Received Thursday, February 15, 2007
NYC 2/15/07 Noon On 7th Ave around 14th St
African-American nanny was walking north with app. 2 yr old blonde child in a stroller. With the wind and cold weather this child had no cover, no mittens, socks and partial leg was exposed,blanket was falling off and hat was falling off.
Please give more identifying info so that someone might recognise this pair. The weather today was horrible! That poor kid.
ReplyDeleteWho knows: maybe the nanny was just going a couple of blocks to the store, a class, whatever, and the kid pitched a fit and wouldn't keep on mittens, hat, or Bundle Me.
ReplyDeleteBeen there, done that.
Been there & Done That?
ReplyDeleteIn NY, it was like 12 today with 50 MPH winds. I dont give a rat's ass what a mother is willing or unwilling to do for her own flesh and blood. Unfortunately this country protects parent's rights to own their children and treat them like shit. What does trouble me is some dumbshit nanny who can't get the very basics of her job done right. Do your damn job right or face the consequences.
11:13 Mean and rude
ReplyDeleteThat poor child. "Been there done that"??!! If left to do their own thing children won't eat healthy food, will leave the house undressed and will cross roads dangerously....that is why parents emply nannies that should have common sense!! What I mean is that I do not care whether the child had a tantrum or not and whether the nanny was only walking a couple of blocks, it is just plain nonesense to have a child dressed like that in the cold weather. Im am amazed that anybody would try to excuse stuff like this in the first place - I would hope people would think "poor child" first instead of necessarily wanting to find excusses for the nanny. Why do we always want excuses for wrong behaviour?
ReplyDeleteToo true!
ReplyDeleteI am a nanny and I have several times this winter, including last week during one of the coldest days we've had so far, gotten tired of trying to convince my two and a half year old charge to put on his coat when we were going out. It's a power thing for him and the more I insist the more he digs in his heals. My solution (and sadly it only works for a week or so, given the toddler capacity for memory) is to just let him go outside without it. All it takes is two seconds in the freezing cold wind and he's suddenly very contrite and willing to be coated and bundled up in the stroller. I think that this is an excellent technique and I would definitely use it with my own children, when I have them. However, I do know that if someone saw me on the street during those two seconds they'd think I was a truly horrible nanny (or mother, as I look like my charge could easily be my child).
ReplyDeleteThis child had a hat on and was bundled in a blanket. Mittens are very difficult to keep on a young child. It truly doesn't sound like neglect to me.
you people, im a nanny and i have had to actually argue with the mom or dad that the child shold wear a jacket, hat, mittens and whatever cold wear. the parents actually say the child dosent want to wear it and the let them. come on its not always the nanny fault but i as a nanny would insist if im going out in inclement weather that the child be dressed appropriately
ReplyDeleteif a nanny can't dress the child appropriately, can she be trusted to feed the child? Supervise the child? I mean come on! this is back to the basics stuff.
ReplyDeleteAny child can be put in a hat, coat and even mittens. If you can't do it, try a job you might be more qualified for, such as cleaning toilets.
ReplyDeleteI'm mother to two toddlers, and an early childhood educator. Yes, whenever you are dealing with toddlers, you have power struggles. Anyone well trained in early childhood knows how to pick and choose your battles. My 2.5 year old may go out of the house in polkadots, stripes, and flower print. What is not negotiable is if it is weather appropriate. No matter how much my 2 year old begs, she's not going outside without a coat on. However, to make her feel she has power, I will give her a choice between two different coats. Toddlers want to make choices. If someone is working in the capacity of a nanny to a young child, they should have enough experience and/or education to know how to deal with a power struggle with a young child.
ReplyDeleteNumbskull nanny needs a brain. Nothing less will do.
ReplyDeleteWhat is with all this fear of the weather? She didn't see this nanny in Siberia on a mile long trek, chances are that nanny and child were going a few blocks at MOST. The worst thing that could have happened to a toddler who lacked mittens and who's blanket blew off one leg was some mild discomfort.
ReplyDeleteIllness comes from germs, not from heat or cold. When I was a child I frequently refused to wear a coat during harsh winter conditions. There are lots of photos of me as a headstrong 2 and 3 year old dressed innapropriately for cold weather. Guess what? I lived! And was healthy! And happy!
ReplyDeletewho is talking about getting sick? the temp was like 15 that day. with windchill below zero. what about frostbite? Do your jobs, nannies! Do your damn jobs!
ReplyDeleteexactly 5:57. It's not rocket science. It's plain old common sense mixed with an element of actually caring about a child's comfort and welfare.
ReplyDeleteLinzbaby - you are so right. The terrible twos (and threes) are only terrible if you don't understand children. They are asserting themselves. Giving choices is a great way to get around stubborness. Thank goodness they don't see right through that tactic for a couple of years. LOL.
ReplyDeleteBTW, the NYC weather that day was in the low teens, very dry, with very high winds. Windburn can happen in minutes and is very painful. Frostbite can certainly happen with slightly longer exposure, but little children have such little body mass that hypothermia can be a bigger problem. So fight with your kids if you have to to keep those little extremities covered. Or better yet, don't go out if you can avoid it.
1142, clueless!!! You must be a nanny, because a mother reading this would be outraged!! Find a new career that does not involve children, please.
ReplyDeleteI am a nanny for a 31/2 yr old, he hates wearing coats, but i lay out 3 coats for him and he chooses the one he likes the best to wear. Which he does. The botton line is he have to wear a coat, or i choose one for him.
ReplyDeleteThat's great that all of you nannys and moms give your kids choices of coats, but it has very little bearing on the post. The child the OP saw had on a coat, hat and a blanket. This issue seems to be that the tops of his socks and one leg were exposed because the blanket had blown off a bit and that he had on no mittens.
ReplyDeleteI hope that the OP was concerned enough to come over to the nanny and child and point out that the blanket had been blown off, as it's hard to see everything going on in the front of the stroller when you're behind pushing. Perhaps I'm overly cynical about this, but I bet she didn't, and just blogged about it when she got home.
It is sad to hear even a mother and other nannies criticize this poor nanny for walking this child in the cold without coat or mittens.
ReplyDeleteI have done the same thing. I never knew it, but on my first day on this paticular job, I was getting ready to go outside with my charge, mom came over and told me don't put up a struggle with him, just go outside and after a while he will want the coat. I cringed, I couldn't believe that she would say that. I tried everything to put that child coat on. Different coats didn't help, candy didn't help, nothing help but the feel off the cold icy wind after a few minutes.Then the arms went in quickly, the mittens was a rush.
Yes its easy with some children and others, what works, just work. So please whoever posted that story maybe you should have followed these two to see the outcome.