Received Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Dear Parent of Sweet little 2 year old boy in Brooklyn Heights,
I don't think you realize that your nanny smokes. No she doesn't just smoke, she chain smokes. She is Eastern European or Spanish and in her 50's. I witnessed her sitting on the promenade chain smoking while little boy was in stroller getting covered in smoke. The nanny had a large chest and wore a bright blue v neck t shirt. The little boy was about 2 with sandy blond/brownish hair. I have seen the little boy at the Pierrepont playground all the time. The stroller's name started with a C although I didn't get close enough to see. The nanny was "hiding out" around the corner at the circle at the end of the promenade yesterday, (8/20), very sneaky!
If the little boy was sitting in the stroller getting covered in smoke-then, they must know she smokes. Wouldn't he and the stroller reek of smoke?
ReplyDeleteWouldn't the parents know? If she chain smokes, there would be a smell! You can't hide that.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if the parents would know. When I was a nanny I used to bathe the child before the parents came home (their direction). At other times throughout the day, I febreezed the hell out of the kid and the stroller, his jacket and myself. I even mixed liquid tide in the febreeze so it was uber potent and fresh smelling. I was a pretty good nanny but smoked like a chimney.
ReplyDeleteThat's so terrible! Everyone knows smokers can't be responsible for anything. Clearly it causes brain damage.
ReplyDeleteUnless she is taking drastic measures to hide it...febreezing everyting, bathing the child and herself, washing all of their clothes...which is doubtful, the parents know. They just don't care.
ReplyDeleteThe parents may smoke themselves in their house and around their child. If so they won't care if their nanny smokes.
ReplyDeletePoor kids, more likely will grow up smoking too
It doesn't take drastic measures to hide it. I smoked as a teenager and my parents never knew. If you smoke outdoors, the odor doesn't cling to you as much.
ReplyDelete8:48AM, you "even mixed liquid tide in the febreeze so it was uber potent and fresh smelling". I don't think that made the situation better. After exposing the child to cigrette smoke, you exposed him to the chemicals in Tide detergent. Tide is not for mixing with fabreeze on your own and spraying around the house, it is for washing clothes with. If you read the safety instructions on many household chemicals, they forbid you to mix anything. I hope you are taking better care of yourself and your charges.
ReplyDeletethe odor of smoke clings to everything. its disgusting. outside or not, you smoke, you smell!
ReplyDeleteI would be so pissed to learn my nanny was febreezing my child. Does this really go on?
ReplyDeleteFabreeze is probably worse than cigarette smoke. 8:48, you are a dumb fuck who had no busines watching kids. I wish I could report your irresponsible ass.
ReplyDeleteNow back to the OP. Eastern European or Spanish, you say? How could the 2 be confused?
Business, not business. That was a typo.
ReplyDeleteOMG. You mean the nanny was smoking within a 10 mile radius of a child? She should be beheaded immediately! She should be shot in front of the children to teach them that smoking is a no-no. She should be publicly flogged with the smoke with which she was "covering" the child.
ReplyDeleteSarcasm aside, as a former smoker, I know that it is virtually impossible to hide the smell of cigarettes on yourself or someone who has been hanging out next to you for any length of time. It would be impossible, even with bathing, teeth brushing, clothes washing, etc. for even a totally non-observant parent to ignore the fact that their nanny smokes. You can't "brush" your lungs.
Oh, and while I'm not denying the very real connection between health issues and smoking, the incredibly absurd scare tactics I read on parenting sites regarding how a child having a particle of smoke blow past them, and absorb through their skin and cause asthma, or IMMEDIATE DEATH really tick me off. We are incredibly resilient creatures. If even a daily whiff of second-hand smoke caused half of the "scare-the-crap-out-of-you" results that we read about, we'd all have completely died out as a species by now.
Chances are, the parents know and don't mind. Don't forget that other parents have their own idiosyncracies that they consider essential to the health and well being of their children, that we consider ridiculously overprotective... is that the case here, just maybe?
Oh, and one more thing, just 'cos it seems like the entire world has forgotten: Smoking? Guess what? It's legal. It may be a really bad habit, and really, REALLY bad for your health, but acting like you've just caught the nanny snorting coke off an underage hooker's ass and sharing it with the toddler is, IMHO, REALLY silly.
My son has asthma and reacts to second hand smoke. Anyone who has a child with asthma knows that second hand smoke is no joking matter. It could mean a visit to the doctor's office, or more nebulizer. Just because smoking is legal does not mean that it is okay to expose others to it. There are a lot of things out there that are legal (such as abortion) and pose serious health risks.
ReplyDeleteSelfish smoker alert!
ReplyDelete11:20. I am a hard core anti-smoker (as well as a former smoker). I think it is digusting and unhealthy and do everything in my power to never have my children exposed to it; however, I hardly think it is comparable to abortion. That's just a little crazy.
ReplyDelete11:20PM here:
ReplyDeleteDear 3:13am,
There are a lot of things out there that are legal (such as abortion) and pose serious health risks. Both smoking and abortion are legal, AND have health risks. The list of things under the category of Legal and Risky is endless. I am merely stating the facts, not condeming anyone's right to do harm oneself. We can face the facts (without denying anyone their rights) or we can chose the easy way out and be afraid to say important things just because someone out there is touchy feely.
Hey 3:13am. I forgot to say congratulations for kicking the smoking. Rock on! You just added a bunch of healthy years to your lifespan.
ReplyDelete:)
11:20...thanks for your congrats on me quitting smoking (a bout 10 years now), but I still think the abortion/smoking correlation is crazy.
ReplyDeleteI find abortion reprehensable as well (please no abortion deabtes, readers...I am repsonding to a comment, not starting a fight), but there not people on the street or in other places putting abortion in my childrens' faces either as they are smoke in many cases (see how it goes both ways?).
Yes they are both potentially harmful and legal, but that's like comparing skydiving and crossing a busy street. Makes no sense when put together.
I am a nanny and I smoke. No, I don't chain smoke and I don't smoke in front of the kids. that's a little bit intrusive and really none of your business as to why the nanny smokes and how much she smokes, as long as she is taking care of her responsibilities then that shouldn't be any of your concern. people like you, frankly, should get a hobby other than watch people smoke, because chances are if you are too busy watching other people and what they do, if you have a kid, you should be paying attention to them and minding your own business as opposed to being so concerned about someone else's nanny smoking. let them handle that.
ReplyDeleteI'm a live out nanny and I smoke. The parents know that I smoke and have no problem with it. I work ten hour days and I would not in a million years dream of smoking a cigarette during my work day! This is deplorable.
ReplyDeleteAbortion has one of the lowest mortality rates of any medical procedure out there. It's safer than carrying a pregnancy to term. A surgical abortion takes 3 minutes. Whether or not you agree with it on a personal level, it doesn't even compare to smoking, which has proven negative side effects for the smoker and the people unlucky enough to be near them.
ReplyDeleteanon11:49..low mortality rate for who?? Most certainly not all the dead babies!!Oh, sorry, I forgot,you aren't counting them right?
ReplyDelete