From a Regular - Good Nanny Has Fun Sometimes And Can Use Tips On Hangover Prevention

Went to watch some games at a local bar with my boyfriend tonight. I drank more than I normally do when I have to work the next day. Any tips for a hangover when you are a nanny? I won't be drunk and probably no hangover, I normally don't get them. But I would to hear what you have to say !!!

HORRIBLE NANNY? NOT!!!

I've worked for my current family for 9 months. I have 10 years of experience and glowing references. They have a 3 year old and now a 1 year old. At first they were very receptive to conversations and any question or issue I had. As time has passed they were less and less interested. I asked for my 6 month review and sort of got one ( they both emailed me on a thread). I negotiated a raise ( not that much) and brought up for the 2nd time the 3 yo's behavior ( mean,calls me bad names,says they're going to "tell on me" when I am enforcing a rule they don't like). Mom and Dad always profess to want to work on it but have yet to set boundaries. It's incredibly confusing to them and makes sense why they act out constantly. I spoke to them 3x in 4 months about the behavior. The word "no" is rarely enforced and when it is both parents have lost their cool. Long story short,I found another job and accepted it. I gave a month notice and the parents have both been extremely rude. The mom in particular has been incredibly passive aggressive and going to work makes me ill every day. She asked why and I told her I found a better fit somewhere else. I needed to work less (I currently work 50-60 hours a week with no OT.She is very unprofessional and rude to me daily. I'm imagining that I won't receive a reference from them.

How horrible am I to not work the last 2 days of my months notice? I feel awful but the idea of having to spend them RE-EXPLAINING and handling unprofessional attitudes makes me cry. Any input welcome !!!

Use of Discipline

I was kind of confronted on a previous post and if the editors will let me I want to address a different issue,other than my original one, brought up in the comments. I give treats and toys to kids, and plan activities also in a furniture store. Never was a nanny but had 3 younger siblings, minored in Child Development.

In my PP I mentioned that sometimes a mom or nanny will let one kid have the treat but not the other one " because they have been bad"

My policy is to say, " Well let me put this in Mommy's keeping, and she will decide when there is improvement and time for the treat"
I got jumped on here for that but I can say that it works every time. It reinforces the authority of the nanny or mom, it gives the child a "carrot" so to speak to meet expectations. Notice I am not using the word "good" as calling kids "bad" is atrocious in my view.

And now my RANT! Assuming the child does not have a medical condition barring treats, or a religious reason etc - and the other kids are allowed the give away- I don't like the parent/nanny using me as the bad guy with the kids. I do not like seeing them sad in my section as their siblings get something special and they do not. IMO the discipline should be something between you and them - a fave tv show or video game or going to bed early etc.

My job re: my boss is to make the kids smile, make them look forward to coming to the store and I don't want to be involved in making the kids feel bad. I don't want to take away any one's authority - but cannot adults compromise and work together? It's what we teach the kids.

Question!

My bosses just told me this morning that they are excepting their second child.. Happy Nanny wants to ask when is a good time to talk to them about raises, maternity leave, all that good stuff? Should I bring it up first? Thank you.

Favoritism ? Bad Nanny Sighting San Antonio

I work at a large furniture store with a big lunch area and my job is to hand out samples of fun things to eat. I regularly see a nanny with 4 charges - an older girl,younger girl,younger boy, and a baby. I have briefly spoken to them enough to know that the boy is her child and the rest are her nanny kids. I get uncomfortable because she treats the little girl unkindly IMO. On one occasion she let all the kids have a little treat except the girl because of something the girl had done- not eating everything, so I wrapped the treat up and said "I bet she will be good and can have it later". She lets her own child spend time receiving give aways while finding ways for this little girl to not receive anything. I try to immediately pay attention to the girl so she gets something, but the situation worries me as the little girl does have developmental things going on which are not being addressed. I could not file a complaint, I would lose my job so - any suggestions or insight would be helpful.

Art Project

Hi! Have a project I made for my charge, almost 8 months old that you may want to post. I just used a big piece of cardboard as the base. 1) Hot glued various items with different textures. For example I did several different fabrics, pom poms, popsicle sticks, rattling wrapping paper, sand paper,a sponge, bubble wrap. Other ideas are carpet samples or any number of other things from around the house. 2) Then to reinforce and make sure baby couldn't tear them off I put duct tape around the flat pieces (used Velcro fastener for several items...) 3) to add a little more challenging aspect, and help with additional learning I cut pieces of felt fabric big enough to cover each item and hot glued it at the top to make a flap. That's it, pretty simple idea, could change it up in various ways.

First time Nanny has a gifting question

Hiii! I love your website! I find it so helpful as this is my first tine being a nanny! I had a question, I want to gift my MB a gift from the kiddos (9 months & 4) on Mothers Day, any suggestions? I had planned to do their handprints in clay but she recently did that herself, if you have any ideas it would be greatly appreciated! TIA!

This was posted on our facebook page....

This is the first paragraph. some pretty good stuff here. click the link to read the entire article...

You’re not backing her up on discipline.

Everyone wants to say, “my kids are easy.” In every ad a nanny reads, she sees lines like, “they really are good kids.” Let’s be honest, kids are not easy. Having kids is one of the most challenging things we do as human beings and we mess up all the time where raising them is concerned. Having a nanny means one of two things: a.) you are part of a dual income family and schedules are such that you MUST have a third parent around or b.) you have a ton of kids and your spouse needs support. Either way, you have hired an awesome woman (or man) who is co-parenting with you. If you trust her with your kids, we assume you trust her parenting methods. Here is a little bit of truth where kids are concerned: they are different around certain people. Your child may be great for mommy, and really difficult for daddy. Your kids may be great for your nanny and horrible for you. Your nanny may get the bulk of the bad behavior. Whatever the case, back her up when she disciplines your child. If little Johnny was poorly behaved all day and she took away a fun evening privilege, stick to her punishment. DON’T abandon her discipline once she leaves for the evening. This isn’t for her benefit, but for the benefit of your child. Consistency is very important when co-parenting. For the daddy, mommy, nanny, and baby home to thrive, you have to be a strong team member for your other co-parents. If you fail to do this, you’ll have a confused child and a very frustrated nanny.


http://www.mygirlfri.com/your-nanny-is-quitting-heres-why/