Friday

Double Negatives

      How do you deal with toddlers that spend their days with nannies and pick up their speech inflections? I'm noticing a lot of double negatives and dropped 'ings'. Am I being over sensitive? I find myself cringing when my four year old says "walkin to the park" or "I don't want no apple." He has been in preschool mornings since the Fall, but he still spends the majority of his day with the nanny. I keep hoping the direction of his teachers will knock some of these language stumbling blocks away, but thus far I've seen no improvement? For the record, she's a wonderful nanny.

     Suggestions? Ideas? Sightings? Email ISYN.

7 comments:

edine said...

How about you get on your knees and thank God tgat you have such a life...a nanny. Pffff

Me! said...

You (poster) sound racist and or classist! Did you pick a nanny professional? Someone who is smart, personable, educated and capable of carrying on an intelligent conversation? If not, then that was your mistake. I'm assuming you met your nanny for an interview prior to offering her the job. Correct? If so, you didn't choose wisely. Also, you should also be reading to your own child and speaking 'correctly' in his/her presence. The grammar issues could just as easily be coming from you. You're the type of parent for whom I wouldn't want to work. I am a nanny professional with multiple degrees! Nannies are professionals who do not speak like characters from a 60's era sitcom!

this_nick said...

#1. Ignore the previous two comments. Don't ever be made to feel guilty for wanting the best for your child.

#2. You've got to address this with the nanny, which I realize even as I'm typing this will be THE HARDEST THING EVER. Open up the conversation as a discussion on preparing your child for kindergarten, and include other things you think the two of you should do to achieve that. Most importantly, ask your nanny for her suggestions (that she has now, or when she's had time to think it over.) It's essential you remind her that you two are a team, working together to send off the brightest, smartest, most capable kid to a successful educational career.

#3. Only as part of this wider discussion, bring up the speech issues you've noticed. At all times, approach it as a WE issue. Say that you think WE need to try our best to reduce OUR use of slang and increase our use of correct English (for God's sake, don't say "proper" - it implies the alternative that she's been using is IMproper).

Explain that you don't want your child facing difficulty learning to read and write because of having to unlearn slang, and that if the two if you work together to speak in technically correct English around him, as well as correct his English when needed, he'll be at a great starting point when he gets to school.

A nanny who loves your child as it sounds like yours does will do her best to help in this effort. While her speech won't magically become 100% correct, with her attention it will improve as will your child's. Good luck!

Sincerely, a nanny who's going to minimize her slang once the twins start talking...

VA Bossmom said...

I disagree. If you want your kids to talk like you, take care of them yourself. If you want the luxury of a nanny, live with the consequences.

Angi said...

Sad to see so many ignorant comments on here. I second Nick...shes spot on.

Me! said...

It's not ignorant to say that SHE made the mistake IF she hired someone who cannot speak correctly. I assume, she interviewed the nanny both via telephone and in person. If this person's diction and or grammar was so atrocious, she shouldn't have hired them. Plain and simple. Hiring them and allowing them access to her impressionable child tells me she cares MORE about feeling superior than she does about her child's well-being.

this_nick said...

Why wouldn't she hire the nanny if she had the best overall qualities? It has nothing to do with wanting to feel superior, and everything to do with wanting to leave your child in the care of the most loving person you can. Every nanny is going to have at least one undesirable quality. This doesn't make her undeserving of a position.

I think it's great this parent gave the right value to the most important thing - that the nanny would love and protect her child. The speech thing is a minor, fixable issue that the parent and nanny can work out together once it's addressed.