Friday

Central Park West/110th street park in New York City

Received Friday, September 14, 2007
Date of incident: July 13, 2007, shortly after 12:30 PM.
Attached is a picture of a nanny with a baby and a child of about 3 yrs. I saw this woman hit the 3yr. old in the park when she was feeding him in the stroller. Apparently he dropped some food or the like and got hit for it. The boy cried without her consoling him. She seemed to be very uncaring towards this child to the point of disliking him. He has dark hair and is in a tank top in the photo. I saw this before I took a trip out of state and thought of reporting it after I got back. I forgot and yesterday I remembered the little boy and I put it off again. When I went to the park today (this time it was Riverside at 110th street) I saw the same little boy with the nanny and the baby and I knew it was a sign that I had to do something. On both occasions I observed this nanny sitting on a park bench without paying attention to the boy who walked and played through out the park with minimal or no supervision from the nanny. She sat at the bench talking with another nanny while holding the baby. The boy would wander towards her and she always seemed annoyed with him. I have two little boys and this just breaks my heart the way this woman treats this boy. If she hits him in public God knows what she does to him when no one is around.
reader submitted photo of bad nanny
I should have called the police. I'm hoping that even if it is several months after the fact, that its not too late. I would not like my name on the posting yet if you get contacted by the parents you have my permission to give them my email. I took several photos of the child on that day playing in the sand box. The nanny looks African American but may be is Jamaican. Not sure. The baby has to be the boys sibling because they look a lot alike.

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

That poor little boy not getting attention and love from the nanny. I broke my heart reading this posting. I'm glad you did the right thing and posted this. Those kids need better care then what they are receiving. I hope she looses her job.

Anonymous said...

When you say "hit," OP, what do you mean? As in she slapped him in the face or...?

Anonymous said...

Great Photo.
I was really beginning to wonder abot the # of nannies that wore "denim capris" and t-shirts.
It isn't an urban legend.

Anonymous said...

Vile, vile nanny.

Anonymous said...

not to turn this around against a horrible nanny but why was she feeding him, he definitely looks old enough to feed himself and almost uncomfortable in the stroller. Maybe the baby is supposed to be in the stroller? Just a thought.

Anonymous said...

I don't get the denim capris and tshirt comment................

Anonymous said...

the denim capris outfit is a favorite of nannies.

but back to the post. this is horrible. and to the OP, great job taking the picture.

Maybe this is a case of nanny playing favorites? Mistreat the older one?

Anonymous said...

you get what you pay for.

Anonymous said...

Im the OP. She didnt hit him in the face. The stroller was turned sideways in front of her and my view of the boys body was obstructed so I didnt see what part of him she hit. I saw her hand doing the motion to hit and heard a loud slapping sound when it came down. The boy immediately started to cry. I moved so I could get a look at the boy and didnt see any red mark on his face. I saw her pissed and cleaning up some food that had fallen on him and the stroller. Yes he was in the stroller while she was feeding him. Seemed strange to me as well since he looks old enough to feed himself. She seemed OK with the baby though.

Anonymous said...

Terrible.
=(

OP, I have hesitated to call police before too. But it turned out they didnt even trust me because I was so young...

Sounds to me like she likes babies, but not the older boy. :( That poor baby (I say baby because even at 3, in my eyes he is still just a baby). Hopefully he speaks well enough to tell his parents.

Anonymous said...

FYI, in a lot of central american countries, you swat at a kids hand or act like you are about to and even if you don't swat them, the kids might cry anyway if they know they did something...it's usually just a simple slap on the wrist (LITERALLY)...not to say it is right, but if you came from a culture and this is how you grew up, how would you know that Americans don't do that? Stupid parents who hire nannies from other cultures without knowing anything about that culture...

Anonymous said...

Well, nannies still shouldn't hit their charges...no matter what culture they came from.

Anonymous said...

I agree that a nanny should not be hitting her charges, I am a nanny and wouldn't dream of doing this to any child, especially over accidentally spilling food. I really hope the nanny's employer sees this posting because this uncaring woman should not be working with kids at all.

Anonymous said...

Now this is a very bad nanny, not worth defending at all. Kids spill things all the time because it takes them a while to become well coordinated.

Anonymous said...

'Love the picture......'LOVE IT!!!! I sure hope she's unemployed SOON!!!!

Anonymous said...

6:10, the nanny was apparently not Central American. And if someone has to explain to you that it's wrong to hit or threaten a 3 year old, ESPECIALLY for something they can't help, you should not be allowed within 20 yards of a child. End of story.

Anonymous said...

hmm, there are many scary nannies out there. Recently in asia, there are many cases where children are abused and some even tortured to death by their nannies. Here, it's tougher to leave your child whole-heartedly to a nanny.

Anonymous said...

I dont care what culture someone is from (as suggested by 6:10), a caregiver DOES NOT hit my child and I would make that clear up front.

I also wondered why a 3-year-old was being fed. He should certainly be able to feed himself. Although I once saw a woman sitting on the steps of a shop just off St. George in St. Augustine feeding a child, that had to be at least 2, from a jar of baby food!

Crazy....rergardless, this nanny needs to go, unless of course the parents condone this type of action. In that case, maybe they need to go!

Anonymous said...

I live in this neighborhood. I saw that stroller, but filled with girls. I'll be on the look out. I asked DD if she knew them. She said no.

Thanks OP for doing this. As a WOHM, I appreciate it.

Anonymous said...

6:10 Here...

You people are so damn ignorant. Have any of you ever LIVED in Central America or the Caribbean? You think a little swat on the wrist is wrong because you grew up in America. If you had grown up in other places, you would have a COMPLETELY different perspective. We are not talking about SMACKING, full-out, abuse [beating], we are talking about a simple slap on the wrist, even less than a spanking.

Many people I know got a slap on the wrist or spanking growing up--and let me tell you, they all turned out fine. I'm ok with a spanking or swat on the hand about 5 times over the duration of ones' lifetime. HOWEVER, I am NOT OK with swatting someone for the simple fact of dropping food..

If your kid runs out into the middle of the street? If they are about to get into a stranger's car? If you've told them a million times not to and nothing is working? It's probably time for a little spanking.

Anonymous said...

105;
if a nanny ever swatted, spanked or hit my child for anything, i would kill her. or have her killed.

got it?

Anonymous said...

6:10...the OP is clearly says it was not a tiny tap on the hand and AGAIN I dont care if the nanny is from Mars or if she is my own mother, NO ONE hits my child. Not to say DH and I never give a little swat, but if you are not the parent, you have no business using any type of physical discipline. Unless, again, the parents told her to do it and then they are the bad ones.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps he threw the food at her or his sibling. Perhaps he cursed at her or his sibling. Perhaps he spit on her. Everyone just assumes that this nanny, because she is black and "wearing the denim capris" was being an asshole. No one, not even the OP, knows for sure. Ha. "I should have called the police"! I would have LOVED to hear the operator's response to that call.

Anonymous said...

Nanny hit the child, period. I agree with 3:16pm. Whatever led to the hitting, nanny should not take it upon herself to physically discipline someone else's child. I am a nanny, and when I think there is an issue with my charge that needs to be discussed, I tell my employer. Hitting is not my style.

Anonymous said...

If my nanny hit my child, I'd throw the nanny out of my 12th floor window.

Anonymous said...

if your strong enough to lift her

Anonymous said...

With a little adrenaline, any angry parent can lift anyone and toss them out the window. You seem familiar, are you the really young blogger who keeps showing up and posting short insults aimed at any previous entry? Just curious. If you are, please make sure your parents know that you are online blogging with adults.

Anonymous said...

1:05 and 9:57, your ignorance and condoning of PHYSICAL VIOLENCE against small children is sickening. So what if a 3 year old threw food at you? They get a time-out or lose a privilege or treat, they do NOT GET HIT. All that the "swatting, smacking and spanking is necessary" attitude teaches is that if you're really upset, it's OK to hit someone. Especially if the person you decide to hit is much smaller than you. That is not the adult way to handle ANY bad behavior, and in this case it doesn't even sound like the chld behaved badly, just dropped some food. I'm with those who would probably kill a nanny, and would definitely fire her and make a police report on her (or him) if they ever hit my child. Even a slap, smack or swat. If you think it's OK to use physical retaliation tactics on a child, you should never be left unsupervised with anyone smaller than you, child or adult.

Anonymous said...

First off 9:57 it has nothing to do with the color of her skin. I am a nanny and I would not dream of hitting any of my boys, and if someone hit one o fmy own children I would be furious. If you do not have patience then this is not the job for you. There are many troubled and well off kids out there that hit, spit, kick, curse doing it back to them will just re-inforce to them that this behavior is OK. ITS NOT, the only way to get a child to stop doing those things is to show them!!!!!!!!!!! THATS IS WHY WE ARE THE ADULTS and they are the children. I stand by the fact that patience is number one, you can not let spilled milk, food, spitting, cursing get to you, its your job to stay calm and handle the situation in a GROWN UP MANNER!
Missie

Anonymous said...

Eaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasy 239 who are you kidding?

Anonymous said...

what do you mean the weight 239 lbs?

Anonymous said...

'I also wondered why a 3-year-old was being fed. He should certainly be able to feed himself. Although I once saw a woman sitting on the steps of a shop just off St. George in St. Augustine feeding a child, that had to be at least 2, from a jar of baby food!'

I am the adoptive mother of a 2 1/2 year old daughter. Just looking at her in her stroller, she looks perfectly fine. However, she is severely disabled. She can ONLY eat babyfood for her entire life due to her handicaps. I have to feed her too. Many children have stomach/intestinal issues that you can't see from the outside and have to eat babyfood. My daughter can't even have table food ground up, she can't have the additives and spices. So..before you bash what children are eating, take a minute to think that there must be a reason. My non-disabled 2 year old son refuses to eat any babyfood. He has eaten tablefood for over a year now. If the baby didn't like it, you would have been able to tell.
Sorry. *Getting off soapbox now*

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