Anonymous wrote:I was once told I was using more baby wipes than was needed to clean the newborn's butt. She kept a travel size packet of wipes near the changing table and the next day said to the baby "What happened to all your wipes?" Then came at me shortly after telling me to not use so many because "they're expensive." Needless to say I never used more than were needed - which IS sometimes a lot (as I'm sure you all know). She was a new, older mom and let's just say she was in for a rude awakening. This all went down over a few days of a trial period and after that period I never went back.

I can't stand when people do this or write a response "from the baby" on an email or thank you note or write a blog "from the baby." It makes them look stupid.

Corrected is not the same as reprimanded.

Anonymous wrote:I was once asked (so not really reprimanded) if I could please back the stroller into the apartment instead of rolling it in front first. I'm still not sure why.

It's actually easier to do this with a stroller/dolly/wheelchair and prevents the stroller from going over front first.

Anonymous wrote:I was once corrected for using 2 or 3 sheets of papers towels to dry my hands instead of one.

With a different family I was told I was cutting a banana wrong!

I would say something about the paper towel use too - we have dish towels specifically for drying clean hands.

I have discovered that I always get slightly reprimanded or asked to do something differently by the mother when my charge acted too close to me or was laughing too hard with me the day before. Just an insecure mother flexing her authority - I let is slide right off my back.

Wow, some of these are just crazy!

I did a trial day for a family once and the parents got mad at me for bringing bubbles while playing with the kids. We were out front and both parents literally ran outside panicked and told me the bubbles were going to stain their driveway and kid's clothes. Um, last time I checked bubble solution was water and soap...I told them at the end of the day that we clearly weren't a good fit and they acted surprised.

I was once asked (so not really reprimanded) if I could please back the stroller into the apartment instead of rolling it in front first. I'm still not sure why.

- MB wanted to make dinner so sent me out for groceries. Later scolded me that the potatoes I selected were too irregular in shape and that now she can't tell how long they need to roast because each one will need a different time!!!!

- Every single time I use a Ziploc bag, (and I only use it when extremely needed because I know my MB), she makes comments like, "do you own a stake on Ziploc's company?" "you're going to hell for using so much plastic" !!!

I've had her teach me "how to cut a pineapple" as the way I was doing was apparently not ok.

?

Anonymous wrote:

Another boss got angry at me because when my charge and I were running in the backyard, my charge slipped and fell on the porch and scraped his knee. She told me I was negligent and wasn't watching him properly. I told her I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, I was playing with him and that kids fall down and get hurt every now and then. It's all part of being a kid. Needless to say I didn't come back the next day and she wondered why.

OP here. I feel like in the back of their minds, this is what all MBs are thinking, even though most of them are polite enough to keep it to themselves. I can just see it in their faces whenever I tell them so and so had a bump or fall today. I think they understand kids fall, but they think when they're hiring someone to watch them that should not happen or else we're not doing our job "properly". Ridiculous! That is the hardest part of the job IMO - there is nothing to do about kids occasionally falling. We are not going to hover over them prepared to catch them 8+ hours a day. Sorry, had to rant.

Wrong.

My nanny gets SO worked up when the kids fall and hurt themselves. I'm the one that pulls her off the ledge and reminds her that kids hurt themselves. She beat herself up over it. I don't give it any thought.

I once got scolded for crossing the street with my charge while on a walk. We had used a crosswalk, crossed when the light indicated, and when no cars were coming. My charge was in a stroller and I had proven myself very responsible and trustworthy but apparently not enough to warrant crossing a street. (Side note, I wasn't allowed to drive this charge either).

Gosh, I can't believe some of those MBs! As for the kids getting bumps and bruises, I do definitely try to be right there to catch them as much as possible, but I agree that even the most active and vigilant caregiver cannot prevent every single fall! Most parents I've worked with have been pretty understanding about such things (and I've never had anything more than minor scrapes and bruises happen on my watch, and even then I feel I keep those to a minimum).

However I'm always shocked at what happens when I'm not on duty: over the years, I have returned to work to find that six of my charges had suffered broken arms or legs while under the care of parents or grandparents! Every time I got a story like "it was just a freak thing, there was nothing we could've done." And yet I have to wonder-- what would've happened if this "freak accident" resulting in a broken bone had happened on my watch??

I guess when it comes to being scolded by MBs the thing that sticks out in my mind was when an overbearing young MB complained that I was "wasting too much water" when I washed the baby's bottles. (She insisted I should set out two bowls, one with soapy water, the other with plain water, at the beginning of each morning, and use only those bowls when washing baby's bottles, as they were finished, throughout the day.) I don't like to be wasteful, but I thought that was a bit ridiculous.

I have many horror stories about NFs I've worked with and crazy MBs but I guess (to their credit??) most of them haven't complained about silly things like that to me.

I was once told I was using more baby wipes than was needed to clean the newborn's butt. She kept a travel size packet of wipes near the changing table and the next day said to the baby "What happened to all your wipes?" Then came at me shortly after telling me to not use so many because "they're expensive." Needless to say I never used more than were needed - which IS sometimes a lot (as I'm sure you all know). She was a new, older mom and let's just say she was in for a rude awakening. This all went down over a few days of a trial period and after that period I never went back.

Another boss got angry at me because when my charge and I were running in the backyard, my charge slipped and fell on the porch and scraped his knee. She told me I was negligent and wasn't watching him properly. I told her I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, I was playing with him and that kids fall down and get hurt every now and then. It's all part of being a kid. Needless to say I didn't come back the next day and she wondered why.

OP here. I feel like in the back of their minds, this is what all MBs are thinking, even though most of them are polite enough to keep it to themselves. I can just see it in their faces whenever I tell them so and so had a bump or fall today. I think they understand kids fall, but they think when they're hiring someone to watch them that should not happen or else we're not doing our job "properly". Ridiculous! That is the hardest part of the job IMO - there is nothing to do about kids occasionally falling. We are not going to hover over them prepared to catch them 8+ hours a day. Sorry, had to rant.

I was once reprimanded for cutting my charge's vegetables the wrong shape.

Other "offenses" given have been when a dryer didn't work when I tried turning it on. My boss told me, "That's strange...It worked yesterday..." As if I actually broke it on purpose. Like I am that smart!

Another boss got angry at me because when my charge and I were running in the backyard, my charge slipped and fell on the porch and scraped his knee. She told me I was negligent and wasn't watching him properly. I told her I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, I was playing with him and that kids fall down and get hurt every now and then. It's all part of being a kid. Needless to say I didn't come back the next day and she wondered why.

Duh.

I was once corrected for using 2 or 3 sheets of papers towels to dry my hands instead of one.

With a different family I was told I was cutting a banana wrong!