Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Nanny Nightmare Stories
To say finding a high-quality nanny is a stressful experience is quite an understatement. Each person you interview can potentially have a huge impact on your child and your relationship with your child. This person is invited into your home and often is treated like a family member—your young child will think of her as family as she will spend the most time with her and potentially have the biggest influence on her. Getting it right is hard under the best circumstances, but often, we women have only a few weeks to find someone and must rely on reputation, referrals, and our “gut instinct.”... Continue reading the Laura Roe Stevens article.

Au pairs: The Mademoiselles From Hell
Maybe it's my rose-tinted memory but I look back on the au pairs we had when I was a child as being helpful, kind, reasonable human beings. OK, they couldn't speak much English and they might have mistaken tulip bulbs for onions when they cooked (true, one did), but they were generally willing to muck in and do what they were asked. They were happy to stay up all night with my mother decorating (and drinking wine), they would take on my father if he came home late and wanted to rev us up before bedtime and they would even clean out our basset hound's ears with boiling wax and cotton wool... Continue Reading the Belinda Richardson article.

Nanny Nightmares: 7 Things You Don't Want Your Nanny to Do
As many parents know, it's difficult to find the right nanny, and when you do she's a godsend, providing the kind of high-quality care that studies show is important, along with cuddles and play in your child's own home. After five years of nannies, I can honestly say I’ve never regretted opting for this type of childcare - even if my bank balance has. But despite the greater measure of control a parent has through having a sole employee working in their house, things don't always go as we'd like... Continue reading the article by Sarah Ebner.

Pram Suspects
'I liked the Polish nanny, Justina, but she wanted to live out, with her boyfriend," says Katie, a writer and mother of three from Shepherd's Bush, west London. ''When I called her referee, the woman said, coldly: "Do you know who her boyfriend is? He's my husband."
Lesson number one in how to avoid nanny angst: never employ a nubile Pole who likes to prance around the house in knickers and Ugg boots.... Continue reading the article by Lucy Atkins.