Received Friday, November 16, 2007
Your nanny is an African American woman, always well dressed, today, (Thurs. 11/15) in fancy rain boots. You have 2 boys. One takes ice skating lessons on Thursday afternoons at 3:45pm he is 5 or so and is named Evan, the other is younger and sits with this nanny each lesson. The nanny is always cranky and curt with the boys. There doesn't seem to be any caring or compassion from her towards the boys. She complains to the instructors regularly and has an overall bad attitude. I don't see any outright abuse or maltreatment, but if this is how she is at a public skating rink, I can only imagine how she is alone with them. I would not want my children cared for by this woman. This is now the 7th week that I have witnessed her like this, she never smiles. I wish I knew their mother to tell her myself.
33 comments:
You say the Nanny complains to the Instructors all the time? I wonder what's up with the Instructors, and why they haven't reported this Nannys behavior to the Parents? Too bad not everyone sees fit to get involved. I bet the Parents of those 2 boys would certainly believe the Instructors critique of the Nannys maltreatment.
Maybe she complains to the instructors because they aren't doing a good job-did anyone think of that? maybe she isn't smiling because she isn't happy with the way the lessons are going for the child she is taking care of.
Not everyone is Mary Poppins and goes around with a fake smile plastered on their face all the time. maybe that is why the instructors haven't said anything to the parents.
something in the water in larchmont this week?
mary poppins was a psycho witch who was all about trickery and making the parents feel like incompetent assholes and bad parents- let us stop using mary poppins as a euphanism for good nannies.
having said that- these nannies who never smile- why oh why do you hire them? my nanny smiles all the time-she is a joy to be around.
parents should be forced to spend three 8 hour days tied to their nannies -before they hire her. most of these parents can't stand to spend two minutes with their nanny. i have a friend who comes home and the nanny wants to update her on the day. the mother is infuriated. she tells me, 'i just want her out of her face-the last thing i want to do is stand there and listen to her rendition of the day's events'. sorry, but to me that is a good nanny.
My kids used to take skating lessons there, you really have to go out of your way to complain to the instructors or to have something to complain about in the first place. I do not think this is evidence of a 'bad' nanny, but if I were the mother I would definitely keep an eye on her. Thanks OP
If I'm not mistaken, the OP said that the Nanny is always "cranky and curt" to the boys ... so pardon me, 10:36, but that seems to me to be the description of a Nanny that is in a perpetually bad mood. I didn't read anywhere that this was the Instructors fault. And please read your literature. Don't use Mary Poppins as an example of a qualified Nanny.
I had the same reaction--this doesn't jibe with my experience with Hommocks (my daughter takes lessons there). Practically the only way to talk to the instructors is to strap on skates yourself. They only come near the entrance long enough to make sure their line of students get off the ice and there is always a crowd of children exiting and entering when lessons are over so I'm not sure how she gets an opportunity to complain. Could be she doesn't like sitting in the loud, cold arena and it affects her attitude while there. (I know I often have a headache by the time my daughter's lesson is over--they were my husband's idea). But, if that's the case, she should give the parents Hommock's weekend lesson schedule, let them know that she would prefer not to do this particular activity with the boys--must be horribly boring for the younger one--and suggest some alternative weekday activity that both boys can take part in.
10;36 here:
Oh for crying out loud you anal annies-please read my literature-mary poppins should not be used as an example of a qualified nanny. All I said was she smiled a lot! You people seriously need to relax! I feel sorry for any nanny that works for you!
I see plenty of parents who rarely smile. That's life.
How long is this lesson? Couldnt she drop off the older child and take the younger one someplace for a while? My daughter (3) takes a dance class on Monday nights. I bring her into the studio, help her get on her tap shoes, wait until she is actually in her room beginning class and then I take my son to a nearby park or shopping center for an hour. Couldn't the nanny do something like this?
And for half-hour lesson situations, bring books and age appropriate games. It can easily be used as one on one time that way. It's not right to just make the other child sit and wait. A half hour of pure boredom is an eternity to a small child.
Taking the little child elsewhere would require absence of laziness. Some of these nannies MUST remain seated at all costs.
It's mayhem. Or the absence of mayhem. Stiffling boredom. Can't you just hear your brilliant children's brains rotting in "their" care?
"It's mayhem. Or the absence of mayhem. Stiffling boredom. Can't you just hear your brilliant children's brains rotting in "their" care?"
Melamonk -
sad and funny ... and true.
10:36/3:59
I don't employ a Nanny. I am a proud SAHM. However, several years ago I was a Nanny, so I can attest to the fact that it is not an easy job. My sympathies lie with the hard-working, true-blue Nannys that are professional enough to 'try' and put a smile on their face every day ... for the kids sake. This Nanny doesn't seem to be very happy - for whatever reason. But meme and Mom, both of you have made great suggestions for any other Nanny that is in this type of situation.
Poor kids hopefully their parents catch on and get them a new nanny.
Hey mom at 11:28...this is the other "mom." I don't know if you knew I am already here using the name mom...for about 6 -8 weeks I guess. I have been wondering if I need to choose a more specific name. If you want that one, I will choose another...or you can. Let me know your preference. I'm easy. I don't care what my moniker is, but I don't want to be confusing. There was another person posting offensively the other night pretending to be me.
Hey! maybe I can be original and you can be crispy?
Original Mom,
If you change your moniker, be sure to let us know so we know it's you!
mom/original/11:43
LOL ... she said 'crispy'.
This is a half-hour lesson and usually younger siblings have to wait around. This is not a playground
so the nanny cannot just sit somewhere and hope that the boy will play by himself. As a mom I did not think the rink was necessarily a "fun" outing for toddlers, so the key is to be prepared (bring toys, books) and to give constant attention to the child - something that a 'good' nanny should be able to do on a regular basis
Nannies, just like moms, can have bad days, but it seems that this nanny only has bad days.
The parents in Mary Poppins were incompetent(i.e. the mom) and assholes(i.e. the dad). Mary Poppins made those kids smile and use thier imagination. What is the deal with you Mary Poppins haters?
You must be referring to the movie, which doesn't even count, IMO, as it came almost 40 years after the book and Walt Disney re-interpreted it to suit his own politics. Mary Poppins practically NEVER smiled, and when she did, it was either at her low-class boyfriend, or at her own pretty reflection in a shop window whch she had stopped to admire. She spoke curtly to the children most of the time, but was very efficient at the essentials of the job.
hmmm that's interesting. Sorry I didn't know about the book. I like the Disney interpretation though. Interesting how they changed it so much. The book Mary sounds like one of my grade school teachers! She always quoted the movie too. She was "practically perfect in every way". I found her annoying and snobby but she was good at her job!
re: She was "practically perfect in every way". I found her annoying and snobby but she was good at her job! I had a nanny who was practically perfect in every way and she smiled too. Sometimes someone who makes everything look to easy can be outright annoying. I'm sorry, but I'm just being honest.
Well, in the book she also considered herself to be "practically perfect in every way". And she WAS great at her job, but would stop for long periods of time to admire her reflection, adjust her hat, etc, and then would walk swiftly onwards and speak crisply to the children telling them to keep pace with her "as if THEY had kept HER waiting'. I don't know if Burt was officially her boyfriend but he was interested in her and his attentions flattered her and made her smile. And fun magical things always happened with her, but if the kids ever dared talk about them with her later she would look at them as though they were suggesting her mother had been a sea anemone, so they dared never mention these incidents again. She also regularly did the family's errands, stopping at the butcher's and the baker's, and the watch-maker's, etc. She was really the epitome of classic English middle class emulating the stiff-upper-lip UPPER class English, very prim, intimidating, austere, ALWAYS reserved and proper. Very strict with the children who ALWAYS behaved perfectly in public.
I guess I'm just a book snob and it always annoys me, when they take a classic book and make it into a movie with plenty of changes along the way, and then people aren't even aware that the movie was not the original. It even annoys me with the Harry Potter movies, though since J.K. Rowling has to approve all the movie content, I suppose *I* shouldn't be bothered by it, LOL!
9:57....if you were surprised by the info about the Mary Poppins book, you should try reading the books the Wizard of Oz was based on. It'll blow your mind!
Yes, Meme, weren't there like 30 of them? I know there were MANY.
Mom, I am so sorry, this is "Mom" from 11:28, I didn't mean to take your name, since you have been using it so long by all means keep it.
Welcome: 'Katefromca'
Cali mom
Thank you so much for the "Readers Digest" condensed version on the REAL Mary Poppins. Now maybe people will stop referencing her as a euphemism.
Very INTERESTING 10:45
Sounds like my experience. The mother i used to work for was so rude- I would try to talk about the day to her- I was always pretty excited actually and she would just ignore me.
Oh, that was so infuriating... it got to the point where I would ignore her, just have my back turned when she came in...because of course she never said 'good evening'
So I basically ignored her as I would do to anyone outside my job- it made her try harder- though I knew she hated me.
It was always funny to hear her try to break the ice. "how's it going?' she'd say sometimes. lol
It's funny now.
I was not about to kiss her butt- I don't do that outside my job why should i do it on the job.
I was as nice as one could be with the exception of letting her walk all over me, and I guess I was a Mary Poppins. I was very good at my job. Noone ever had to tell me what to do with the kids.
And though I was uniformed on the job (my choice to make wives more at ease) when going out it's a totally other story (live-in), but I tried very hard keep it as modest as possible, but what can i say...I have a great sense of style.
There was always a smile on my face when dealing with the children who I truly adored.
When I was poached away. She begged me with tears to stay for the girls. Sadly, I would have but I was saved by the fact that I had already signed a contract elsewhere Thank God.
By the time I walked through those doors things got really ugly. She shrank even smaller before my eyes as she carried on. It was awful. In the end I was happy I made the decision to leave.
I should have started my own thread with this!
Burt was gay.
Burt was gay.
Yes Cali Mom and nothing like the movie.
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