Monday, September 25, 2006 NYC
Your nanny was there w/ two kids - a 3-4ish year old blond girl and a maybe 16 month old with whiteblond ringlets (younger child was dressed in light blue pants and a lt blue & white stripe sweater) - I think younger was a boy, but hair made it tricky. Your nanny was a 30's black woman. Your younger child was unattended for a long period - he wandered into the swing area where he was almost knocked over several times. While several moms looked for the nanny, your child wandered up the ramp and out onto 77th St sidewalk. He would have left had we not walked him back down and waited for someone to claim him. When nanny finally meandered over, she said she had been following the big one around. She was oblivious to the danger and just walked away with your kid.
If you can attract the attention of a cop, do so. I knew a particular nanny who did this kind of thing. She would gab with her friend even though she had a child with autism who should have been watched non stop. I could never relax when she was there because I felt responsibility for the child in her care. And I did redirect him back about 4 times over a month. Finally there was an officer on the street talking to two teenagers this summer. I was watching the playground and the child started roaming. I had my moment. As soon as the child went beyond the hedge, I quickly went to the cop and told him. Within 30 seconds he was approaching the child which attracted the nannies attention. But the officer came back to me afterwards. I told him it had happend many times before and he told me he was going to let the parents know "a parent" was concerned as the child was frequently left unattended.
ReplyDeleteI just learned of this website today while reading the New York magazine and upon returning home, I immediatly looked on the website as I can't stop thinking of the described situation regarding your two young kids. Your younger child was wandering for a good 5 to 8 minutes and as we all looked around, I had noticed your nanny sitting with a friend talking. When she finally realized what was happening, she said she was watching your older child and it was tough to do both...however, the older child was on the opposite of the park.
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