Sunday

Stranger Days...

Sunday, September 19, 2010
Nanny horror stories Last February I began a job with a family who had three children- a boy, 7 and 1 year old boy/girl twins.

After my first week, one of my personal references told me that the husband had called her, and had asked some strange questions.. one of which was wondering if I was dating anyone. I thought it was a little strange, but since the first week had gone great, I figured he was just being extra cautious and asking lots of questions. The second week things quickly went downhill. When I arrived on Monday, the father announced that he was taking some time off, and that he would be staying at home for awhile to get a few things done. This struck me as kind of odd and sudden, but told them I didn't mind.

The next day, I was standing in the kitchen, fixing bottles for the twins. The dad came up behind me and said: You look very nice today, and then began rubbing my arm up and down. The next few days the same sort of things started happening, the compliments and always rubbing my arm and touching my shoulders. By this time, I was feeling very uncomfortable, and put in my two weeks notice. The next day, my dad called me, telling me that a man who identified himself as my employer kept calling his work, demanding to know where I was and begging my dad to convince me to stay. This freaked me out because I never told him about my family, and I haven't lived near my family for five years. There is no way he could have found out about them without doing some serious research.

I called the wife, and told her I would not be returning the next day. I didn't want to mention the behavior of the husband, so I just decided to move on and forget about it. Unfortunately, this was not the best idea. I began receiving letters and emails-dozens a day, with the father telling me how much he wanted me, and begging to see me. I never replied. The final straw came about a month after I had quit. I was in a cafe near my house with a friend. As we got up to leave, I saw someone out of the corner of my eye. It was HIM!!! He came up smiling and told me that he had moved in RIGHT DOWN THE STREET!! I called the cops, and ended up having to take a restraining order out on this freako! I met them through a popular nanny site, and they requested that I interviewed with them. The interview went great, the parents were very nice, and the children were adorable. They offered me a full time position with excellent benefits, so I accepted.

10 comments:

mary said...

Wow. I'm glad you are ok. You did the right thing in getting the restraining order. What a jerk!

LovingNanny said...

He left his wife and kids to move closer to someone who cleary had no interest at all in him? That man is creepy.
You did the right thing op!
I wish you all the best!

TC said...

Wow scary for you, glad you saw the red flags and quit before something worse happened

piscespets said...

I would send the replies to the wife and move away :) That is really scary!

Bostonnanny said...

OMG, I would have freaked out. I'm glad you got out of it quickly and never replied to his e-mails.

Metoo said...

I was stalked in college by a guy with schizophrenia. Very, very scary!

Kat in her hat said...

He's definitely unbalanced, did you move or share any of the correspondence with his wife? Once it got to the point of him sending multiple letters AND moving down the street from me, I would have most certainly let wifey know. Creepy, with a capital "C", totally sounds like something from a horror flick. I hope he's following the restraining order rules, yikes. I have to say though, I'm honestly wondering if he left his wife to live near you, or made up an excuse for moving and drug her along!

nanny T said...

I had a family where the father got creepy on me too. I had just accepted the job. I was excited to start it. I was at home with my boyfriend, when a IM pops up on my computer, it is the father of the family i just signed on for. he somehow got my IM name, that barely anyone has. He started asking why i wasnt in the bedroom having fun with my boyfriend and on the computer instead. I told him it was none of his damn business and blocked him, he contacted me on another name of his. The day i was supposed to start the job at the advice of my family and boyfriend I didnt go, I didnt call to tell them I wasnt going to be there. I left them high and dry, Later that night I wrote the mom a email and sent her the conversation. I dont know if it ever got to her. The father did try to contact me and my bf talked to him and told him some not so pretty things. Needless to say I never heard from the dad again.

OP Here said...

hi! This is the op of this post. For those of you who asked if he moved nearby, he rented a "office space", at least that is what he told the cops. I never told the mom, although I think that maybe I should have? I'm sure she found out when the restraining order was delivered. Fortunately he hasn't broken the order, but it scared me enough that I ended up moving!

cali mom said...

EWWWW! These creeps are HORRIFYING! That's insane. I'm totally grossed out!