or decline a job that doesn't work for you. But how is it harmful to the child? You not liking the job is very different from the parameters of the job harming the child, which they do not. |
The baby won't be nursing around the clock in a few weeks so she'll be able to hand the baby off and take a break with the toddler, or hand the toddler off and spend the day with the baby. Either way, it won't be like this forever. |
Two adults (with nothing to do) breathing down a baby's neck on a FT basis is harmful, IMO. You may think it's a good thing and that's perfectly fine with me. |
You're arguing with an idiot, it's no use. I've tried getting answer out of her before. |
Sounds great, OP. Congratulations on your success. |