(Sorry for the typos, I'm on my phone!)

I earn $30 an hour gross, but I live in LA. I have no reason to lie about this, as most of the nannies I know earn at least 20-25/hr. I also do light housekeeping (tidying) even thought it's "not in my contract", because I love my job , the family and the kids. And I know that $30/hr is very generous and I want my employers to know how much I appreciate their generosity. Not all the $30/he nannies in here are crazy, liars or lazy "only doing things in my contract".

She told you the specific street/neighborhood where she had a higher offer? And you know every single family in this neighborhood over the course of several years? And this magical neighborhood is only elderly people, until one day when a miracle baby is born and the neighborhood was in the news? cool story, bro.

Anonymous wrote:So what is your point being?

So you ran into one nutjob "nanny" and now you are saying ALL nannies are nutjobs...??

Is this your subliminal message or am I missing something here?

Please offer more clarity. Thx.

Reading is fundamental. OP said there are *some* crazy people out there.

She was negotiating for a higher hourly wage probably by lying. This is not a "scam".


And so what? You couldn't afford it and probably didn't like her enough to pay what she was asking if you could afford it. I honestly don't see where a "scam" comes in.

- MB

Also what about families lying all the time about the job. If there are crazy nannies then there are hell lot of crazy families too.

Anonymous wrote:I think this goes both ways. So many parents try to low ball for their childcare and then wonder how they ended up with bad childcare.

100% correct

Why would you even consider hiring a so-so nanny at any price?

How do you know she wasn't the nanny for a grandchild in the grandparents' house?


I once interviewed with a family that let their dog poop and pee inside the house and thought it was the nanny's responsibility to clean it up. The smell of their home would make you gag.

Now, that is weird crazy.

Good point. Some nannies get so greedy with their crazy terms (some made-up) that they talk themselves right out of a job.

So what is your point being?

So you ran into one nutjob "nanny" and now you are saying ALL nannies are nutjobs...??

Is this your subliminal message or am I missing something here?

Please offer more clarity. Thx.

I met a potential MB who believed that she could talk to dead people. That, my friend, is crazy.

I think this goes both ways. So many parents try to low ball for their childcare and then wonder how they ended up with bad childcare.

I hardly think that nannies are the only ones embellishing, or just completely making up, faux counter offers to make it sound like they're worth tens of thousands more. Having a real counteroffer can help you with salary negotiations, so the temptation to make one up is obvious. I don't think that should be called a scam though. A scam would be if she had come to your house just to scope out your belongings and then later come back and rob you.

I have been lurker on these boards for years now.

Let me tell you a story...

Years ago, I interviewed a nanny. She told me that she got another offer for $30/hr in the bag, in the process of negotiating even a higher rate because there is another child on the way but she was just looking around to see if another offer would beat that. I told her good luck with that as I was only prepared to offer something less than $20, maybe even a lot less considering the interview was OK, not the best.


I filed this in my mind, that we lost a so-so nanny to a ridiculously high paying offer that we could never pay.

Now, years later, I realized she was a total scam.

My kids are in elementary school now and we know all the school aged kids in that neighborhood after having lived here for years and years. She said the name of the neighborhood a few streets over is where she had this supposed job lined up. This is a neighborhood that was in the news because a baby was born and every single family in that neighborhood are elder couples who moved in when the neighborhood was originally built in the 50's. The entire neighborhood had a welcoming party for this new baby because it was the only baby in the neighborhood.

Suffice to say, wow. There are some crazy people out there.