Tuesday

Imagination Playground in Prospect Park, Brooklyn NY

Received Tuesday, June 15, 2010
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Physical description of caregiver: Medium-blond, Polish babysitter, mid-twenties (picture attached).

Physical description of involved child/children: Little girl by the name of Kaya, wearing a pink shirt, with 'Los Angeles' bejeweled on the front. She wore light-colored denim capri pants, white socks and sparkly pink shoes that have a velcro strap. She is in the first grade and was taken to the park by her babysitter after school. She has medium-brown hair and had two braided ponytails. Kaya is of light-coffee complexion, and is approximately 40-ish inches tall.

Address or venue of observed incident: Imagination Playground in Prospect Park, Brooklyn NY

Date and time of incident: Monday, June 14th at around 3:15pm

Detailed description of what you witnessed: My husband and I took our kids to Imagination Playground at around 3pm this afternoon. A few minutes after we arrives, Kaya (the child) came up to my husband and was talking to him and playing very nicely with our daughter. After a little while, my husband expressed concern that here is a little girl he'd never seen before talking to a stranger and no grown-up is coming up to wonder why a man is talking with their child. My husband walked up to your sitter and asked her if Kaya was her daughter. The sitter was talking on the phone and facing away from where we were. She looked up from her phone conversation and said "no, I'm her babysitter" and continued her conversation on her cell phone. She spoke Polish fluently. A half hour later Kaya was still playing with us and the sitter was still on the phone. If you know this playground, you know that there are animal sculptures in the back where kids can poke their heads through. My husband and I were there with our kids and Kaya was there too. There is no way your babysitter could see Kaya from where she was. She never once got off the phone to look for the child, never called for her, and never even looked over to see what two strangers were doing with her charge. Quite honestly, anyone could have left the park with your child and it probably would have been a good long time before your sitter realized Kaya was gone. After 45 minutes, I finally got the nerve to take the babysitter's picture with our camera. The sitter was so into her conversation that she never even noticed her picture was being taken. After a little over an hour and a half (it is now almost 5pm) we told Kaya we were leaving. My husband and I purposefully exited the playground in the direction that your babysitter was sitting in the hopes of getting her attention off her phone call. We both stopped right in front of her, waved and said goodbye to Kaya while she sat next to the babysitter. Your sitter was still yapping away on the phone! According to Kaya, "she [the babysitter] talks and talks and talks and talks on the phone all day". She mimicked for my husband and I what your babysitter does all day. In the entire time we were at the playground, your sitter never once talked to Kaya or even looked in her direction. Kaya's parents: whatever you are paying her sitter, she's not worth it. You should consider docking her pay by an hour and a half, since my husband and I were the ones who watched your daughter this afternoon in the playground.

Kaya is a wonderful and smart little girl. She played very nicely with our daughter and was very engaging. It seems all she wanted was a little attention and the babysitter completely ignored her the entire time we were there. Sad :(

Description of vehicle, bag, stroller that may aid in identifying involved caregiver: (see picture below, view larger HERE)
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14 comments:

Seriously? said...

Great sighting, OP. I really hope Kaya's parents see this. :(

Former Nanny said...

Great sighting and perfect photo! I hope her parents see this too. Such a travesty.

Phoenix said...

Good sighting! Smart, sweet little girls like that need to be paid attention to. she could find herself in trouble one day...

Alex said...

great sighting! Cannot believe that nanny never checked on her and you got a really good picture and she never realized it! I pray that the parents find this post!! Did you tell Kayla to tell her mom and dad that she talks on her mobile all day?

Julia said...

Great sighting OP, my heart really goes out to this sweet little girl. Alex, great idea! OP, if you didn't tell the little girl to tell her parents this time, make sure you do if you see her again! I think one of the scariest things about being a parent is knowing that even your speaking aged children might not tell you when something is wrong. Children often internalize problems and have a tendency to place the blame solely on themselves. I can only imagine what this is doing to Kaya's self esteem . . . being ignored is hard at any age! I just pray she doesn't get abducted, being left alone for hours at 6 years old is very unsafe.

Pat said...

This is what makes me upset. You have great nannies out there like myself who cannot find a job and some lackadaisical nannies are in a position that they most obviously should not be in. I dont understand it at all.

Nanny Sarah said...

I agree w/Pat! I am a good nanny myself who has been unemployed for longer than I want to let on. LOL. Anyway, when I hear about things such as this, I get so angry because I would NEVER engross myself so much in a conversation that I would neglect my charge like this gal did today. I think parents are so into a nanny's qualifications, credentials, certifications, education, etc...which is understandable...but they also need to understand that there are many good nannies who do not have all these, yet are even better nannies because of their genuine love of children and good hearts/minds. What looks good on paper is not necessarily what is best for the child.

Seattle Nanny said...

Pat:
"You have great nannies out there like myself who cannot find a job and some lackadaisical nannies are in a position that they most obviously should not be in."

Although in a quasi-part-time not-technically-unemployed situation, I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm on my phone perhaps forty minutes a month. The only time I answer it while I'm working is family. The parents I'm working for and mine, and it is my standard practice to tell mine I'm working and to call back.

At a park, I track my charges obsessively. Hovering from a few feet away, but hovering no less. The only time I really sit down is in the dirt, grass, wood chips, gravel or sand to play along.

I wear a t-shirt, jeans and flip-flops, or sneakers. I'm clean in the morning and messy by the end of the day. I may not look like the best on first glance, because as luck would have it that first glance for anyone new is bound to be in the middle of the day, hair frayed, pants covered in chalk and a slightly crazy smile on my face, but I know me. I know I'm among the best one could find.

I know my charges. Their likes and dislikes in activities, food, toys, books and so on. When able, I like to spoil a little. I attend birthdays and reject any attempt at compensation for my time there, or reimbursement for gifts given. I can't fathom why people would expect either.

In fact, I attended one today. I got a cute smocked Minnie dress from the Disney Store and a Disney Princess Adventure Hut from Toys R Us, for a 2-year-old girl. They were gifts from me, I put my name only to things I pay for.

To see people who obviously don't care employed full-time and complain about spending a little extra time with their charge once a year while I count my pennies and adore my charges, well, it drives me nuts.

(And no being stingier wouldn't make a significant enough difference in my finances. Besides, I wouldn't be me if I were stingier.)

swiss girl said...

good for you.....she is a lemon of a babysitter...she needs to be fired before this child gets hurt...or worst...

East Bay Nanny said...

As I read this I thought that if the parents really wanted to they could have taken the little girl to the police and explained the situation to them - the couple and the cops probably could have come back to the park to find the babysitter still on the phone!

Err said...

East Bay Nanny:

Taken would have been a bad move, that's like putting on a big sign that says "arrest me". No, they could have called the cops and said they didn't know where the child's caregiver was. The cops would have talked with the child, perhaps found the caregiver and taken it from there.

needs a moniker said...

repost for anonymous:
Ive seen her at Pierrepont. She TOTALLY ignores the little girl. When I saw them the nanny was reading and never looked up

payback said...

Good for the parents.. they always want to pick the white nannies over the black nannies. Never judge a book by its cover. Probably told friends we have the best nanny ever. Bet you didnt have granny follow her to the play ground did you?

Cmommy said...

Payback-

WTF?!?