Did you ever get the code?

I concur PP above.

I couldn't have articulated my opinion any better.

The mother who brags about limiting her nanny's WiFi usage has no business having a nanny.

None at all!

This thread honestly makes me feel so grateful for the family I work with, who have treated me with respect and compassion. I am 25years old (probably on the young side for nannies in DC). I am taking a break from teaching while I work on my masters degree and so I decided to nanny while I go to school in the evenings. My family and I have a contract. When I first began working there, we had a nanny-cam. This was their first baby and I could tell they were nervous about trusting a stranger in their home and with their little one I totally respected that. After about two-three months they sat me down and said, "we trust you, we are taking out the camera." I could tell right away that they only had the camera because they were nervous and didn't trust themselves to make the right hiring choice--not because they didn't respect me as a professional.

I say all this to let you all know that if I ever felt like a family didn't "trust" me to do my job because I have access to internet... I would quit. I am an adult. I have had internet access since I was thirteen years old. I know how and when to use the internet responsibly. If you believe that your nanny does not, than you probably should not trust her to lovingly and engagingly spend time with your child. Either you are not mature enough to employ another person or you have hired an irresponsible nanny. When I came in for my first day of work they willingly gave me the wifi and said, "here, so you can browse or do homework or whatever when the baby naps." They have asked me not to make phone calls or have the phone out too much around the baby and of course I respect that! I treat her the same way I would treat my own child!

Now that she is almost 2, she plays very independently for 5-10min spurts. When she's not paying attention to me, I send emails with pictures and videos or notes about our day to her family. I at nap time I google new projects for us to do because I would honestly go crazy if we did the same finger painting activity every day (suprise! I'm an adult! I go stir crazy doing what the baby wants all the time!). We facetime her grandparents at least twice a week, we listen to music. When she is very interested in an animal in a book, I will pull up a video for her to see what that animal really looks/sounds like. All of these things would eat up my data, and considering I am paying off both undergrad and masters student loans... yeah. I would not be able to do those things without the wifi. As a grown adult who has years of experience with children, I am perfectly capable of keeping an eye on her while she colors and sending an email to her parents at the same time.

All I can say, is if you want to hire a nanny who truly loves children, is a professional, is attentive and creative and thoughtful with your child/children.... you better be ready to treat them with respect. Yeah, there are lazy, selfish nannies out there (I have certainly seen them at baby classes and gymboree and storytime). Those nannies are lazy and bored because they aren't treated or paid like professionals and therefore do not feel required to behave like professionals. IMPO, situations are way worse at daycare where workers are getting paid minimum wage to just be a body in a room. If you aren't able to hire a professional and loving nanny, don't hire a nanny. Save yourself the anxiety.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trust is earned, not given. Clearly OP has not yet had reason to trust her nanny on the WiFi issue. Why? I have no idea. For myself, I've definitely seen our nanny on her phone for extended periods of time. Never mind we talked in the interview about our expectation that phone use be limited to nap time only and the nanny said that was no problem, of course she'd never dream of being on her phone while DC was awake. Never mind that I've brought this up more than once. Makes me wonder what is happening at the play ground where there are no cameras. Makes me wonder if it is possible to believe anyone who says they won't use their phone in an interview. It comes down to integrity. Someone agrees to act (or in this case not act) in a certain way, and then does the exact opposite. It creates a trust issue.

Well there was your giant red flag. It is totally reasonable that a nanny might need or WANT to be on her phone at some point when a child is awake and this woman was flat out lying when she made that statement. Flame away but when my 5 year old charge was sitting quietly playing/drawing/working on a puzzle and all of my other tasks were done, I was certainly going to check my facebook or read a news article. I (and most adults) would go insane if this were not an option.

I am currently a pediatric ICU nurse. I am responsible for dying children, literally, and my employers have no problem with us occasionally checking our email or even watching a dumb youtube clip during our downtime (read: not on break!) .

Why are parents so obsessed with having an adult interact with their child 100% of the day? Why is an adult doing regular adult things, like looking at a phone, not allowed for nannies? MB's how many of you lock your phones in a drawer and are strictly engaged in work activities during your entire day? As. one PP pointed out, if you trust a person to care for your child, why don't you trust that they can responsibly engage in activities throughout the day; why the double standard and micromanaging for something so petty?

Yes! Exactly!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what, I'm appreciating my former DB more and more. He left absolutely everything up to me after hire because he trusted that I was the right person for his family based on several hours of interviews, and we parted on good terms. In fact, I'm flying out to help him again, and again I'm not worried about being told how to do anything or having a single thing restricted.

Typical DB. You are his surrogate MB, so he happily leaves it all up to you.

No, he's an experienced employer (both of nannies and in his business). He knows how to interview and find who he likes.