Dangerous neglect at the duck park in Venice, CA

Received Saturday, September 30, 2007
This happened a while ago, but I only just discovered this website. Last June or so (2006), I was in the duck park on Linnie Canal in Venice with my then-six month old. I was the only non-nanny in the place. It was early afternoon. As I walked towards the park on Dell, a nanny and her two adorable Asian children walked near me. It was a boy about 5 and a girl 2- 3. The little boy was sobbing hysterically the entire walk. The nanny said nothing to him, ignored him. She was Mexican/Latin American, and a little flashy, with a fancy handbag and sunglasses. In her 30s, brown hair. When they got to the park, she sat down and immediately whipped out her cellphone. I had never witnessed nanny behavior before and was already shocked. I was pushing my baby on the swing when I saw the little girl walk over to my stroller and try to climb in it. Its a stroller where the seat is a little higher off the ground than most strollers and she was going to fall and get hurt. I RAN over and grabbed her before the whole thing toppled over. The nanny had her back turned the whole time. About 10 minutes later, it happened again, and this time I didn't get there fast enough and the stroller tipped and the little girl fell down to the ground, hard. She was OK, but could easily have broken an arm, banged her head, etc. I stood there helping the little girl and the nanny slowly strolled over. She didn't say anything. I said, "is she yours"; and she said, "she's always doing that".
Mother to these sweet, sad Asian children: GET A NEW NANNY!