Friday
Natural History Museum in Providence, Rhode Island
This is a few days late but I will post it anyway. I was at the Museum of Nat History in Provincetown on Tuesday between 12-3. During that time I encountered a nanny and her charge. The child she was taking care of was sick (easily recognizable as sick to the point that one might wonder why he was out of the house). The child had a runny nose and was coughing. I got the feeling that the nanny was at the Museum just to get out. When the child coughed, three times I heard her say some version of "Stop". How can you command a sick child to stop coughing? His nose was running. At least one time I heard her complain that his nose was running again. He was only about 5! And he was carrying around a wad of tissues so he was doing the best he could! If your son was at the Natural History Museum on this day with his nanny, she doesn't seem to know how to treat a child and certainly not a sick child.
imagine how she treats him when she is not out in public with him! sick or not.
ReplyDeleteBig difference between Providence and Provincetown
ReplyDeleteum the museum is in providence. who doesn't know that? must have been a typo.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of post makes me mad! I hope the parents are hip to their nanny's lack of caring!
ReplyDeleteidiot, i'm from providence and it is quite a ways from ptown.
ReplyDeletelay off the crack.
i'm sure the parents knew the kid was sick. shame on them for going to work and leaving him with a nanny when he is sick.
ReplyDeletethe parents probably told the nanny to bring him there. the last people I nannied for never gave a damn if their kid was sick and they were doctors. their kid could have been bleeding out of her eyes and all they would have cared about is missing work.
I don't understand how this becomes the parents fault? One of the reasons parents have nannies is so that they have childcare on days they are sick. Missing work can cost parents their job!
ReplyDeleteAnd even if the parents didn't care that the child was sick, how does that excuse the nanny's behavior? She sounds like a b-tch. If I were a nanny working for horrible parents who didn't care about their child, I would most certainly give the child even more love & attention, NOT LESS.
And I'm not a nanny, just a professional in MY field.
I am a nanny and agree that it sounds like the kid would have been best off at home. However, taking the kid out may not of been the nanny's call.
ReplyDeleteI've worked for families that give me the freedom to do whatever makes an ill child most comfortable - popsicles for lunch, movie marathon, leaving household chores to spend the entire afternoon snuggling the little one - and also those that insist a clearly sick (and at times contagious!) child not miss a class that's "been paid for" or that we leave the house for x amount of time because one/both of the parents want some kid-free time. I've mostly, and currently, work for families like the former.
As a nanny, I expect to care for my charges when they are sick. My current employer and I have the agreement that as long as it isn't detrimental to Little Guy (e.g. he will only nurse), she doesn't need to stay home. In the event that it's best for Little Guy that his mom stay home, I would still expect to work, just more probably on household projects (vomitty babies make lots of laundry) or as support for MomBoss (e.g. coffee runs, errands, or if she wants to get out while Little Guy sleeps or is otherwise okay with it).
It's a bummer and not okay that annoyance probably better directed toward the parents was directed at the child, especially as he was under the weather. As a nanny, it is frustrating to take a sick kid somewhere they don't want to be and trying to keep them from infecting other kids, while the entire outing is in direct conflict with what I consider my primary responsibility - the well-being of my charge!
Wow you guys are brutal!
ReplyDelete