Tuesday

College Terrace Library - Palo Alto California

Received Tuesday, August 26, 2008.
nanny sighting logo Nanny - 30/40 ish Hispanic woman in orange tank top, khaki shorts and khaki baseball cap with stroller (gray with orange trim). Child - Very small infant dressed in white and covered with white blanket. At 1:20 your nanny called a construction worker over to look after the child while she left. She put your child in the shade with the construction worker and she must have gone into the library. She returned at 1:44, gave the construction worker a kiss - said something to him in Spanish and walked off down College Ave.
The construction worker took excellent care of your child, even bending down to make faces and noises to the baby - however I thought you might like to know your nanny left your child with this person.

31 comments:

  1. It was probably her boyfriend...not a big deal.

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  2. Umm, I don't think a nanny would just kiss a random stranger. It was probably her boyfriend or husband. And second, it could have been THEIR child. Are you sure she wasn't the mom??

    What are all Spanish women nannies?? Come on. This is getting out of hand.

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  3. When I was a nanny my husband used to watch the baby while we went to the bookstore. He is a doctor so works irregular hours and was sometime able to be with us during the day. Maybe the family has met the man and it is just fine with them. How can you be sure she was the nanny? Not all mom's are the same ethnicity as their kids. Maybe she was not the nanny but the mother and he is the father. I think it is great that the man was talking to the baby, nice for the nanny to have a little time to get an errand done. Sounds like the situation worked out well for everyone, especially the baby who has two poeple doting on him/her.

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  4. Not saying it's okay to leave your charges with other people, but my charge absolutley loves my boyfriend (and so do my employers), and I leave her with him while I go cook, clean up, etc. They love to play together. Or else, maybe this woman was the mother, and that was the father? I do not think there is enough information to go on.

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  5. I don't want to be "that person"...but this definitely seems like a mom and dad watching their own baby to me. I see nothing in this post that would indicate that this woman was the baby's nanny...we don't know what race the child was, which, if different from the Hispanic woman's, might indicate that the child was the woman's charge. OP couldn't even see the baby's face, just that the baby was dressed in white and covered with a white blanket. Um...Hispanic women can have babies that are dressed in white and covered in white blankets too, you know. It sounds like this woman left HER baby with HER husband/partner (as if a random person would just agree to take care of someone else's baby while they ran errands!) while she went to the library. I usually hate when people say "How do you know it was the nanny?", but this sighting just seems very presumptuous.

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  6. For me, this post does not have enough information. Said "constructon worker" could be the father of the child, or the boyfriend of the nanny. My host parents know my boyfriend very well, and have told me they feel extremley comfortable having him around their daughter. They play together while I cook, clean up, or whatever. So maybe this could be the same thing. However, if it's not, it is of course wrong to leave a baby with a total stranger!

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  7. A CONSTRUCTION WORKER????? oh my god he must have been a monster!!! Those evil CONSTRUCTION WORKERS...at least it wasn't a janitor, then I would have called the cops for sure!

    hehehe

    I agree with above, sounds like her husband or boyfriend. Doesn't seem like a big deal to me at all.

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  8. Oops...Im sorry. I did two posts because I thought I accidently deleted the first one, as I didn't see it posted!

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  9. Sorry Swiss Nanny, we had to Moderate the comments. We were hit hard by spammers this morning!

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  10. what a waste of a post.

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  11. Um, we don't see you out there trying to make any sightings minn. nanny. If you think you can do better, get on with it.

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  12. this one was dumb. that was probably her child ...or maybe the parents don't care...

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  13. So... you saw a woman leave a baby with a man..

    How nosey can people be? Why was this enough to make you note the time she left AND came back?

    Who even says its a nanny? Lots of people on here get irritated by people saying "It could have been the parents." I get irritated by the automatic assumption that it isn't.

    This post isn't even note-worthy.

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  14. Wow, I thought this was for the information of parents. It seems because someone doesn't post every single detail of a sighting you people really crucify those who are just posting what they saw....how are we not certain ALL these sightings aren't true?
    I am the author of this post and I happened to be sitting at my desk with a clear view of what happened, about ten feet from my open window. I am aware that this IS a nanny because she has asked to use our playground many times when she was nannying with a different family and had older charges. Could this man have been her husband / boyfriend? absolutely I never said he wasn't, in fact, I said he was very kind and engagingwith the child. I just wanted parents to be aware that their child had been left alone with him.
    I have definitely learned my lesson, as I'm sure many others who have been raked over the coals in this forum not to post here again. I guess I assumed we were all grown ups and we would not get angry at posters for missing a few details - yet you all assume in your comments that the poster is wrong. It's unfortunate that posters have to be made to feel as if their posts don't matter. There could be alot more good done, and people might feel better about posting if the comments weren't so hateful.

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  15. OP/Maguire
    I agree with you 100%. I think some of the posters are way too hard on people that provide sightings. I knew as soon as I saw yours, it would be picked apart.
    You gave them a good what-for. Let's hope they'll be nicer to the next OP and stop this nonsense.
    Try not to blame this blog as a whole because I know they're are some very good people here, but with any sight, you'll have those that have nothing better to do but spread their misery.
    Thanks for posting OP. I hope the child's parent sees this.

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  16. Thank you UESMOM, I believe there are many people here who have something to say that could enlighten us all, but the meanness that is directed towards some posts for no reason at all is not necessary.
    I completely understand everyone has their own opinion, but perhaps we could all stand to add our opinions in a way that wants to encourage others to post sightings for the good of children who may be with someone who should not be with them. Crucifying the poster doesn't help, they just want to make parents aware....that's all.

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  17. You really seem like such a wonderful family. I know you meant well. I hope you won't be soured the next time you see something that you think should be reported.
    I hope everyone takes your last post to heart, because that is what we're all supposed to be here for.

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  18. Dear Mrs. McGuire,

    I did not mean to be mean to you, my response was just an attempt at humor. Don't get all bent out of shape just because some people laughed at you and called you dumb. lol you are obviously not used to that. lmao some of us are, though. I get that all the time.

    peace, blogger. :) and hugs and kisses! :) your heart is in the right place! :)

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  19. Dear Maguires
    We really do appreciate the time you took to send in your Sighting. Thank you for caring!

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  20. To OP:
    I was just trying to figure out why your post was attacked, and the reason I think it was is this: I think that it sort of seemed like this was not a very big deal to people, this nanny/woman leaving her charge with someone she obviously knew for a few minutes. I asked myself how I would feel from both standpoints: as the sitter, and as the mom. If I were the mom and I found out that my nanny had left my child with someone I did not know for any length of time, would I be upset? Absolutely. However, if I were the nanny (assuming this nanny was a good nanny who valued her job and took great care of the child, as it seems she did) would I be hurt and upset that some woman who doesn't even know me, know my life situation, or anything at all about me, wanted to cause trouble for me when I merely wanted to go into a store/library for a few minutes? Yes. I would be very upset and I would think that this woman (you in this case) had nothing better to do but to make trouble and problems for innocent people.

    I guess what I'm saying is that from the nanny's standpoint, and the nannies on this board, all you were really doing was setting up this particular nanny for problems when she most likely didn't deserve it. She was obviously not abusive, nor was the man she is dating/married to. If this woman lost her job or even if this caused a rift between her and her employers, was this worth it to you? In the grand scheme of things? I don't know.

    Just something to think about.

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  21. excellent point that I hadn't thought of before, thank you for presenting it in a way that made me think about it differently, yet did not make me feel stupid, or call me ridiculous in the process. I appreciate the constructive critism. I do not have children of my own (that's a whole other fertility nightmare) yet I direct a little program in this neighborhood so I was thinking more on the side of the "nanny", not that I'm a nanny but I've been caring for children for 20 years and there was just something not quite right about the whole situation, which is why I posted. But you do make an excellent point on the side of the nanny, I have been in that position many a time as a preschool teacher.

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  22. Generally speaking, parents probably aren't paying the nanny's boyfriend, fiance, husband or whatever he may be, to care for their child. Unless they are well aware that their nanny hangs around her significant other and they're comfortable with him playing caregiver to their child, I think it's highly inappropriate for a nanny to leave her charge with him...I wouldn't even consider doing something like that. But then again, a lot of employers not only embrace their nanny as family, but nanny's family too. We don't know for sure in this case, which is why I think this was a good, legit sighting. OP laid out the details and only the details, and put it out there JUST IN CASE these parents weren't aware. If they are and they see this sighting, then no harm done. If they're not and they see this sighting, then they need to be vigilant with their nanny.

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  23. Excellent comment, jersey!

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  24. I really wish everyone on this blog, particularly our many, wonderful regulars would give the OPs of a post the benefit of the doubt and assume they are posting with genuine concern.

    Thank you for taking the time to write to ISYN and share your sighting. This blog was created for people like you, people who witnessed an event concerning a nanny and her charges that they found troubling and wanted to find a way to let the parents know what they had witnessed.

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  25. Not slamming the OP, but must point out that just because this lady used to nanny for a different family with older children, doesn't automatically mean that THIS baby is not her own?

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  26. well, to all the people who wonder why the original posters receive criticism for their posts...I think it's because a person's job and reputation is on the line.

    you are posting a very detailed description of a woman, and sometimes even photos, of a person who may not even have done anything wrong. you have no idea how the parents or other parents may take this information about this woman or the assumptions they may make based on what YOU say about her.

    i think people don't like the idea of a web site dedicated to protecting children that is so willing to NOT protect nannies and their reputations.

    it is one thing when you witness straightforward abuse or neglect. everything else is up to the discression of the viewer.

    i am glad people are on here who will defend the nannies and bring common sense and perspective to these sightings - could you imagine if they didn't?

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  27. I'm sure Jane is the only one who knows that I am both UMass AND "Both Sides Now." Hehehe! Obviously "Both Sides Now" is far more adult and communacative than UMassSlytherin. And Jane you make an excellent point, we should of course give the OP's the benefit of the doubt and not attack them. Some of us don't mean to do this, it just slips out. Like bad gas! :)

    That being said: excellent posts, JJ and pink nanny, although I have to agree with Pink Nanny over all. JJ as I said previously, I as a parent would not be too happy with my nanny doing this if I did not know the person. You can't get around that fact. However, as pink nanny said, a woman's job, reputation and so much more is on the line here. If this had been an ongoing thing, and the baby had been left in this man's hands for an extended period of time, I would most certainly have posted regarding it. But this time frame and incident seems so so small in the grand scheme of things that it really doesn't seem worth risking another person's job over. We have all had times at our own jobs in which we have had to take care of things and cut corners. The care for the child was not being compromised and the child was in obviously good hands. I can totally understand sticklers who feel that under NO CIRCUMSTANCES EVER should my child be left alone with a person I have not met (assuming parents have not met construction dude, which they may have: so many things we are assuming here) however, I am not one of those people. If I trusted my nanny, I would trust her judgement ultimately. I may be annoyed and tell her that next time we should be able to meet the person first, but I would certainly not fire her. But some people would! Poor nanny who loses her job over something like this.

    Again, thank you OP: your heart seems to be in the right place, I am in no way saying that you wanted to cause trouble for this person, just explaining why it may have seemed that way to people.

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  28. Umass, I'd expect to lose my job or be on some sort of probation period if I ever left my charge in the care of a boyfriend..or even a friend without the parent's permission. Again, we don't know if the parents were aware of this, but I have to disagree with pinknanny when she says that the nanny's livelihood was being risked here. If the parents know she hangs around her boyfriend, then her job is secure and everything is fine. If they don't know about this, then maybe it IS time for them to find a new nanny. It's all personal opinion, obviously, but I really wouldn't approve of my nanny (assuming I had one) putting my child in the care of someone else without my knowledge. That's a big no-no in my eyes.

    Trust me, I will defend the nannies when I see what I feel are bogus sightings. I have even been accused of being some sort of close-minded, bias nanny crusader...However, this one didn't seem at all presumptuous, cruel or pointless. I thought it was a good post.

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  29. JJ,
    I totally see your point. I don't think this post was a bad post, and I can totally understand why OP was concerned. I just would personally have left well enough alone. My mind would have wandered back to hawt B-list celebs within seconds. :)

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  30. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  31. there's a reason that parents interview for a nanny and make a decision as to whether the person is qualified and meets their standards. The nanny should not hand over her duties to anyone that the parent hasn't given prior approval to mind their child.

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