Does your nanny "play" with your older kids?
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Anonymous
| I wish mine would engage more with my 11 year old - yes, he can entertain himself but not that well, to be honest, and I'm paying for a nanny.... |
Anonymous
| Get a male nanny. It's a world of difference. |
Anonymous
| An 11 yr old cannot entertain homself? Both you and the nanny are ansymal failures. |
Anonymous
| What kind of play would you like to see? Outdoor sports? Craft projects? |
Anonymous
Male AuPair. We have one and I'd never hire a female care giver for my older boys ever agin. They are spectacular. |
Anonymous
| Yeah, if you're looking for outdoor sports, board games, etc - yes, of course, a woman is capable of doing this with teen boys, but I've never seen a female nanny do it. |
Anonymous
| Yes. Go outside to shoot baskets, build stuff together, etc. |
Anonymous
This |
Anonymous
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Can she cook with him, do legos, puzzles, even video games? If kicking a ball isn't her thing, how about bike rides or hikes or rock climbing at a gym?
I know plenty of very active female nannies. Very few who can play basketball, but plenty who can do other active things. Talk to her. |
Anonymous
You are looking for the wrong women then, PP. I had charges who were 8 and 11, we played outside every day, all day...basketball, softball, building forts, going for hikes, science projects, going to museums, art projects, water sports in the summer...I was never at a loss for activities and the boys were never sitting around saying they were bored. The issue here is not that your nanny is a woman and not a man, OP, just that she isn't figuring out what kid of activities your son likes to be engaged in. At 11 he should be able to tell her if he wants to hang out together or have some time on his own, but your nanny needs to be available and ready with ideas when the time comes that he DOES want her around. You clearly have the wrong nanny. Time to find a new one, man or woman! |
Anonymous
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No, but she does teach them. That is why I hired her - to help with the gruesome task of homework! She's great.
Find what you are looking for, OP. If you want a playmate make sure to make that clear when interviewing. |
Anonymous
Of course there are active nannies, but when we switched to male APs, the difference was striking. The physicality with the boys was nothing I've seen out of the most active female. This summer my AP was at an mountain bike park weekly doing straight downhill mountain biking with my boys. He's a hockey player and taught them to ice skate. I got them roller blades as his request and they all play street hockey for hours on end. He has a relentless passion for getting on the floor and wrestling. The difference is this is not "work" for him. This is what he enjoys doing. On his free time he'll come upstairs and see who want to play street hockey with him and in no time there is a mob of children in front of our house. My boys are strongr and more athletic because of it. Again women are active, but the difference is so stark. |
Anonymous
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Ya think maybe female nannies aged 18+ feel it might be a tad inappropriate to roll around on the floor "wrestling" with boys aged 8 and up?
I can't even imagine the hysteria explosion we'd see here if a mom asked if it was ok for her 25 year old Nanny to enthusiastically roll around on the floor with a 12 year old boy wrestling. O.o |
Anonymous
What are you even talking about?? Who said anything about "wrestling" (where you got the quote from is beyond me) or rolling around on the floor with a 12 year old boy? Op was asking about her nanny engaging her 11 year old son in play. No one is requiring it to be full contact... 
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Anonymous
see 22:18. not op, but the wrestling reference is there. |