OP-your behavior is very unusual. Most people do not have such expectations of their children.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to deal with your control issues. Yes, it is nice to keep things neat and orderly, but you have to have fun. Every kid loves to make a fort with sheets, chairs and pillows.

OP here. Thank you all for your (sometimes lively) responses. Neither DH nor I ever made a fort, yet each of us have fond childhood memories. Regardless, it is not acceptable to us, so the children are not to do it, and the nanny is not to encourage or allow it. We have well thought-out reasons behind why we organize the way we do based on how we want our home kept and the way our children interact with each other. Dumping all writing implements in one box does not work for our kids who often want to go color alone in their bedrooms. So one child can not take the entire box to their room leaving nothing for the other three.

Regardless, I will be having a talk with the nanny tomorrow morning about sticking to our rules going forward and DH has agreed with one more chance.

I think it would be really sad to grow up in your house.



I'm sorry, OP but it sounds like you have some serious control issues. You said fond memories of your growing up years, you didn't say fun or wonderful. I agree with keeping things neat and orderly, it does make life easier, but unless you have a very good reason for it, you need to allow your kids to be kids and make mistakes and learn from them. Childhood is a time of creative play, fun, using your imaginations, think outside the box. That said, you also need to balance that out, with teaching how to clean up after yourself, have respect for others and treat things nicely. But your life will not spin out of control if your kids make a fort out of sheets and chairs every now and then and if they color outside the lines.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to deal with your control issues. Yes, it is nice to keep things neat and orderly, but you have to have fun. Every kid loves to make a fort with sheets, chairs and pillows.

OP here. Thank you all for your (sometimes lively) responses. Neither DH nor I ever made a fort, yet each of us have fond childhood memories. Regardless, it is not acceptable to us, so the children are not to do it, and the nanny is not to encourage or allow it. We have well thought-out reasons behind why we organize the way we do based on how we want our home kept and the way our children interact with each other. Dumping all writing implements in one box does not work for our kids who often want to go color alone in their bedrooms. So one child can not take the entire box to their room leaving nothing for the other three.

Regardless, I will be having a talk with the nanny tomorrow morning about sticking to our rules going forward and DH has agreed with one more chance.

You sound like a computer not a parent. How did you ever end up with 4 kids?

+1 OP is a nutjob!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to deal with your control issues. Yes, it is nice to keep things neat and orderly, but you have to have fun. Every kid loves to make a fort with sheets, chairs and pillows.

OP here. Thank you all for your (sometimes lively) responses. Neither DH nor I ever made a fort, yet each of us have fond childhood memories. Regardless, it is not acceptable to us, so the children are not to do it, and the nanny is not to encourage or allow it. We have well thought-out reasons behind why we organize the way we do based on how we want our home kept and the way our children interact with each other. Dumping all writing implements in one box does not work for our kids who often want to go color alone in their bedrooms. So one child can not take the entire box to their room leaving nothing for the other three.

Regardless, I will be having a talk with the nanny tomorrow morning about sticking to our rules going forward and DH has agreed with one more chance.

You sound like a computer not a parent. How did you ever end up with 4 kids?

Anonymous wrote:Op, instead of having a conversation with the nanny, have a conversation with a therapist. They have medications that can make life easier for you and your kids. And give each kid their own damn box of art supplies!!! They can keep it in their room and color whenever they want. And as a nanny of multiple kids, never once have I seen all the kids want to color at the same time unless one was just being a bratt and trying to control the other who wanted to color alone in their room. Hence the separate boxes for each kid. You're creating problems where problems don't exist.

+10000000000

Let the nanny go. Finding someone to meet your standards is going to be next to impossible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I believed it up to the crayon thing.

Why is it so hard to believe some people have neat and orderly homes?

Cuz those people don't have four kids.

Hahahaha! Yes. 4 kids young enough to all be home with the nanny ... the crayons came out of the box awhile ago.

No kidding. Turning over chairs, bringing in pillows and throwing sheets over it is called building a fort. Also known as imaginative play. Either OP is a troll or has serious OCD and control issues. I'm not sure how she managed to have four kids young enough to need a nanny. Young kids are messy, why would she keep having them?

I never said that the nanny is full-time. She works 2-7 daily. There are lots of things children can do for imaginative play that do not involve wrecking clean sheets or making a mess. The twins put on plays almost weekly, which is quite creative.

13:22, maybe the kids are scheduled to all color at the same time. I had a friend like that. Every minute of the day was scheduled, and coloring was done all at the same time. Mom laid out the coloring pages for them at the table, and they all colored. When the clock said coloring time was finished, the cleaned up much like OP describes and they all moved on to the next item on the schedule.

OP give each kid their own box of crayons, then. Or is that not allowed either? Your poor kids, never mind your nanny.

I really do think you need to let the nanny go and arrange for one of you to stay home. The only nanny I envision for you is a stereotypical old fashioned governess sort of thing. The type who stand back with a grim face ready to correct any out of line behavior.

Op, instead of having a conversation with the nanny, have a conversation with a therapist. They have medications that can make life easier for you and your kids. And give each kid their own damn box of art supplies!!! They can keep it in their room and color whenever they want. And as a nanny of multiple kids, never once have I seen all the kids want to color at the same time unless one was just being a bratt and trying to control the other who wanted to color alone in their room. Hence the separate boxes for each kid. You're creating problems where problems don't exist.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I believed it up to the crayon thing.

Why is it so hard to believe some people have neat and orderly homes?

Cuz those people don't have four kids.

Hahahaha! Yes. 4 kids young enough to all be home with the nanny ... the crayons came out of the box awhile ago.

No kidding.

Turning over chairs, bringing in pillows and throwing sheets over it is called building a fort. Also known as imaginative play.

Either OP is a troll or has serious OCD and control issues. I'm not sure how she managed to have four kids young enough to need a nanny. Young kids are messy, why would she keep having them?

Just realize that if you have this conversation with your nanny, she will be thinking "what an uptight nutjob" and your relationship will likely be irreparably harmed. If you decide to fire her, you will likely end up with a similar problem with the next nanny, and the one after that...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to deal with your control issues. Yes, it is nice to keep things neat and orderly, but you have to have fun. Every kid loves to make a fort with sheets, chairs and pillows.

OP here. Thank you all for your (sometimes lively) responses. Neither DH nor I ever made a fort, yet each of us have fond childhood memories. Regardless, it is not acceptable to us, so the children are not to do it, and the nanny is not to encourage or allow it. We have well thought-out reasons behind why we organize the way we do based on how we want our home kept and the way our children interact with each other. Dumping all writing implements in one box does not work for our kids who often want to go color alone in their bedrooms. So one child can not take the entire box to their room leaving nothing for the other three.

Regardless, I will be having a talk with the nanny tomorrow morning about sticking to our rules going forward and DH has agreed with one more chance.

literally unbelievable

Anonymous wrote:You have to deal with your control issues. Yes, it is nice to keep things neat and orderly, but you have to have fun. Every kid loves to make a fort with sheets, chairs and pillows.

OP here. Thank you all for your (sometimes lively) responses. Neither DH nor I ever made a fort, yet each of us have fond childhood memories. Regardless, it is not acceptable to us, so the children are not to do it, and the nanny is not to encourage or allow it. We have well thought-out reasons behind why we organize the way we do based on how we want our home kept and the way our children interact with each other. Dumping all writing implements in one box does not work for our kids who often want to go color alone in their bedrooms. So one child can not take the entire box to their room leaving nothing for the other three.

Regardless, I will be having a talk with the nanny tomorrow morning about sticking to our rules going forward and DH has agreed with one more chance.

You have to deal with your control issues. Yes, it is nice to keep things neat and orderly, but you have to have fun. Every kid loves to make a fort with sheets, chairs and pillows.