I saw three nannies come in to the Tenafly , NJ library today, around 4 PM.. Between them, they are caring for about 7 kids. Because they all arrived together, for the most part, I'm not sure which kids were with which nanny. Two of the nannies are average height and weight. One has long black hair, dark skin and has a heavy Spanish accent. She was wearing black jeans, a black and white striped shirt and black sneakers. The other nanny wore a plum colored jogging suit with purple sneakers. Her hair went to her shoulders and she wore no jewelry or make-up of any kind. The third nanny was tall and overweight. She wore jeans and a long sleeve green henley shirt.. Her shirt said Polo. She had long, gold dangly earrings and cropped, curly hair. All three nannies were Spanish. The children ranged in age from about 2 years old to 4 or 5. One little girl, about three, was dressed brightly. Lime green top, skirt and shoes with pink flowers and bright pink tights. Her very light blonde hair was tied back in little pig-tail with green and pink scrunchies. Another of the children, a boy name Rory (Sp?) was about 4 or 5 and had a jacket on with a cowboy on the back. He had black pants and little work boots. The left breast of his jacket had Tuff Stuff on it. One of the children called the nanny in the black and white stripes "mommy" several times (I did not see which one) And the other nanny expressed surprise. She said "I don't bother to tell them no".One of the children, a girl about 3 years old had dark hair and eyes. She was dressed all in blue, and she had a terrible cold. Flushed cheeks, sneezing and coughing. She should have been home. I know this because the nanny in the plum suit was speaking very loudly and said she had to get home in an hour because "the lady did not want her out today-she is too sick." Pointing to the child.
The nannies were semi-involved with the kids, not as attentive as kids that age need, but they weren't overly neglectful. However the disturbing thing I saw was the nannies had some bottles of water, juice boxes and snacks. They ate all the snacks (despite the NO FOOD/NO DRINK sign in the library) And chased the kids away when they asked for some. I doubt the nannies are buying snacks like Gerber Graduate type cookies and snack sized bags of rainbow goldfish for themselves. They also drank the juice boxes and bottled water they had. When one of the kids asked for some water the nanny shared the bottle with her. That wasn't so bad but kids will be kids and next thing you know-they all wanted water. I then watched the nannies pass the remaining water they had around among the kids letting them all sip from the bottles, sharing even with the sick child.
I know this is not a terrible sighting but I thought it was worth mentioning since the one nanny was not supposed to be out with the sick child and it appeared these women ate all the snacks provided for the kids. I also think sharing the same 4 drinking bottles among 3 adults and seven kids is beyond unsanitary, particularly when one is sick.
28 comments:
How awful! I swear, people must not have 6 brain cells between them, and what absolute PIGS to eat all the kids' provisions.
How awful! I swear, people must not have 6 brain cells between them, and what absolute PIGS to eat all the kids' provisions.
I think it's a terrible sighting. Eating the kids' food in front of them, spreading germs around, dragging a sick kid out when her mom said not to?
All terrible, in my book. Thanks for posting.
But how can you be sure it was the nanny?
Ha, just kidding. What an incredibly detailed post. And really, while it's not abuse by any means, it shows a lack of respect and concern for children. If these people think that children do not get hungry mid-morning, or that a very sick child should not be able to rest at home, they should not be caring for children. There are many wonderful nannies right now who would love to have their jobs.
Not one of those kids is going to tell Mom that the sick one was out? Maybe she'll be fired tomorrow.
ewww gross, I'd want to know if my child was sharing drinks with a sick child, and if my nanny was dragging my sick child out when I asked her to stay home. These nannies sound like real morons.
Hopefully the girl who was sick will tell her mother how she went to the library, instead of staying home like the mother had asked.
Eww! I am so "OCD" when it comes to passing the germs around. I get extremely upset if people cough near me. The idea of those kids all drinking from the same container as the sick child is making me sick to my stomach. What is going to happen when all the kids are sick? Are they going to drag them all out of the house? I hope the parents see this. I know I a weird, but my nanny would get some sort of lecture out of me for this one.
Dealing with children all day, it gets very tiring to listening to tattling all day long. Then I come home to read this blog, just to find adults tattling on each. That is really all this is about, tattling on others. You all have a great day!
Now all of those kids are going to get sick.
When I go out with my charge, I pack enough snacks for both of us (I'm talking things like pretzels and fruit, not toddler-specific foods). I hope people watching don't think I'm eating all her snacks!
Good sighting, OP. These nannies epitomize the sub-par nannies that give all of us a bad name.
Ewwwwwwwwww, about the water thing. I think you were right to report this, if only because of the sick child being out when the mother specifically said to keep her home. That was blatantly not in the child's best interest.
You're wrong OP. It is a terrible thing. First, it obviously shows how little she cares for the sick child and how little the others care for their charges by letting them all share drinks with a sick baby. And seriously? Why would you not bring a snacks for yourself and the child if you're so hungry? Some people are just ridiculous.
And what is up with this lady not correcting the child when he/she called her mommy? My charges used to do that too and it's always good to teach them who is the mommy and who is the nanny. UGH some people just annoy me.
Ok, it is WEIRD and WRONG to let your charge call you "Mommy"! Talk about future Mommy issues.
And that library is so small. I can't believe the librarian didn't say anything. They are tyrants over there
I also think this is terrible. The nanny took a sick child out when the mother specifically told her not to. That is grounds to fire her IMO.
As for everyone drinking out of the same bottle, either these nannies are very ignorant, or they don't give a ---- about the children.
Good post OP.
Terrible... that was great!
As for the rest of the post... not so much.
I'm glad you posted this. I'm sure the parents of the sick child would want to know that the nanny dragged her out so she could socialize, instead of putting the sick child's interest first. That is horrible, poor kid.
And just a mini rant, I HATE when people bring food in the library. It's not the place to be handing out snacks.
How do you know that the children hadn't already eaten and the nannies were just snacking on the leftovers? Many times my charges ask for food 10 mins. after they eat a full lunch. When asked "is your tummy hungry" they think and say "no, I just wanted more...goldfish...etc."
Also, perhaps the sick child had been cooped (sp?) up in the house all day long, as well as the other children. Maybe this was just a little outing so they could get into a different enviroment and out of a sickhouse. It is incredibly hard being stuck inside a house all day long with multiple young children.
I also want to question the "lack of attentivness" towards the children. Did the nannies converse with the kids at all, answer question, help when asked or did they completely ignore the children? You said they did not refuse the children water when asked, and small beans if they all shared one bottle (with exception of the sick child)
Do you want the nannies to trail behind the children like they are attached? Arent children supposed to be given a little freedom and independence so they learn to be self-reliant and know they are their own person and are not, in fact, part of mommy,daddy, nanny? (yeah, ive taken child devp. so i have learned all about when this should be done, at what ages and to what extent)
The part about not correcting the child for calling nanny mommy is a bit weird, she should say "not mommy, nanny..." Perhaps these nannies work 50+ work weeks and see the children more than their parents do. It is very common for small children to label a person who brings them comfort and love "mommy" or "daddy".
"must have 6brain cells between them..." and other comments such as this. Why are they apparently stupid? Because they did not act exactly how you would have? And they are pigs because they snacked on the food they brougt? On this, I once worked for a family who only had childrens food in their home, nothing "adult" because they only ate out. If I did not bring food from home, I ended up eating Puffs, FruitaBoo, Goldfish and anything else kid friendly. So, perhaps the food was also for the nannies to eat.
Also, terrible, the op said the sighting was around 4pm, so it was not mid-morning snack time, though perhaps afternoon snack time, but in my experience that age range "snacks" earlier, since they are home all day and eat lunch earlier.
All in all, I think we should save isyn for "neglectful and abusive nanny sightings", ones that put childrens lives and well being at risk.
To me, all the complaints here are groundless. It also seems rather convenient that the OP overheard the nanny in plum telling the other nanny, "The lady did not want her out today - she is too sick". Doubtful that type of convo was overheard. Sorry, seems OP is nitpicking about nothing.
Calinanny, it is pure selfishness and basic flat out not following the parents'/boss's instructions to drag a sick child out of the house just because YOU find it inconvenient to have to stay honme for a day. And it's also disgusting, lazy and ignorant to share a bottle of water among 9 people, one of whom is hacking and coughing, sneezing and clearly SICK. Am I saying these things because the nannies did not "do what I would have done"? No. I am saying that because the nannies did many selfish, lazy, inadequate things that were NOT done as they SHOULD HAVE BEEN by someone doing their JOB properly.
We are not talking about a stressed out mom of 7 kids who had no choice but to take the kids out to get some errands done. We are talking about someone who would rather chill with her friends than do her job as she was hired to so it. Like you?
tired of the whinin', were you confused until today as to what the purpose of this blog was?
And Unidad, how silly to say that to YOU, all the events are groundless. Is your ESP better than OP's hearing and vision? Were you there?
I just hope that some GOOD nannies who are currently looking for work will soon replace these ignoramuses.
Taking a child out and ignoring specific directions from mom is bad.The nanny should be reprimanded by all means.
I personally agree though that children with colds need to get out as do all children. I do however hate it when parents/nannies drag sick children to indoor public places. That is rude and inconsiderate.That said, I would never disregard moms orders.
As far as the drinking water being passed around. I think there is much hysteria about not sharing.That is however just my opinion. We share our water bottles and if any one is sick we just make sure that that person is the last to drink from the bottle. Hopefully these nannies were smart enough to do the same.
I have had charges call me mommy and teacher in the past. It is normal. Sometimes correcting it just makes a bigger deal of it than it is. Charges know who their mommy is and who thier nanny is. Mixing the names up is common and always outgrown!
BTW..none of us were there except the OP.
CaliNanny I completely disagree with this comment:
"All in all, I think we should save isyn for "neglectful and abusive nanny sightings", ones that put childrens lives and well being at risk."
Perhaps as a nanny that is the benchmark you would like sightings to be limited to because you are confident that despite any shortcomings, you are not openly abusive. However, from an employer perspective I absolutely want to hear the sightings that show poor judgment and a lack of respect for the employer. I am fairly confident that if my nanny were openly abusive and putting my kids' lives at risk, I would know about it. However, it's the less egregious but still unacceptable issues that we as employers are able to miss. This is exactly the type of thing I think ISYN is best at catching. I encourage posters to post ANY questionable sightings. I'd much rather err on the side of overreporting and letting the employer decide what is serious, than underreporting and possibly missing something that could be serious. Remember, people's are generally on GOOD behavior in public. So I always assume that the behavior in a sighting is likely 10X worse when the nanny is alone with the child. So issues of kindness, warmth, attention, judgment, planning, etc are the ones I think are most critical to mention on ISYN.
CaliNanny:
When a child is sick, he/she should stay home, period. Not only because rest is essential to recover, but also because there are other children there and she could get them all sick as well. Also, it is winter. It is proven that cold wether lowers the body's defenses. Taking a child out of the warmth of a house, to cold weather can cause her cold to worsen.
And Unidad, yes. Believe it or not nannies talk about everything when they get together, including things they're not supposed to do but do anyway.
Psst... OP, have you ever tried Goldfish crackers? I buy them, for myself and snack size too in fact. Don't think you know so much, because you don't.
Whoooa:
Do you buy the litte juice boxes and gerber snacks too and sit and blatantly disregard posted rules while you eat and drink?
You likely do never mind answering.
UNOME, who does? It's all people food. Goldfish crackers are damn tasty.
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