Wednesday

Snow Day

I was employed for a family with three children, ages 12, 6, and 2. I accepted the position, and horrible pay, because I was living in a very small town and had little child care experience. At the time I felt like it was the best I'd find. As time went on it became clear pay wasn't the only issue. I was salary and would be given time off when the parents had a day off work or the grandparents came in, only to be asked later to make up that time by staying late or working nights/weekends. DB was a perv, and MB quite insecure, which made for an interesting dynamic. I was constantly being given extra tasks that were not agreed upon in the beginning. I felt generally unhappy with my job but wanted to put some time in so is have experience for future positions. My second winter working for them I woke up one morning to see the biggest snow of the year. I head off to work as usual and find I'm the only car in eyesight on the snowy, ice covered road. I wanted to call in, but MB had already expressed frustration earlier in the week for having missed a couple hours of work in the morning due to my inability to drive until the roads cleared. I decided to drive very slowly and do my best to make it to work. When I arrived I was greeted normally before MB and DB left. They both returned minutes later saying they'll just stay home because the roads are horrible. They sat around the house all day watching TV, feeding the children junk, and making my job impossible. I grew frustrated by the hour as my presence felt useless. I was angry that I had showed up that morning and that I wasn't being offered the chance to leave early before the evening winter weather settled in, especially considering both of them were home and only relaxing. That afternoon I sent a lengthy text to a friend venting about the family, using a very harsh tone and cursing. It was until five minutes later that I realized I had accidentally sent it to MB instead. I panicked and wasn't sure what to do. The end of the story is that we literally never spoke of it. They started looking for other care providers soon after (I wasn't told but found out) and I began searching for another position. A few weeks later the kids had a happier nanny and I was in a position that better suited my needs.

2 comments:

Leigh Raymer said...

i think your sub concious kicked in and had you text them so you could get out of that situation, they were very rude and calloused

Unknown said...

Glad you found a family that cares. Unbelievable they should have told you to go back home. I know how bad last winter was. A total nightmare here in NNJ.