Nanny fell asleep and was 1/2 hr late picking up my kid at school

[Anonymous]

I'm not feeling very understanding. Wondering how big a deal the rest of you would consider this.

[Anonymous]

Yikes. I'm a nanny and this isn't good.
Is she overall a good nanny?
How long has she been with your family?
Has this ever happened before?
Is it possible that she is sick? The only time that I've ever slept at work was when the children and I were very, very sick with colds. They were napping and I was in the guest room next to their rooms with the monitor. My MB knew I was napping (and encouraged it).
If she has been a good nanny, I'd give her a pass this time. Obviously let her know that it can never, ever happen again.
Chances are that she knows she messed up. It could have been a complete accident.

[Anonymous]

What's the big picture, OP? Details, please.

[Anonymous]

That's a big deal to me.

I would put it in the context of overall performance, how she handled telling you, whether she seems as appalled as you, etc...

But it's a big deal IMO.

[Anonymous]

What is she supposed to be doing during school hours? Is she full time, or an after-school nanny? If she's an after-school nanny, this is akin to being (very) late to work, and I would handle it as such (consider the history, etc.). If she's a full time nanny, or there are other children, I'd be wondering what happened.

[Anonymous]

The biggest question is whether she was on the clock before she was supposed to pick up your kid. Meaning, was she already napping on the job AND she was late, or was she napping at home on her own time and was late for work?

I agree both are pretty problematic, but I think it makes a difference. If she was napping on your time, then we can assume that it happens regularly and this is just the first time she got caught, so habitual bad nanny+egregious mistake.

If she was napping at home then her only error was sleeping through her alarm, which happens to everybody at some point.

[Anonymous]

She was on the clock with my other kid. Napping is fine and I would be fine with it when the baby is napping. But she has always told me she doesn't do it. Ugh!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She was on the clock with my other kid. Napping is fine and I would be fine with it when the baby is napping. But she has always told me she doesn't do it. Ugh!

Then you need to have a conversation! I can see this happening with our nanny because my younger kids' nap/quiet time runs right into school pick-up time, and if she fell asleep ...

If it happened more than once, though, we'd have a problem. And if she was hiding the fact that she was napping ... also a problem.

[Anonymous]

I know I wouldn't have been too happy if this happened.

More details?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She was on the clock with my other kid. Napping is fine and I would be fine with it when the baby is napping. But she has always told me she doesn't do it. Ugh!

Some nannies sleep and veg out on the job while a child naps or has quiet time. It becomes a problem when her responsibilities are not getting done on time - food, playroom mess, miss a kids class.

I hope she apologized and said it will never happen again. That is the only mature and professional way to handle that massive of a mistake.