The worst I had was a sort of mother's helper though they advertised for a nanny for an 18mo boy. The mother would micromanage to the point where I was afraid to breathe in her presence in fear I would do it wrong and will be nagged at. She hardly ever left us alone (advertised that she's be out), overdressed the child - and by overdressed I mean that in a well heated and warm flat when she and I were in tshirts, the boy would have on three layers including a woolly jumper, and she told me that if he gets sweaty to just continue to wipe off the sweat from his back and face but not to take off a layer or open the window.

I was required to use basically industrial strength bleach on his dishes and toys daily.

Then she would always come in when he cried, and of course he cried when she left the room, so I would have him almost calmed down and engaged in an activity when she'd come back to check up on him and start it all over again.

Once she was putting on make up to go out and the boy came into the bathroom, and she said, 'oh, i really shouldn't be doing that in front of him, he's a boy'. Yup, ladies, men should think we naturally have pink glossy lips and have no need to shave our legs.

Then she told me one day in stage whisper that she 'had to fire Mark the cleaner because it turned out he was gay' and that she was worried because of her son. Just to repeat, she never left her son with Mark the cleaner, but I do hear those gay spores are really contagious. Moreover, later that day she phoned someone and said, 'hi, Mark gave me your number because it turns out Mark is... well'.

Which was when I quit and said 'by the way, lady, I'm gay'.

Well, I haven't, but I should've. I did quit at the end of that week, but I didn't say that. It's really one of my biggest regrets in life! I would've liked to see her face.

Anonymous wrote:I took on a 6 week job during my summer break from college. Mom was a SAH and didn't normally have help so she had no idea how this worked. She had to have surgery and wanted a live-in to help while her husband was at work and I would go home on the weekends.

I lasted 1 week. I had absolutely no time off and it only took the first week before I was completely run into the ground. Dad stayed out late at night and mom was out of commission so I had to tend to the baby at night. During the day when both kids were napping, laundry was done etc. I tried to put my feet up and she kept asking me what I was doing, wanting make sure I was on the go every moment I was there.

At the end of the week I got my check and handed them a list of local temp agencies they could contact and said I would not be back on Monday. I also threw in an FYI that the temp will expect to be compensation for all hours on duty.

Gotta love a nanny with a backbone. Kudos to her.

I took on a 6 week job during my summer break from college. Mom was a SAH and didn't normally have help so she had no idea how this worked. She had to have surgery and wanted a live-in to help while her husband was at work and I would go home on the weekends.

I lasted 1 week. I had absolutely no time off and it only took the first week before I was completely run into the ground. Dad stayed out late at night and mom was out of commission so I had to tend to the baby at night. During the day when both kids were napping, laundry was done etc. I tried to put my feet up and she kept asking me what I was doing, wanting make sure I was on the go every moment I was there.

At the end of the week I got my check and handed them a list of local temp agencies they could contact and said I would not be back on Monday. I also threw in an FYI that the temp will expect to be compensation for all hours on duty.

It wasn't a nanny job, just a babysitting gig. One of the kids got sick and threw up all over the couch. She wanted her mom (understandably so). I called the parents and they wouldn't come home. The mom told me to just put a towel over the vomit.

It wasn't a special occasion or fancy work function. They were only out getting some dessert after dinner.
Probably not the WORST ever....but it stands out in my mind.

21:04, you should find a summer nanny gig at least. Those typically are designed to end at the end of the summer and then You only have to hold on until June.

My worst job:
Lived and worked on a ranch out west. The land included:
Horses that were often not supervised
Staff and rotating weekly guests who have who knows what background
A river through the middle with a swift enough current that a grown man drowned 2 miles away during my stay there.
It abutted a national forest and a cougar was killed within 1/2 mile of their house during the time I lived there. There were regularly big horn sheep, elk and other wild animals within close proximity of the ranch.

The dad felt that his 5-year-old should have free run of the place. I tried to compromise and say that she could leave me provided she was with another staff member, but when she broke that rule (wandering off alone or with a guest's kid) I was told that making her spend the rest of the day inside was an unreasonable and over-the-top punishment. Instead, I should have told her she couldn't eat any candythat day--except that I don't feed kids candy constantly, so that point was moot.

I spent every day that the kids were out of school terrified that she would be harmed on my watch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The job I'm in right now. Both parents work from home, I'm not allowed to leave the house with the kid so I'm stuck on the floor with him ALL day. They come and go about every 1/2 hour so I feel like my bosses are always looking over my shoulder. They also come every time he starts crying. I am about to my breaking point, the pay is amazing but I can't spend another day sitting on the floor staring at him while he plays for 4 hours at a time, I just can't. The time goes SO slow. They also want me to constantly be talking to him and after about an hour I just run out of enthusiasm. When I go to work in the morning I just want to drive by their house.

This sounds awful. How long have you been there? Maybe you could call a family meeting to talk about it. Why can't you leave the house, BTW?

I've been there for 7 months. From the time he was about 3 months. It was not as bad during the summer because I could take him on walks everyday, but now they say it's to cold for him to go out. I'm in a northern state. For some reason they would rather me not drive him anywhere, but I do have a perfect driving record and have driven charges in the past. I am planning to go back to school in the fall and I'm trying to save up money for that. I just don't want to have to find another job only to quit when I go back to school.

Anonymous wrote:The job I'm in right now. Both parents work from home, I'm not allowed to leave the house with the kid so I'm stuck on the floor with him ALL day. They come and go about every 1/2 hour so I feel like my bosses are always looking over my shoulder. They also come every time he starts crying. I am about to my breaking point, the pay is amazing but I can't spend another day sitting on the floor staring at him while he plays for 4 hours at a time, I just can't. The time goes SO slow. They also want me to constantly be talking to him and after about an hour I just run out of enthusiasm. When I go to work in the morning I just want to drive by their house.

[b]

Omg I feel so bad for you!!! It was six months of pure hell when MB was on maternity leave. She complained about everything!!! I had a celebration in my head when she went back to work.

to the pp sick on the carpet....thanks for the chuckle. I feel bad for you, but it was a funny image in a Saturday night live sort of way.

Anonymous wrote:The job I'm in right now. Both parents work from home, I'm not allowed to leave the house with the kid so I'm stuck on the floor with him ALL day. They come and go about every 1/2 hour so I feel like my bosses are always looking over my shoulder. They also come every time he starts crying. I am about to my breaking point, the pay is amazing but I can't spend another day sitting on the floor staring at him while he plays for 4 hours at a time, I just can't. The time goes SO slow. They also want me to constantly be talking to him and after about an hour I just run out of enthusiasm. When I go to work in the morning I just want to drive by their house.

This sounds awful. How long have you been there? Maybe you could call a family meeting to talk about it. Why can't you leave the house, BTW?

OMG.

The worst job I ever had was as an au pair - I arrived in Europe on a Wednesday and on Friday both parents left the country for a week leaving me, at 18, alone with 3 children I barely knew (also you are NOT ALLOWED to leave the AP and kids home alone 24hr/day within AP programs). When they came back, at the end of my first week of work, the mom only paid me half of our agreed upon stipend, saying her friends had said she'd be overpaying if she gave me our agreed upon wage. I protested and ended up getting the full amount but she resented me massively for it. And she'd fuss about how I ironed the socks (THE SOCKS) and how I folded the shirts, asking me to do it one way and then complaining that I was doing it that way the next day. She was a monster and her whole family knew it - DB was perfectly pleasant and the kids were just kids, crazy and undisciplined but hard to blame them for that fact.

Anonymous wrote:The job I'm in right now. Both parents work from home, I'm not allowed to leave the house with the kid so I'm stuck on the floor with him ALL day. They come and go about every 1/2 hour so I feel like my bosses are always looking over my shoulder. They also come every time he starts crying. I am about to my breaking point, the pay is amazing but I can't spend another day sitting on the floor staring at him while he plays for 4 hours at a time, I just can't. The time goes SO slow. They also want me to constantly be talking to him and after about an hour I just run out of enthusiasm. When I go to work in the morning I just want to drive by their house.

Oh and they are constantly asking me to stay an hour or two later than my end time. It wouldn't be so bad, but they tell me about 10 minutes before I'm supposed to leave. So I'll be looking forward to heading out only to find out I have to sit on their stupid carpet for two more hours.

The worst job I ever had was a nanny share. One family was amazin, the other wasn't. The less than stellar family had a very high-needs baby who would scream if I wasn't carrying her.
* They never gave me any positive feedback but would say something in an instant if they weren't pleased.

*They left dirty dishes in the sink every morning and ate my food.
*I was asked to plan the baby's first birthday party and wasn't invited.
*I never received thank-you notes for any of the gifts I bought.
*They allowed the baby's 83 y/I grandmother to come over 3x per week. She was quite unpleasant and would always give the babys small toys that they could choke on. I had to watch them like a hawk every time she was over.
*I (with absolutely no participation from them) taught their daughter sign language. They never thanked me but would brag to guests about it.
*I was introduced as "the nanny" to their friends and then completely ignored and not spoken to.
*MB didn't tell me she was pregnant until 6 months into her pregnancy. She had zero health problems and told my other MB 3 months in.
She was shocked when I quit and told me they were so happy with me.
Since I left, they've been through 2 nannies and have been dumped by the share family. Worst job ever. Never again.

The job I'm in right now. Both parents work from home, I'm not allowed to leave the house with the kid so I'm stuck on the floor with him ALL day. They come and go about every 1/2 hour so I feel like my bosses are always looking over my shoulder. They also come every time he starts crying. I am about to my breaking point, the pay is amazing but I can't spend another day sitting on the floor staring at him while he plays for 4 hours at a time, I just can't. The time goes SO slow. They also want me to constantly be talking to him and after about an hour I just run out of enthusiasm. When I go to work in the morning I just want to drive by their house.

Just curious if anyone has any interesting nanny jobs they've quit or been fired from!!

The worst one I can think of was one where I quit after 10 months when the family tried lowering my rate by HALF. I don't live in DC and the typical rate where I'm from is $12 - $15/hour and I was making $13 for one child but was only working 20 hours a week. They wanted me to start working 47.5 hours a week ( 7:30am to 5pm) for $300/week. After i told them absoloutely not they tried upp'in it to $325 and I said thanks but no thanks and they ended up putting him in daycare. They also wanted me to start doing laundry, light housekeeping, etc. Stuff I never did part time.