Tuesday

Not Your Run of the Mill Nanny Poacher...

Received Tuesday, June 5, 2007
I work as a part time babysitter for a stay at home mother who does freelance work in the tri- state area. On the days that I babysit, I try to take her daughter of the house and we have a park we favor. Because I am only part time, I don't think I would even consider a regular at this park, but this did not prevent me from being approached by a would be nanny poacher yesterday, (Monday) during the early afternoon. I was approached by a mother with a child he looked quite identical to her. Both were white with dark, dark hair and fair skin. The mother was wearing low cut, tarnished jeans and had a tattoo on her belly and on her wrist. She was very sweet and involved with her child, so I thought nothing of it when she began to chat me up. Then she asks how often I work and if I would be interested in working full time. I tell her that I cannot work full time because I return to school in the fall. She asks me if I have any nanny friends who are looking and I reply, 'all the time'. So she tells me it is her brother Mike that needs a babysitter and he needs someone M-F from 7 to 5ish. Sounds okay, right? I go to take down her # in case I think of someone and she tells me that this involves three children, a one month old and two older children. She goes on to say that they would need someone who would watch the baby very carefully because when it was two weeks old it's grandma dropped a chair on it's head and although they took the child to the doctor who said he was fine-he seems to get dozy and passes out, at which time you have to shake him awake. I didn't know what to say, so I just wrote her # down as if I heard this sort of thing all of the time. I returned home after our afternoon out and shared my story with my boss who was quite concerned. While she took the number and intends to do some investigating on her own, she suggested that I post my story on your blog. Please don't use my name or even the park we were at.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I started a group to make it easy for people to share their nanny sightings. I would guess good nanny sightings are as good as bad although I would love to see some of those sleeping nannies outed.
-Maggie

Anonymous said...

um, did you all here about the story of the freak in Australia?
He was convicted of trying to lure six women to a makeshift torture chamber. How did he get them there? He called them there to babysit his "children". He had NO CHILDREN.

Anonymous said...

Um...I don't get it. What is suspicious about this mom?

Anonymous said...

what kind of story is that? grandma drops a chair on the baby's head? baby is only a month old? Did you read about the nanny in minn or somewhere around there who was arrested when the baby in her care died? They thought it was foul play but no it was the child's preexisting medical conditions. Nanny's have to be very careful who they go and work for. There are a lot of psycho mommies out there. Just look at the etiquette post. These people dont know right from wrong and they sure as shit would blame the nanny if anything went wrong.
And by the by, where is the mom in this story? What 1 month old child doesnt have a mom?

Anonymous said...

not to say it happened in this case, but mother's can die in childbirth and that would leave a 1 month old without a mother.

Anonymous said...

something is definitely wrong here but I am more concerned about the dog kicking maniac in the post below. There are #'s you can call for dog abuse too. ASPCA.

Anonymous said...

It is good to see a sighting that is obviously NOT about a rich child. These kids need childcare, too, when parents work or in times of crisis. However, whatever the reason here for a babysitter, I'd hesitate to take the job because of what is going on with the baby. What kind of grandma drops a chair on a baby's head? I have to wonder about that claim, but then, when people take babies in for emergency medical treatment, they can fabricate some good stories. I'd call CPS and just relate the story to them and provide them with the phone number and be done with it.

Anonymous said...

539, what makes it obvious that this post is not about a rich child? Because the mom had tattoos, because there were issues in the family or because the idiot grandmother dropped a chair on the baby's head? Rich people are tattoo'd flawed and stupid too. Not sure where you get the idea that were not rich. Sounds like kind of a stereo-type to me. No better than racism. That said, this is not right for the mom to be nanny poaching and the story does sound a bit odd. I would try to check her out or get more info if you see her again to make sure there is not a serious issue. Calling CPS is not a bad idea either. Better safe than sorry.

The Chattin Family said...

5:39 I agree... call CPS or the non emergency police number. Let them check it out. Give them all the info you have and pray for the best. I sure hope that little boy gets taken care of.

Anonymous said...

That "dozy" part scares me a little. When people get head trauma, medical advice is often to keep them awake to prevent them from going into a coma. It happened in my family some months ago to a child. Also, if the baby is one month old and the chair incident happened two weeks ago, that means he was only two weeks old when he got hurt. Very bizarre. And he's still having "dozy" episodes? Sounds fishy. CPS doesn't sound like a bad idea. They might make sure the baby gets properly checked for a brain injury. What if the family doesn't have health insurance and can't afford follow-ups? It happens all the time.
I hope this little boy is okay.

Anonymous said...

Tell your employer to call CPS on this lady, or call yourself. Abusers tend to make up very bizarre unbelievable sounding stories to cover their butts, much like the story you were told about the chair. I would explain what the woman said, and that a warning light went off in your head, that way they can check on the child for themselves. Sadly, we hear cases like this all the time and NO ONE seems to ever react...the worst part--a month later we usually hear the tragedy on the news: the baby is dead from abuse and how next time maybe some one will learn and step in...please be that someone, you can make a difference for someone to small to speak out for themself!

Anonymous said...

A four week old "gets dozy" and they shake him awake?! That would be scary enough even without the story about granny and the chair.
I agree, call CPS.

Anonymous said...

I think the point is that rich, poor or middle income, children often must be put in the care of child minders and all children should get good care, no matter what the financial bracket of their family may be.

Anonymous said...

Call CPS fast! This story is creepy. The chair, the recommended baby shaking, the dozy baby. Either the are trying to pin the baby abuse on someone, or the nanny poacher skipped her medication. And I am not being cruel by metioning the medication part. I have seen people who must take medication otherwise they to things or tell stories that are out of this galaxy.

Anonymous said...

ble...I love that you picked up on the tattoo factor. Has anyone gotten prices on tattoos lately? They aren't cheap! In a society where they are more accepted than ever before the prices of tattoos is rising...you now need to be rich to afford one (or at least deep in debt).

Anonymous said...

but was it a Nazi tatoo or some gang symbol? Tatoos can tell a story, you know.

Anonymous said...

Call CPS.

Anonymous said...

Five percent of children have "breath-holding spells." Maybe that's what the 1 month old has.

http://www.drgreene.com/21_557.html

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great info!