First, let me say that I have a nanny and I am aware that my own nanny takes my 2 year old child on her personal errands. I have no problem with this because I am aware that my nanny does this and because although my nanny will incorporate some aspects of her life into the job, I am confident my child remains her number one priority. Second, I would like to say that I terribly regret not having said something in person. My moment passed and this is unfortunately, an after thought. I only hope someone knows this child. I was trying on some trousers at the store and made two trips to the dressing room. On one such occasion, I overheard a child whining and then a smacking sound followed by more crying. The smack was not excessively hard, but it was audible. I do not know where it landed and at the time, I did not know the age of the child. Five minutes later, I was browsing blouses when an oddly proportioned Haitian nanny pushing a navy blue & baby blue stroller sidled up to me. The woman was very rough with the clothing, very rude in her motions. In order to get past me she pushed over a pocketbook I had placed at my feet to hold up a blouse. I reference this because it was obviously she was a very gruff person. I did not connect her to the dressing room smack because there was another child in the store of about four years old who was giving her mother a terrible time and whining without cause. This nanny was separated by one clothing rack from me when I saw her out of the corner of my eye, bend over, reach down and grab the child by the cheeks and say, "SHUT YOUR MOUTH". She said it slow and deep in an evil sounding voice. She did not scream it. The child then started to cry again. The child was in my best estimation of about 2.2 years old. The child had dark, curly hair and deep set blue eyes. She was dressed in plaid pants/leggings and a long sleeve, thin white or pink shirt. This nanny doesn't need to be just fired, she needs to be stomped upon.
Thursday
Express Clothing in the Garden State Plaza, NJ
Received Thursday, July 17, 2008
First, let me say that I have a nanny and I am aware that my own nanny takes my 2 year old child on her personal errands. I have no problem with this because I am aware that my nanny does this and because although my nanny will incorporate some aspects of her life into the job, I am confident my child remains her number one priority. Second, I would like to say that I terribly regret not having said something in person. My moment passed and this is unfortunately, an after thought. I only hope someone knows this child. I was trying on some trousers at the store and made two trips to the dressing room. On one such occasion, I overheard a child whining and then a smacking sound followed by more crying. The smack was not excessively hard, but it was audible. I do not know where it landed and at the time, I did not know the age of the child. Five minutes later, I was browsing blouses when an oddly proportioned Haitian nanny pushing a navy blue & baby blue stroller sidled up to me. The woman was very rough with the clothing, very rude in her motions. In order to get past me she pushed over a pocketbook I had placed at my feet to hold up a blouse. I reference this because it was obviously she was a very gruff person. I did not connect her to the dressing room smack because there was another child in the store of about four years old who was giving her mother a terrible time and whining without cause. This nanny was separated by one clothing rack from me when I saw her out of the corner of my eye, bend over, reach down and grab the child by the cheeks and say, "SHUT YOUR MOUTH". She said it slow and deep in an evil sounding voice. She did not scream it. The child then started to cry again. The child was in my best estimation of about 2.2 years old. The child had dark, curly hair and deep set blue eyes. She was dressed in plaid pants/leggings and a long sleeve, thin white or pink shirt. This nanny doesn't need to be just fired, she needs to be stomped upon.
First, let me say that I have a nanny and I am aware that my own nanny takes my 2 year old child on her personal errands. I have no problem with this because I am aware that my nanny does this and because although my nanny will incorporate some aspects of her life into the job, I am confident my child remains her number one priority. Second, I would like to say that I terribly regret not having said something in person. My moment passed and this is unfortunately, an after thought. I only hope someone knows this child. I was trying on some trousers at the store and made two trips to the dressing room. On one such occasion, I overheard a child whining and then a smacking sound followed by more crying. The smack was not excessively hard, but it was audible. I do not know where it landed and at the time, I did not know the age of the child. Five minutes later, I was browsing blouses when an oddly proportioned Haitian nanny pushing a navy blue & baby blue stroller sidled up to me. The woman was very rough with the clothing, very rude in her motions. In order to get past me she pushed over a pocketbook I had placed at my feet to hold up a blouse. I reference this because it was obviously she was a very gruff person. I did not connect her to the dressing room smack because there was another child in the store of about four years old who was giving her mother a terrible time and whining without cause. This nanny was separated by one clothing rack from me when I saw her out of the corner of my eye, bend over, reach down and grab the child by the cheeks and say, "SHUT YOUR MOUTH". She said it slow and deep in an evil sounding voice. She did not scream it. The child then started to cry again. The child was in my best estimation of about 2.2 years old. The child had dark, curly hair and deep set blue eyes. She was dressed in plaid pants/leggings and a long sleeve, thin white or pink shirt. This nanny doesn't need to be just fired, she needs to be stomped upon.
Very good post...I hope the parents see it and fire their nanny!
ReplyDeleteSounds like she's mean to everyone, not just the baby. How does someone like that make it through the interview process?
ReplyDeleteMy first reaction is to ask WHY you didn't say anything? I read so many posts about verbally abusive and rough nannies, and none of the people writing about them confront the person. They just write about it later. Is that helping the child?
ReplyDeleteThinking about it more, I understand that the nanny may just get upset with you or brush you off if you say something, and the parent will never find out how the nanny acts... Isn't there something more people can do when they see something that is abusive towards the child?? These poor children. Would it be wrong to engage the nanny in small talk in hopes of learning her name or the childs name to be able to alert the parents? Probably not I suppose...
The name of this blog is " I saw Your Nanny". Don't harp on the fact she didn't confront the nanny then and there--she is doing something about it now. People are so judgmental. It makes people not even want to post on here!
ReplyDeleteGood post OP.
ReplyDeleteI think confronting a nanny like this will result in an angry defensive response. It certainly isn't going to change her character. Maybe in some situations you could engage her in conversation and get some information, in a playground for example, but probably not a store.
I hope the baby's parents see this. Although there really is no way of knowing that this child was hit in the dressing room, it sure seems like it. And just the behavior outside of the dressing room prompted enough for a post. I also think it is fine to bring children on personal errands as long as they are your number one priority. I know from experience that sometimes the children get bored and love going shopping, even if you do not want to go :)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteOh wow...What an awful nanny. Good sighting, OP..
ReplyDeleteIt was probably best that OP didn't confront her. This nanny didn't sound nice OR reasonable. It probably would have angered her more and accomplished NOTHING. I really, really, really hope the parents see this. So sad.
Well OP could have found herself hanging with the shirts if she had aid something to this abusive witch.
ReplyDeleteIf these people will do these things to a child in a public place
what do they do to the child in private?
I hope someone reads this and recognizes this woman and tells the parents before she does some real damage to this little kid.
Without judging anyone's past actions or reactions, I would say that child abuse (which is what that was) is a CRIME and as such can be reported without shame to the authorities. One could approach a violent nanny and ask for the child's parent's number immediately and/or else one will call the police.
ReplyDelete