The Nanny Horrors
While there are reports of nannies who, for instance, completely fabricated their resumes, hate children, or blab about all the intimate details of their employers' lives, there are also postings about nannies who used a cool tone with a child (The Horror!) or, in those 30 seconds they were observed, seemed to be bored, or more interested in drinking their coffee than engaging with the toddler...whom they've probably spent seven consecutive hours with.
How about if we start reporting parental misdeeds?
On Monday, I saw a mother on the NJ Transit train from Penn Station slap her two adorable kids across their arms and harshly reprimand them for just making a little noise. She also grabbed one of the kids' cheeks and squeezed hard.
On Tuesday, I saw a mother in my New Jersey town scream at a little girl who wasn't hers, just because the girl cut a line at the playground.
I could go on and on.
Okay, I completely understand why this blog is perfect for our times. It is scary to leave your child with a stranger, especially when your kids are pre-verbal and you're at work all day. And I've certainly seen my share of bad nannies and sitters. I've also been as paranoid as the best of them (though I never used nannycams).
But while this blog is a great read and undoubtedly helpful to some moms--and I'm sure I would have been obsessed with it when I hired my first nanny 10 years ago--I think it also is a sad reflection of the big divide--the miscommunication and distrust--that exists between nannies and mothers. If you're hoping for a little insight, check out a new anthology, Searching for Mary Poppins: Women Write about the Intense Relationship between Mothers and Nannies, published this month. I have the honor of being a contributor to this book, but I just finished reading it--it has some thought-provoking, eye-opening, and really moving stories about this fraught relationship.
Stumble It!
posted by pam at 1:55 PM
0 comments
links to this post
