Rye Park. Don't know the name but in Rye near the high school. Went there on Saturday because the Greenwich CT Bryant Park I usually go to was closed for renovation. Said park was very crowded. There was a festival going on across the street. There were many families playing WITH their kids. Then there were three black nannies, two sitting together and one apart, there with who knows what charges. The two together were sitting on a shady bench gabbing on and on with no apparent kids in sight. Every so often a child would come bobbing over to them. Other said nanny - heavyset - was on the ONLY OTHER shady bench with a bunch of accompaniments and was gabbing on her cell phone. They all had Jamaican accents. Why is it that the Jamaican nanny population seems to be so dead set on doing as little as possible with their charges. Why were the only people actually playing with and engaging the kids their parents. Note to all Rye parents who have Jamaican nannies....please make sure your children are being watched properly. There is so much playground equipment at this park there is no way to actually watch a child while being rooted to a single bench the whole time. I followed my child the whole time, hot, sweaty and pregnant. But safe. ugghh. Give me a break!!
Monday
Rye Rec Park (?) in Rye, NY
Received Monday, April 27, 2009
Rye Park. Don't know the name but in Rye near the high school. Went there on Saturday because the Greenwich CT Bryant Park I usually go to was closed for renovation. Said park was very crowded. There was a festival going on across the street. There were many families playing WITH their kids. Then there were three black nannies, two sitting together and one apart, there with who knows what charges. The two together were sitting on a shady bench gabbing on and on with no apparent kids in sight. Every so often a child would come bobbing over to them. Other said nanny - heavyset - was on the ONLY OTHER shady bench with a bunch of accompaniments and was gabbing on her cell phone. They all had Jamaican accents. Why is it that the Jamaican nanny population seems to be so dead set on doing as little as possible with their charges. Why were the only people actually playing with and engaging the kids their parents. Note to all Rye parents who have Jamaican nannies....please make sure your children are being watched properly. There is so much playground equipment at this park there is no way to actually watch a child while being rooted to a single bench the whole time. I followed my child the whole time, hot, sweaty and pregnant. But safe. ugghh. Give me a break!!
Rye Park. Don't know the name but in Rye near the high school. Went there on Saturday because the Greenwich CT Bryant Park I usually go to was closed for renovation. Said park was very crowded. There was a festival going on across the street. There were many families playing WITH their kids. Then there were three black nannies, two sitting together and one apart, there with who knows what charges. The two together were sitting on a shady bench gabbing on and on with no apparent kids in sight. Every so often a child would come bobbing over to them. Other said nanny - heavyset - was on the ONLY OTHER shady bench with a bunch of accompaniments and was gabbing on her cell phone. They all had Jamaican accents. Why is it that the Jamaican nanny population seems to be so dead set on doing as little as possible with their charges. Why were the only people actually playing with and engaging the kids their parents. Note to all Rye parents who have Jamaican nannies....please make sure your children are being watched properly. There is so much playground equipment at this park there is no way to actually watch a child while being rooted to a single bench the whole time. I followed my child the whole time, hot, sweaty and pregnant. But safe. ugghh. Give me a break!!
Maybe they were just out to talk to their friends, just because most of the families around them were white does not mean that they were nannies.
ReplyDeleteThey could be live in the area, not be working and the kids who said hello to them could have been people they knew from the area. don't always assume black people in a white neighborhood are nannies
I live in Rye. The only Jamaicans in town are nannies. Get off your liberal low horse and come to terms with that reality.
ReplyDeleteNannies on a Saturday? I'm sure some nannies work weekends, but 2? In the same town? At the same park? Both Jamaican? You never mentioned age of the kids. Some kids are old enough not to "helicoptered" continuously. Please do not paint all Jamaican nannies with the same broad stroke. It's unfair. That's like saying all blond haired blue eyed kids need constant attention and others do not.
ReplyDeleteworlds best dumbass,
ReplyDeleteMany nannies in this area work Tuesday through Saturday so the parents can go out on Fri & Saturday. Broad strokes? Yeah, you might need them for the size of some of those bench nannies. But let us not defend these do nothings, okay?
Good siting, but yes, loses respect for generalizing about Jamaicans.
ReplyDeleteAgree with denver nanny, but still I am at a loss for words. Yes I am certain that a lot of nannies are unaware of this site, but are aware that someone hired them to do a job, and eyes may or may not be on them.
ReplyDeleteWhy are some of us so cavilier about people's children, our jobs etc???
Why??
What makes it so easy for them to sit in a park and yap on a cell phone with no care in the world?
As I said I am at a loss for words...
World's Best Nanny,
ReplyDeleteNYC is "the city that never sleeps", and some of the man/woman power that keeps it going commutes from Rye.
People who work on the weekend have nannies who work on the weekend. How do you think hospitals, restaurants, stores, airports function on the weekend, not to mention broadcast media, theatre, etc. People are working on the weekend, and many of them have children.
Nannyinmanhattan,
ReplyDeleteWell said!
The Jamaican nannies don't get paid that much, so let them sit. That's what you ask for when you don't pay shit.
ReplyDeleteI don't know this park, nor do we have any idea of the ages of the charges, so maybe this is a good sighting, but in general, I'm getting tired of the "nannies are not allowed to sit" attitude.
ReplyDeleteHelicopter nannies are annoying to kids. Kids like to play at a park by themselves and with their friends. It is developmentally appropriate and necessary for kids to learn to be independent. As long as they are being watched, why does it matter if the nanny is standing 10 feet away or sitting 10 feet away.
**applause for Lauren**
ReplyDeleteI'm with the nannies on this one. There are several studies that show free play is the best, too many people are focused on classes and nannies that "helicopter". I agree with ChiNanny, as long as the children are being watched, what's the harm in relaxing on a bench?
ReplyDeleteThe last I heard you can still use your eyes while on a cell phone...
Chinanny& Where's the freedom...
ReplyDeleteIf the nanny was sitting 10 or
even 5 feet away from a child playing in a park, how quick do you think she would be able to get to that child if someone were to grab him/her and run off (a kidnapper I mean)
How soon? 10 seconds? that might be too late.
Not to mention watching your child play from across the playground.
In my book that is just unacceptable nevertheless the age of child.
I think we should make an attempt to be at arm's reach at all times for our toddlers and our older ones should be able to hear us comfortably when we call without having to scream their names.
A kidnapper doesn't have to be some strange scary looking guy lurking around a playground, a kidnapper is an ordaniry looking person most of the time.
Nannies take care of your children!!!
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteJamaican nannies, because of their aggressive attitude tend to get paid a lot because their attitude would not let them accept less than what they think they're worth, meaning if they want to work for a $1000 a week,they will work for that said amount.
The lazy ones just make a lot of easy money by sitting on benches and yapping on phones...
And I don't mean this in a bad way Jamaican nannies but in a good way.
Sometimes I wish I could be as aggressive. Hee hee
OP seemed to be most upset by the fact that the only shady benches were occupied by Jamaican Nannies. Is this her real concern?
ReplyDeleteI live in Greenwich and let me tell you something, Jamaican nannies are making on the average-$650 a week to come and work in Rye/Greenwich/Harrison/Purchase. Live in or live out. And that is on average. I was shocked out of the recent pool of applicants that responded to my advertisement that half of them were uneducated Jamaicans incapable of swimming or driving and yet demanding in excess of 700 per week. (And these nannies responded to an ad where I specifically stated I needed an US Citizen, experienced driver and swimmer.
ReplyDeleteThe very idea that any one of you would excuse a nanny for neglecting a child simply because she didn't make enough money is bad enough, worse since it is completely and absolutely inaccurate!
I am a nanny-less mother in Rye and I frequent this park. I have a child who attends the elementary school across the street, so on many days, we leave early and I let my younger child (3) play for a half hour before I pick up my 8 year old. This works well because the first thing I do with the 8 year old when I get him home is help him get focused on homework. I love this park for it's location, it is in walking distance to my home. The downside of this park is it is habbited by nannies, many of them are Islanders (as are most nannies in Rye). My three year old will play freely for a bit and then require assistance or want to be pushed. Everytime I get up off the bench, I end up helping a handful of other children, the charges of the nannies who do not respond to the calls of the children. I would rather my son play without any assistance and many times I try and steer him in that direction, but the fact is, children do require assistance, especially if they are 4 and under. I have seen children run out of the playground area into the parking lot only to be stopped by another child's mother. I see many good nannies, but I never see great nannies and I see a whole lot of nannies that have no business working with children.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned this in another post. I would love to take the kids to some out of the way spot on the playground and ask the nanny if the man in the brown van was the kids daddy, if so, he just picked them up.
ReplyDeleteSo anonymous,
ReplyDeleteYour description of the nannies in Rye sounds exactly like the nannies at my local parks...only they are Mexican and not Jamaican. And I saw only one good nanny there...EVER.
Mostly kids starving for attention and nannies all quite a ways off from the play area and gathered in a pack on the grass. They would shoo the kids away angrily if they dared to go near and bother the nannies during their conversations, so I would be covered with kids asking for assistance with swings, slide, etc., when I got up to go assist one of my kids. And when it was time for the nannies to go, they would grab the kids by the arms and yank them along angrily. It was so sad to see.
I wish there had been ISYN at the time!
Nanny Taxi, as previously said, I adore that suggestion, I would say black van though, to make it more notorious and scary.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA
NannyinManhattan:
ReplyDeleteGreat playground policy! I figure if they're big enough to play without me, then they're big enough to run off or listen to that stranger with the puppy...
So many of these bench-nanny sitings are at very large, very busy parks--and that's just plain scary! I really can't think of a time I spent more than 5 minutes on a park bench, and we are usually the only people at very small parks.
nannyinmanhattan
ReplyDeleteIf my eyes are on the child, wouldn't I notice that a stranger is approaching them? I have jumped off the bench and caught a child about to fall off playground equipment before (not my charge, another child). And even if they fall, guess what! That's life. We all get hurt sometimes. If I'm watching, I know nothing dangerous is going on. My charges can hear me when I speak in a normal to loud voice, and listen for me. They know I'm watching, but they aren't so over dependent that they can't play without me next to them.
DenverNanny
ReplyDeleteYour post just made me realize something. Parks where I live are never huge. Any bench I sit on I'm never any more than 10 feet from the playground equipment. Maybe that's where the disagreement comes from. I don't see a reason to stand next to my charges when there are 8 kids at the park and I can see them at all times.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteChinanny,
ReplyDeleteI assume you play at small parks by your posts. However I still cannot condone sitting on a bench and yapping on phone while your child you are being paid to watch and take of care comes back and forth...why was she coming back and forth?? Maybe she needed something...too bad you weren't there to help huh?
I'm also sure you would be able to give the cops a detailed description of the pedophile who grabbed you kid while you were watching him from the other side of the playground. I bet you would see the whole thing in great detail from the bench you were sitting on.
I don't mean glue yourself to the child, but there are some precautions and boundaries
Its all about being safe my friend.
We live in a dangerous world.
First, I never said anything about a phone. I don't talk on the phone during work hours unless its nap time, to the parents, or an emergency (which happened once in the past year when my grandfather was dying)
ReplyDeleteIf the kids need something, they get it. If they want to be pushed on a swing, they are. If they want to be helped, they are. If there is a fight, I'm there before they can come to me because I'M WATCHING THEM!
If I noticed an adult going anywhere near my charges, I'd be there before they were. I'm watching them.
You can watch from 10 feet away. There's no need to helicopter. Foster some independence. The parents are paying me to help raise emotionally, physically, and socially well adjusted children, and that's exactly what I'm doing.
Yeah, but no one here was talking about you...We are referring to a post?
ReplyDeleteWhy so defensive??
You are being really paranoid about kidnapping. It is incredibly rare. A child is in more danger driving in a car. Chill out.
ReplyDeleteChiNanny, what you describe sounds like perfectly appropriate behavior. The thing is, some nannies just don't sit at a distance and watch. They sit at a distance and get out their cell phone, or launch into some animated discussion with their friends, and stop paying any attention to their charges. I realize that social interactions are important for a nanny (and for moms!), and it's good that they get to hang out with people they like during the day, but this should not be
ReplyDeleteto the detriment of the child.
I live rye, People who work on the weekend have nannies who work on the weekend. How do you think hospitals, restaurants, stores, airports function on the weekend, not to mention broadcast media, theatre, etc.I was searching for Plumbing Service in Sussex. Plumbing services Rye
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ecoheatsussex.co.uk/