Thursday

Narcotic Nanny

OPINION
Moms and Dads, what would you consider a clear sign that your nanny is doing drugs or drinking heavily? Consistent lateness? Disinterest in your child(ren)? Forgetfulness?

15 comments:

knittynanny said...

That could be a sign that she's on drugs. Or just a bad nanny. I see all of those things at the park on a regular basis (the disinterest), and talk to parents who are upset that their nannies are always late.

I can usually tell by the way people speak if they are on drugs. It's sort of off in a way.

knittynanny said...

I'm sorry if my post sounds weird, but it's hard to write effectively using a smart phone. I just hate it.

oh.ya said...

That doesn't sound like drugs at all. She sounds stressed or depressed.

Lyn said...

Sounds like someone who doesn't care about their job.
I would love to hear more about why you are asking about drugs/alcohol. Sounds like an interesting story.

UmassSlytherin said...

She sounds like she is lazy. Why do you think she is on drugs?

Bethany said...

Well drugs and alcohol aren't the first things to come to mind from what you described.

Do you have more details you'd like to share?

She sounds either lazy, depressed, not into the job, distracted by personal issues etc

crohnsnanny said...

She could be depressed, lazy, burnt out, using drugs or alcohol, even sick. I was recently diagnosed with crohn's disease. While I was never late for work, I missed so many days due to an upset stomach, I was sure I was going to get fired. I felt like crap every day. This caused me to seem uninterested or lazy. I was missing so much work, that the days I was there I didn't want to complain. Some days it was a struggle just to lift the baby, or drive the kids to school without pulling over to puke. Now that I know what's wrong, the family is being very accommodating. I don't know of any way to tell if your nanny is using drugs other than flat out asking her. If anything she is doing is making you uncomfortable, you need to talk to her about it asap!

bostonnanny said...

Unfortunately, I've had way to much experience with individuals with drug addiction and can spot them a mile away. Although, there are many characteristics that junkies or even occasionals users display, your examples are just too generic. Lateness, disinterest and forgetfulness sounds more like depression assuming the nanny wasnt like this in the beginning. She might be going through a major transition in her life and is preoccupied.

However, if your nanny is coming in late and looking like shit, unclean, is scratching her face, arm, looking like she could fall asleep at any moment or wide eyed and can't stop moving, pupils dilated, eating like she hasn't eaten in days, spending a lot of time in the bathroom, zoning out, losing weight quickly etc etc. I'd be concerned.
different drugs cause different symptoms and depending on whether they are uppers/downers, pills or harder stuff you will to be very observant to figure out what it is.

I-Understand said...

Oh, man! I feel sad for ya. I have several physical ailments myself.. I was just as OP described. But I've NEVER touched drugs & I do NOT drink. However, I overheard coworkers TWICE gossiping that I acted like I was on drugs/drinking. I can't tell u how bad it hurt my feelings!! My illnesses made me extremely depressed. I suffer from: a very very painful bladder disease, restless limbs( a lot worse than it sounds, I take parkinsons meds for it), bipolar mood disorder, fibromialga(don't judge me) & a bunch of other really crap I can't get rid of. Medications take the edge off. But its like when u take meds for a cold, it doesn't get rid of the cold at all. You still suffer. Anyways, I'm truly sorry that you're sick, too. Please know that you are not alone. Xo

world's best nanny said...

I had to work once while on Percoset, I had my wisdom teeth yanked. The family did not care, but I could not drive and I fell asleep while the kids napped. I had that baby monitor right near my head and I didn't hear a damn thing. The kids jumping on me woke me. So I think all those things might be signs of a Narcotic Nanny.

♥ Amy Darling ♥ said...

I think the drug or drinking problem is beside the point at this time.

If your nanny is consistently late, does not show interest in your children and forgets stuff, you should fire her and find someone more mature and loving.

To keep this person on is just not right considering your children deserve more!!

bipolar said...

Sounds like me in a manic episode.

gypsy said...

OP.......................do you have any more details or an update for us?


:-)

MissMannah said...

Bipolar, are you hypomanic? Because while I'd agree with the chronic lateness, the forgetfulness and disinterest in the children doesn't seem typical of mania at all. Granted, I haven't had a true manic episode in years (knock on wood) but I would always be ultra-focused on something, like cleaning. My house looked awesome when I was manic because I would stay up and scrub every nook and cranny for like a week straight. It was great until the inevitable crash that always followed soon after.

fed up said...

She makes a peanut butter and crack sandwich in front of you for lunch.


Forgetfulness and disinterest like some have said can be linked to depression. She/he could be in treatment perhaps and could need medication, or a different kind of medication since some side effects to these drugs can exacerbate depression symptoms. It doesn't exactly mean they are on drugs.

I have depression and anxiety and have weekly therapy along with medication. Having things to occupy my time, and positive outlets like working out helps tremendously. I would be offended since I have these symptoms from depression, and the parents would be assuming that I am a user. It is not easy dealing with mental illness, especially since people usually don't understand and there is this stigma associated with it.