I saw a tall, blond nanny today at the Lincoln Park Zoo who was doing the typical lazy nanny routine of talking on her phone the entire time and never once even looking around to see where her charge was playing.What's funny is that I have seen this nanny before at the Zoo doing the exact same thing, and last time I even took a couple of photographs of her. I never got around to posting them - after all, perhaps she is a great nanny when she actually pays attention to her charge(s). But after several sightings I'm beginning to think that this is a typical day for her. Take kid to zoo, park butt on bench, talk on phone, ignore child. Case in point: I don't even know which child she is supposed to be watching!
The photos are from my last sighting at the Children's Zoo indoor playplace (February 9th). I was there with my little charge for just over an hour. This nanny was parked in place, jabbering away, when we arrived. As we left, she was still doing the exact same thing. I looked all over for her child but never once saw her interact with or even look up at any of the children playing.
Today (March 2nd), she had parked herself in the Farm portion of the zoo, phone glued to her ear. Since there weren't too many children in the barn, I again looked around for an unattended child or children. I encountered two little boys, one about two or three years of age, brown hair, happy, wearing snowpants overalls. There was also an older boy playing with him who looked to be about 5 or 6, fair hair, skinny, with large pale eyes. I'm guessing these two might be her charges? The littler one is far too young to be playing without supervision. Aside from the obvious "stranger danger", how does it benefit a child to go to these great learning places and not have any adult input to help them develop and question what's around them? I am chattering to my little guy constantly, asking him questions, helping him to climb, wiping his nose, and encouraging him to look at different things and practice polite greetings with other children, zoo volunteers, etc. News flash to these phone-obsessed nannies (and there are a LOT of them in Chicago): you are being PAID to NURTURE these precious children! I understand that we all need the occasional time off our feet to sit down, regroup, maybe even make a quick necessary call to the parents or someone. But to be basically incommunicado for hours on end while the child(ren) in your care wander aimlessly is neglectful. My last family I nanny for remains in touch with me, and the primary complaint of the children about their new nanny is that she is constantly on her phone. It makes kids feel unimportant and frustrated to be ignored like this! Why do so many nannies have such "important" phone conversations all day?? It puzzles me. I feel like the parents who employ these phone-obsessed nannies deserve to know how their nannies ignore their children - then probably come home to tell them all about how she and Junior had such a fun, stimulating day.
Today, the nanny was wearing a black North Face jacket, jeans, and black shoes. Stroller parked by her is a black BOB-type jogging stroller.
72 comments:
It sounds like 2 little boys I used to nanny for that moved to the Chicago area about a year ago. Can you describe the kids a little better? Or did you by chance catch either one of their names or a nickname? Does the younger one have brown eyes?
The subject of a recent debate on another post was the way people presume these people are Nannies. Honestly, with that post I was of the opinion that it doesn't matter when a child is being put in danger. Here though, I'm a little shocked.
Did you really never ONCE see her interact with a child? So how on EARTH do you come up with the idea that she's a "bad nanny?" She could be a mother. Hell, maybe she doesn't even HAVE a child. Maybe she just likes the zoo. Really though, she could be anyone for any reason hanging out at the zoo. But you don't even know what kids she was with? I get that someone just hanging out in the kids' area is weird, so I'm sure she has kids but really? From what OP wrote NOTHING about this post says Nanny. Or Mother. Or Aunt. Or Grandmother. Fact is, there is no way to know. So, IMO, poor post.
Where is eternal question now?? This will really piss her off.
You know what's funny? When my cell phone rings half the time I can't even find it! I think I am just from a different generation where there were just times when I could not be reached. I see so many of these younger people yakking away or texting away...what gives?
After a certain age I think you don't need to be a "helicopter nanny", but you still have to keep an eye on them!
I don't know or even like anyone enough to be blabbing away on my cell phone. My employer an I explain pertinent points and we hang up. That's it. I am not paid to be on the phone all day, that's what the people at Verizon are paid for.
So yeah, I just posted (where's eternal question?) and I just have to say one more thing.
Turns out, Nannies are NOT the only ones with the phone addiction problem. I encounter parents all the time whose phones are glued to their ears the entire time they are at the park, at the mall, even at the library with their child. So lay the hell off the idea that this is a for-nannies-only affliction. Yeah, it's crappy for a person to be on the phone constantly when a child needs to be watched, but let's not pretend that Mommies and Daddies aren't guilty of it as well.
Every. Single. One.
Not all the time, of course. But please.
Just something I noticed, the stroller next to her has pink clothes in it. Chances are the boys you saw are not with her. Or the stroller isn't hers.
ChiNanny,
An excellent point! That pink clothing seems far too small for a woman that size.
You nannies are complete assholes. This isn't your blog. This blog was created for PARENTS. So to have a bunch of ignorant nannies sounding off on every post "how do you know it was the nanny", well it just makes me wish I could slap you upside the head.
Stop detracting from the facts contained within the post. STOP. And leave this blog and go start your own blog called "it wasn't the nanny".
I know a lot of mothers who ignore their children and spend a lot of time on the phone, but you are comparing apples to oranges. A nanny is paid to do a job, that job description either does or does not include neglecting the child, sitting on her ass and talking on the phone!
Get over yourselves, really.
Go to meet up, join a meetup nanny group and meet for drinks at applesbees. Or better yet, go back to nanny pallooza and stay there.
There are way too many nannies on this site for my taste.
Disappointed,
I'm really losing patience with your plight. Nobody needs to answer to you. The blog was not created by you, nor do you set the rules and requirements for submissions. As your incessant, crazy posting - this is only going to cause comment moderation to be turned on.
There are plenty of good nannies on this blog who offer sound imput on many posts. World's Best makes a solid point in this thread alone.
Jane,
My plight? You may have created ISYN, but it has taken a life of its own since and is a public blog.
I have no idea whatsoever why this is such a big deal.
What is your objection to: "OP, what said to you that this woman was a nanny?"
I think I can speak for more than a handful of people when I say having someone on every thread ask, "how do you know this was the nanny" just makes me want to x out of ISYN.
I have been here since the inception and it seems every few months or so, the blog is blessed with some rebel rouser, usually a nanny or disgrace nanny, someone who may or may not have serious mental problems, someone who was most certainly spanked as a child and someone who seeks to sabotage or detract from each bad nanny sighting. Do you realize as I do, that they never storm the good nanny sightings and demand to know how those OP's knew it was a nanny?
So, to the nanny with the old age question, I say to you, move on. Join a nanny charity or group. Buy some nanny t-shirts, banners and bedazzled book bags and celebrate your nanny hood or former nanny hood or whatever it is that moves you to such strange lengths.
i think there are some people who really just like to argue.
which is why they start asking "WELL HOW DO YOU KNOW IT WAS THE NANNY??? HMMM?"
they really just enjoy confrontation and bickering.
i doubt they even really care if it was the nanny or not.
besides, even if its not, even if its the mom/aunt/cousin/whatever, *someone* might recognize her. so calling her a nanny doesnt even matter if theres a good description or pictures.
if its the mom, maybe her sister will see and talk to her about it. if its a case of abuse and someone she knows reads about it, maybe she can alert the right people or an unsuspecting father that his children are being mistreated by their own mother.
MAYBE IT ACTUALLY IS the nanny, and the mom/dad/whoever will see it.
it doesnt matter WHO the person is. it doesnt matter that the name of the blog is i saw your nanny because quite honestly, unless the child says so or the nanny says so, you can ask this about *every* post.
and since the OP cant go back in time and find out, theres no point in bringing it up.
also, what are you supposed to do? just walk up to her and say "hey are you a nanny?"
yeah shes ignoring the kid(s), but do you know how difficult that can be for some people? especially when it isnt OUTRIGHT abuse.
and in the cases where the child is being *OBVIOUSLY* mistreated, a lot of people DO go up and say something.
so, stop with the nanny vs parent/aunt/sister/whoever.
it doesnt matter because nobody will ever know.
if you want to find someone to argue with, join a debate club.
Disappointed JEEZE GIVE THE OP A CHANCE TO RESPOND!
Do you see my post? (It's the very first one) I haven't received a response and yet you don't see me on here continually begging for information. Did you take into consideration the time? Maybe the OP is not on the computer constantly refreshing to see if someone asked her a question. GIVE HER TIME TO RESPOND
As a mother who spends every hour with her children every day, there are days I am glued to the phone. But I make the decision regarding the care my children get and I would make that decision even if I used a nanny. Why is that so unclear with you nanny types? You are being paid to do a job, do your god damn job and shut the fuck up.
As I stated in your personal correspondence to me, the name of the blog is I Saw Your Nanny. People don't send us coupon deals, they don't send us republican jokes, they send us nanny sightings.
I'd really like this to be the end of this discussion. You will not win on this one.
nanny taxi...
you really only need to post your comment once.
people will read the first one and if they want to reply to you im sure they will.
no need to spam it up.
if it somehow got posted by mistake a second time, i apologize, though i would find that hard to believe since they are more than 5 min apart.
no need for reposts,
I've been using the internet for some time now and know double posting is a no-no. I hit "publish your comment" and got a page load error, so I hit it again! Jane can delete the extra post. Can I have my head back now?
nanny taxi,
well im sure you can see why i would think you were reposting.
sorry, though, if i somehow offended you. im sure there would have been a meaner way to say it, so im not sure why you seem to think i was after your head.
geez.
Sorry Wow
I just get my panties in a wad over a child not being cared for in the way he/she deserves.
I look very much like the children in my care and I'm always confused for the mother by strangers. My MB really looks like me as well, to fact we could be related. So the question of how do you know it's the nanny is a valid one. Biracial children notwithstanding, how many posts on here are of different ethnicity background between the children and the nanny? I'd say at least 75% if we were to do an archive search. I'm not sure why this bothers some people so much.
It's also not uncommon for myself to take my work children on outings with other children and their parents. I can say that without a doubt at least 50% of the time the mother of the other children has the phone glued to her ear. One even checks her blackberry while she drives which is why I refuse to ride with her currently.
Dear Nannies,
You work for us.
We don't work for you.
We will talk and text as we wish when we wish. You will talk and text in your fifteen minute allotted talk and text time.
Got it?
When a child is being neglected or ignored and there's a chance to out the offender I'm all for it be it nanny, mommy or whoever. If it's a nanny then maybe her employer will see her and fire her because nannies that ignore kids don't deserve a second chance. If it's a mom, or aunt or someone else maybe a friend, neighbor or co-worker will see them, they'll get embarrassed and be shamed into being a better parent or guardian. When a child's well-being is involved err on the side of caution I say.
And enough with the forever asking "How do we know it's the nanny?" Sometimes we just don't. And that's not really the point of a post. Calling the blog "I saw Your Nanny" Is a lot more pithy and catchy than calling it say "I Saw Someone That May Have Possibly Been Your Nanny But Could Have been Your Mother, Aunt Or Grandmother."
Disappointed,
You definitely have a plight, lord knows what is fueling it, but it's getting stalkerish. You use words like disappointed to attempt to shame? C-R-A-Z-Y. Did you think that would work? Are you a new nanny and just trying to fit in with your nanny possee? Is this an initiation task they prescribed you? Or are you just super dense?
I live in NY City. I see a woman coming towards me. She is 5'9, wearing 4" spiked heels, a red short business suit with a black tank top underneath. Her hair is cut at a sharp bob and she is wearing a lot of eye make up under her designer sunglasses.
What led me to decide that was a in fact a woman? And who cares. It's NY. Chances are it is. But it might not be.
"so sick of this nanny attitude.."
is obviously attempting to ruffle feathers.
though i know people will respond with anger, you DO realize that is exactly what they were trying to do, right?
25 comments in an hour and a half! Check the time stamps! Yesterdays good nanny sighting got 10 comments in 24 hours! Again, it's a sad state of affairs.
The truth is a nanny should not be comparing herself to the mother and I hear this all the time. "The mom comes home and all she does is watch tv and put them to bed and I am the one who does homework with them and blahbitty blah blah blah". Instead of berating the mother you work for- for the very fact that she is a working mother- the very fact that causes her to hire an ingrate like you, why not celebrate and come together as a team. Yes, nanny, there is much you do, but as we discussed this when I hired you- all of this is part of your job description. Get off your high horse(s).
Manhattan Mamma,
""I Saw Someone That May Have Possibly Been Your Nanny But Could Have been Your Mother, Aunt Or Grandmother.""
that totally made me giggle. and cheered me up.
you pretty much reiterated my post/thoughts/feelings on the subject.
i dont know why its such a big deal to the people who so desperately want to know whether its the mom/nanny/aunt/whoever. or why it even needs to be argued over.
Disappointed I see 5 posts from you. My observation still stands. You asked 5 times now how the OP knew it was a nanny. I told you to give the poor lady a chance to respond.
And if she was deleting your posts then maybe it's a good thing since like I stated above there are 5 posts from you already.
Not too mention, many of the ISYN posts do not deal with dangerous situations, some of the posts just deal with dereliction of duty. I think the person who is so off her rocker about making sure that question is answered in every post needs to go back and read some of the original archives like greenwich nanny up to no good or the one where the nanny was selling the employer's shrubbery.
There are some great nannies on here, but this subject has grown impossibly tiresome. Please move on and let us discuss the post as it reads- "your nanny".
it looks like it got deleted, so i dont know how many of you read it but.
"disappointed" is apparently leaving the blog because "jane is not who they thought she was" or something to that effect.
and they were also under the monikers:
SA, eternal question, all eyes.. not sure if there were more but.
yeah.
i had a feeling they were, but wasnt sure.
wowzo! this is I Saw Your NANNY!
Yes, I agree that it is a valid question to ask if it is a nanny vs. whoever. HOWEVER, if it is the nanny, then it has been posted to be read by the employer - if it isn't then maybe someone related to or friends with the person can slap them into shape. Either way I think we are all here for the best interest of the children. If it is questionable, post it!
BTW: my charge looks very much like me so I could pass as either mother or nanny, but I'm married to a black man so my biological children are mulatto. so yes, its valid, but WHO GIVES A SHIT - REPORT FIRST, VALIDATE FACTS SECOND!
Seattle-Glad you liked it I was smiling when I typed it.
Jane-I don't mean to speak for you or presume to know your mind when you named the sight :)
The asking how we know is really getting old. I think for most of the intelligent people here it's sort of understood that we don't always KNOW it's the nanny.
The point I attempted to make in corresponding with "Disappointed" was that there have been some sightings submitted that said specifically, "This isn't a nanny sighting, but a mom" or "This wasn't a nanny sighting, but a grandfather" or "This isn't a nanny sighting, but involved a crossing guard who is putting children in danger." Most of the postings as you all know, come in as nanny sightings. We could apply "Disappointed's" logic to the grandfather and ask "and how did you know it was a grandfather" and "how did you know it was a mother", but as I have said a number of times, we have to assume that people submitting sightings are doing so with good intentions.
I have to agree with jane- both parents and nannies contribute in many ways to ISYN. I do think though it would be awesome to have an blog devoted to the parents WITH pictures about bad/dumb things they do. I bet you'd get thousands of pictures and stories of bad families to work for only.
Point is ISYN has turned into a place where all neglect by any part can be reported. A ref for all. Perhaps a dad may se his exwife do something irresponsible and use it in a custody case. Perhaps a nanny can recognise another. If you don't get that then take a breath and try again.
>>> "I Saw Someone That May Have Possibly Been Your Nanny But Could Have been Your Mother, Aunt Or Grandmother."
MM, that cracked me up. :)
Sickening, suppressing the thoughts of nice people because you don't their viewpoint is wrong. Doing so is monstrous, lazy and unforgivable regardless of who you are.
World's Best--I think that ALLLLL the time.. why it is the good sightings get a smattering of comments but the bad ones get a deluge..
Sad, true.
I still think "what is the indication of nanny" is important for numerous reasons.
Talking on cell briefly-- it happens, having full blown convo? not so much.
People who generalize lazy nanny/spoiled nanny- not okay. People that generilize uninvolved parents... not okay.
seattle, thanks for the summary.
does that mean all eyes (a manny, right?) has been the eternal question poster?
also as a mom on here I'm just going to voice my small voice in agreement with the spirit of the idea that comparing the peformance of a mom being a mom to a nanny doing a job is not a valid comparison. one is a parenting choice. one is a job. of course there are nice and not nice ways to say this (and I've been guilty of both at times), but I do think this is a central point to the blog and why constantly asking how you know it is a nanny is sort of irrelevant.
Oh and I just have to know since i missed the monikers.
Was all eyes = a reader?
yes yes, all eyes was also a reader.
SA, a reader, disappointed, all eyes, and eternal question. should all be the same person.
thats the one i forgot.
and all eyes was also a manny. or at least, so they said.
one has to wonder on their credibility since they did have so many monikers.
I want to add my two cents into the mommy does it so I can do it too debate.
Yes a parent is allowed to do what they want in regards to cell phones or sitting on their bottoms watching the kids play BUT it's hypocritical for a parent or anyone else to get upset when someone else does the same thing they do. How can you tell someone they can't do something when you do the same thing?
Another thing that goes through my mind is: why do these people have kids if they aren't going to interact with them?
I used to be a nanny for a family and the mother was constantly on the phone. I would get there at 7am and she has the phone glued to her ear and when she left the house an hour later it was still on her ear. When she came home in the evening it was still attached to her ear. I couldn't tell her about her newborn son's day because she had the phone to her ear and I finally had to start writing down all the information for her to read later. It just broke my heart that she had so little time with him yet she spent that time on the phone talking with her friends.
One of his first words was hello...because that's what he would hear is mom say all the time. He would even pick up objects hold it to his ear and say hello.
She had the nerve to try to blame that on me. She said he must have picked it up from me. I was so angry that I printed off my call log and highlighted all the calls I made during the day when I was with him and left it on the counter next to his daily log...she never brought that up again.
It was just so heartbreaking because she missed out on so much. She was preoccupied with herself that her son was sitting up for a week before she finally noticed. He had sat up for me but I didn't tell her instead I kept dropping hints that he was probably going to be sitting up soon and so on and it still took her a week to notice it. Same thing happened when he started crawling.....
I'm skeptical. All Eyes didn't sound like anyone here before. Is there something to indicate he really was all those different monikers? I guess I missed whatever Disappointed wrote over and over, and I don't remember SA.
He was "Disappointed", a nanny, the manny, "concerned" and still more. I just received another angry email from him informing me that I am not God, demanding to know who I think I am.
He made a suggestion I didn't wish to impliment and he went ballistic and would not let up and still will not let up. Control issues? I don't know.
Why is it when people threaten to go away- they never do?
And this is why a manny will never take care of my children. Creepola.
One last, sad note about nannies vs. mothers. If a mother is being verbally abusive and ignoring her child, you call CPS. Or, you realize that CPS usually doesn't do squat and so you do nothing. When you see children, usually beautiful as most are, out with someone you presume to be the nanny, you imagine that the mother hired said nanny with care and would want to know about how she treats the children- good or bad. It is true however that some parents are so awful they wouldn't shrug either at a good sighting or a bad sighting.
This blog was focused on nannies who mistreat children. It's one subsection of the population. There are blogs about teachers mistreating and abusing children, too.
To Jane Doe
Why didnt you censor the profanity from the Park Slope Mom of 3? It always amazes me how you pick and chooose which comments you will print. Are u a psparent too? Go figure....
So sick of this nanny attitude
Thank goodness all parents do not have the ridiculous ingrate attitude like u do. My guess is you are a member of the KKK
TC I agree that it is not good parenting for a mom to be glued to a cell phone, ignoring her kids, etc. But it is not IMO hypocritical to ask a nanny to do a better job than we can do all the time.
I don't vacuum or scrub the bathroom everyday. However, once a week I pay a housekeeper to come for a few hours and do those jobs. If she arrived and said she would not be doing them because she felt I was being a hypocrite for not doing them daily myself, I doubt anyone would be defending her. Assuming you hire someone with a clear job description and stick the the work agreement, then it is perfectly reasonable to expect them to perform as hired.
I am a psychiatrist. Part of my job is to be a good listener. Some of my patients are not good listeners themselves. However, I do not think it would be okay for me to tell them I will no longer be listening to them since they are being hypocrites by asking me to do so due to their own poor listening skills.
I am equally appalled at bad parenting. If there were a blog dedicated to that and even when there are bad parent sightings on here, I am interested and upset. But it is just not fair to compare bad parenting to bad nannying.
Cali mom, the person who runs the blog can see the IP addresses of everyone who visits or posts. Jane can ID all of us, even when we use different monikers. She has always been respectful of anonymity and the rights of those posting and has never called anyone out on it (until this manny apparently became so disruptive it was undoable), but if she wanted to she could write a whole list of every single post from the same IP address. Some IPs are static and some are dynamic (changing each time), so not sure how that works in identifying us, but I believe we are generally not nearly as anonymous as we think. Perhaps someone with more tech knowledge can clarify though.
As far as I know internet connections that use broadband, ie: DSL, Cable, have the same ISP's all the time. Those using dial up gets a different ISP everytime they connect. Both my sister and I. I am the nanny, she is a household manager/nanny, use the same computer. I use one monniker, she uses another, Jane knows who we are. The rest of you don't need to know. My sister and I have conflicting opinions on alot of things and that's what I think keeps the blog interesting, but using umpteen monikers to rile people up is something else.
I use about 4 different computers when I read/post on here, so if I was using several different monikers it would be difficult to trace I think. But as you said Nanny Taxi, if you are using the same portal then it would be identifiable. I used to trace the IP addresses to a blog I had a while back, had a stalker...
So sick of this attitude-sweetie, we are all aware you can't really afford to hire a nanny so don't sweat the small stuff, hon. Take Jr. to the local mommy playdate with all the other mommies who also can't afford to hire nannies and gripe about those of us who are gainfully employed.
So silly.
There are just as many "bad" mommies as there are "bad" nannies. Nannies are just held to a different (not necessarily higher) standard because we're being paid to perform a specific job. A mommy talking on the phone at the park, barely interacting with her kid is not an IDEAL situation but it's not comparable to a nanny doing the same. If you're paying someone daily to care for and nurture your child, that's exactly what they should be doing. A mom on the other hand is probably juggling numerous different things throughout the day, whether it be her job, family or..well, whatever moms juggle when they're home...a nanny needs to leave that stuff at home when she walks into work in the morning. She's at work. Her main priority while at work is HER JOB i.e. her charges. The end.
About the IP addresses tracing - there are different ways to do it. I don't know which one Jane uses, but here is a very easy way - when you click the button to post a comment, on a network level, your computer sends a "request" to Jane's and when hers receives whatever you are posting, it sends a "response" - something like: "Did you get it? Yes, I did." And there is a time log for each one of these "req-res." So, Jane, as the administrator, can compare the IP with the precise time and tell exactly who send what and when :-)
It's all good - it's her web-site and she has the right to know who is using it.
I created this blog using a psuedonym so I respect everyone's right to privacy. Tracking IP numbers can be done, but the only time I have ever done that is when someone was making repeated threats or harassing me or members of the blog.
I encouraged people to use monikers so we could have discussions that don't start with "anonymous at 4:14". I appreciate the stories and opinions that get shared, and even debated on here and would never want anyone to think that I had any interest in tracking them.
Besides, IP tracing- it very much resembles math and math makes me dizzy.
Jane, your last sentence is funny :-)
jojo bear--
I'm sorry, but is it really a fair assessment to say you would never hire a manny because he'd be "creepy"? Don't generalize just because one random stranger claiming to be a manny said some disturbing or angry things on a website.
I know quite a few mannies and male child care workers that are thousands of times better than a nanny. A man having a love for children and wanting to care for them does not mean they are creepy or have intentions to be malicious or dangerous. It means they love and adore kids and are BRAVE enough to seek out the career, knowing full well they will be judged and likely turned down several times because of narrow minded people that always assume the worst.
I rant about this so often because I really wish the stigma that is placed on men caregivers would finally be lifted. You run the same chance of abuse or suspect care when you hire a woman to care for your children.
Women constantly are up in arms about not being chosen for a job because "men rule society!!" but the women who say that are likely hypocrites that would refuse to even interview a manny for a job.
Women's work, men's work. Ugh. It sickens me that all those stupid titles are still around.
Seriously, you have to laugh to keep from crying when you hear about these nannies. They have no respect for the children they watch and they wouldn't know if their kid was snatched right from under their noses. It makes me sick to hear about nannies like this, thanks for the sighting.
Well said Adria!!! There are a lot of male child care providers who don't get the respect they deserve. Ofcourse, there are always bad apples in the bunch, just as there are bad nannies.
I LOVE pictures! Seriously, it makes posts so much more interesting!
How many nannies really get a 15 minute talk and text time? I rarely answer my phone, but I sure as hell return texts. Most of the time it's the parents texting me! I barely have time to go to the bathroom or eat lunch without being disturbed. Unless they are napping, you are pretty much constantly in demand for whatever time you are at work.
Of course the nanny should be watching her charges from "stranger danger," but let kids just play sometimes, and not constantly be "learning," "being nurtured," etc. Could you imagine the parents of "our" 30-40 year old generation doing that ? We didn't all grow up to be little Wall Street thiefs and liars.
I have to agree with many of the comments here, albeit many were extremely rude. Nannies are held to higher standards than parents because we are paid to watch the children. We are supposed to be qualified to watch children and know better than to leave them unattended for long periods of time while on the phone. Anyone can have children, not anyone can be a good, qualified nanny.
It wastes time constantly typing, "what makes you think it was a nanny? could have been a mom?" on every sighting. However, if the posters of these sightings could give reasons why they believe it was a nanny, I think that'd be helpful. It could give parents another clue whether or not it was their nanny in the sighting.
Here's the thing about the stupid "how do you know it is the nanny" debate. Okay, we don't, not always. HOWEVER, the purpose of the blog is to out negligent nannies. The purpose of nanny sightings is so the parent might see the sighting and realize what is happening. It's not about bashing nannies. If the blog was intended to bash nannies, the "how do you know it is the nanny" debate would be relevant, but it is not.
If the mother or father of aunt or friend of the family is a reader of ISYN, and they see this post [if it is the nanny] the nanny is caught, the parents will know and take whatever action they want. If it is not the nanny... oh well. there's a chance that the mother or aunt or whoever it might be will see the post and notice how she is being observed and shape up. If not, there really isn't much harm done. It is not a crime against nannies everywhere for a bad mom to be assumed as a nanny.
Anyone that is negligent to children deserves to have their face on this site, nanny, mother, whatever, so that the site can serve it's purpose. If people who are making sighting get caught up in "maybe this isn't the nanny...hmm, I dont want to get my head bit off," there will be a lot fewer sightings, and many negligent nannies will not be outed.
So let the site do its job, or stop reading.
Good sighting, OP.
[I am a nanny, and I do not feel attacked as a nanny when bad sightings are made that may not be the nanny, my job performance does not change because of it... so what's the big deal??]
This is EXACTLY the reason I didn't post this woman/nanny/"mom" before. Because people would flip out saying I don't know it was a nanny.
Listen, I saw this woman on SEVERAL occasions hanging out at the zoo. And each type I saw her, she DID NOT REMOVE THE PHONE FROM HER EAR for well over an hour each time.
People who are defending her, I must ask, why? Is this an example of a GOOD nanny? I feel sorry for YOUR children if your standards are so low that you don't even care that kids get talked to or watched while they are running around in public.
The pictures show pink clothes on a stroller that wasn't hers. It belonged to another nanny watching a little girl, who's climbing over the bench in the photos. From what I gathered on my last sighting, which prompted me to finally post, one or both of those little boys are her charge(s). THERE WERE NO OTHER UNATTENDED CHILDREN IN THE BARN.
OP thank you for posting this. I am at Lincoln Park Zoo quite often and will also keep an eye out for this girl, maybe (if I can her while her ear is free) I can "buddy" up to her and find out more. Obviously she needs a friend (in person) who can help her interact with her children and give her adult stimulation.
Whether she is mother/nanny. :)
*(if I can catch her while her ear is free)
Wow. I'm just getting to reading this thread today.
Moms may take a few moments for a phone break while at the park. I used to read a book sometimes at the park or pool, or talk to the many mommy friends I made over the years at those places, when my kids were old enough to play without constant hovering supervision.
I also would not mind a nanny who accepted a brief phone call under such a circumstance.
HOWEVER, if I was paying somebody to nurture my children every day, I owuld be extremely upset to find the nanny in this post was mine. There is no excuse for parking herself on a bench day after day and completely ignoring them. In a public place like the on ein this siting I NEVER sat away from the kids and trusted that they would not get hurt, lost, or abducted. You need to stay right with them in public places where there are strangers roaming around.
Also, most nannies have a set number of hours that they are, ONCE AGAIN, being PAID to do a job. The'd best do it. A mom is never off duty. She may have been up all night sewing a costume for the school play or taking care of a sick or scared child. Besides 24/7 childcare, a typical SAHM takes care of a house, laundry, meals, shopping, and quite possibly parts of the yard as well. These things must necessarily be taken care of while she is still in charge of the children. A nanny, who is an employee, should take care of her personal business, errands, and phone chatter (to the extent possible anyway...some things must be handled betewwn 9-5 on a weekday)for her OFF WORK hours. How hard is that to understand? Nannies are not the lady of the house. They are the employee and, unfair or not, are held to a certain standard of childcare during the hours they are paid...ro should be anyway.
Sheesh I make a lot of typos! I'll start proofing these in the future.
I am a professional nanny on the UES and made 92,000 last year. On the books. Many of my friends are well paid, professional nannies.
I will text my boss a message such as "M's dentist appointment was moved to 4:30", but my boss does not call me throughout the day. None of my friends have bosses that call them and check up on them throughout the day, which seems to be the argument made in this forum by low rent nannies attempting to excuse the misconduct of other low rent nannies.
I didn't always make this amount of money as a nanny, but I always did the job of a professional nanny. I accumulated references and experience and I bring them to me with this current job. My employers would never have to worry about me being on the phone or drinking on the job.
Unless you are in your first week on the job, why would your employer need to call and explain anything to you? I just don't get it.
michelle,
the tone of your comment makes it sound like the nanny must be doing something wrong if the parents are calling and texting.
which is totally NOT true.
my "mom" calls may or may not call me during the day. she just calls to "check in" see how the little guy is doing, tell me things she forgot to say in the morning, etc.
another job i had the mom and i would text back and forth b/c we had formed a friendship. it was generally banter back and forth about different things, the kids, work, life, etc.
i've always had parents that call and text - and i've always had great paying jobs with trusting relationships.
on another note:
i do not condone talking on the phone all day, watching tv all day, or sitting on the computer all day. these things should be done while the children are napping or independently preoccupied. anything in excess isn't good.
The only people I see defending her OP is if she was a mother. I find it neglect in any aspect whether she be a nanny or mother if her children are as young as you say.
Michelle-I get pinged from my boss because she's my friend, she's thought of something to ask me, or she she simply wants to know how her children are doing. It's called being a parent and being a caring person. I've never let a boss be this personal in my life before but I do enjoy her friendship and her caring.
Low Rent nannies? I'm so happy I don't know people like this offline.
My charges' mom texts me a couple times a day. She's curious as to how her children are doing and wants to remain up to date, especially considering her 6 month old is a bit harder than most. Sometimes I'll send her pictures or a quick text about something cute or funny one of them did.
If working for an involved mother makes me a low-rent nanny, I'll take it.
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