Tuesday

sad sighting at the park

My charge and I were at the park yesterday when I I witnessed something incredibility sad. I saw a 3 to 4 year old girl playing in the sand box and walking around aimlessly around. Her parents (I know as the little girl called the lady mom). Her parents sat on a bench and just didn't move from that spot the entire time. They thought their phones were more important. The little girl pleaded to her mom "come play with me! Come play mom" She sighed and acted like she had been though this hundreds of times before. I could not stand it anymore. We (my charge and I) were already digging holes and making tracks (with his trains) in the sand and I asked the little girl if she wanted to play with us. She greatly accepted. My charge then wanted to play on the playground equipment The little girl looked sad- wondering if she could come with us. I looked at mom who just nodded. So I took her daughter's hand and ran her through the playground and pushed her on the swing. I have to give some correct to mom as she did get off the bench for 5 maybe 10 minutes to come over and say hi. dad never moved. I usually don't say something like this- but parents need to work on their diet. They were massive Obese. They need to wake up and see what their daughter sees. They need to be involved more. I actually had other parents/caregivers come up to me and say Thank you for making that child's day. She was sad when it was time to go home.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Come on. Why is this even on here??? You wrote in to say how amazing you are because this little girl had fat parents? You want a pat on the back for playing with her? You have no idea what's actually going on in their home or what kind of parents they are. You saw a snapshot. At least they got her out of the house to a park. That's a start. I'm so frustrated by what's being posted on here. This isn't a bad nanny sighting or a post about a hold who's been mistreated. This is a judgemental post about fat parents and shouldn't have been published.

Anonymous said...

*child

Erics mom said...

I get it kids do not need adults to entertain them 24/7. But it sounds like these parents were just plain lazy. Would it had killed them to push her on the swing. Or show some kind of interest? Glad she was able to play with your charge.

Taleia said...

Yeah, I'm over it, too. You can't even put this under the thin excuse of "we'll post anything to protect a child" since they're clearly her parents and clearly not being abusive. Give me a break.

Ericsmom said...

So as long as they are the parents it's okay to totally ignore your kids? But if this was a paid professional it's a different story? Like I said kids do not have to entertained 24/7. But it sounds like these parents were totally into their own world. No excuse parent or nanny to do.

Anonymous said...

This is really not a place for this post, last time I checked it was isawyournanny, not isawyou - it doesn't even bring anything to the table. The parents of that little girl will never see this, and other than saying they were too fat to play with their child, there's nothing in it. Obesity is an issue, but it hardly warrants someone bemoaning about it up here. IF it was a post on how to help an obese child lose weight, sure. I'd happily read it. But a nanny complaining she had to take this child under her care because the parents let the kid play on her own, on a playground. It's ridiculous. A nanny is paid to watch, teach and play with the charge, so yes, it's not ok for her to ignore the child, she's paid to do all of it. When I'm on the playground with my kids, and there's another kid wanting to play with, I encourage it - whether this child is there with a nanny, grandma or parent. If you didn't want to amuse this girl, you shouldn't, but please, get over yourself. It's not easy being a parent, we do both your job and another one so we can pay you. We are not perfect, we get tired, overwhelmed, and sometimes aren't as attentive as our child deserves, but that's why we have you, so you will be as attentive as our child needs.

CaliforniaDreamr said...

Most of the parents I see are pretty involved at the playground, but if they aren't, I don't judge them. Why? Because i have no idea what kind of day they're having, what they're going through at the moment, if they just lost their job, or if they just need a break. I dont constantly engage my charges when we're at the park. I guide them and help them use their own imaginations and encourage them to befriend/play with other kids on the playground, not because I'm lazy, but because I feel like kids these days are not being allowed to cultivate their imaginations and expect to be entertained 24/7. Independent play is so healthy, but everyone has a different opinion about that. I see a lot of parents bring their kids and sit for a while. They're attentive though, not stuck in their phones but encouraging their kids and applauding them when they go down the slide, across the monkey bars, etc. BUT, from what you described, it sounds like these parents weren't willing to do a single thing for her, like push her on the swings at least. That takes minimal effort, even if you're tired.

Anyway, from what I observed, this seems to be a site not just geared toward bad nanny sightings but also for nannies talking about some of their frustrations. I didn't feel like you were trying to show people how amazing you are. You were voicing legitimate concern/frustration. I don't think it was a post solely focused on fat people either. People get too offended over things these days. Good for you stepping up and helping that child out! If you're looking for an actual support group for nannies, nannysupportgroup.com is pretty cool.

Anonymous said...

Really?! It's not about it being offensive. I'm not fat, so I can't really care about that. She voicing her frustration? Over their diet (or lack thereof)??? Come on. She wrote in to say that fat parents sat around while she played with their daughter. Fine. High fives all around for her! Best person of the year award! This is a website that used to be geared towards bad NANNY sightings and nanny stories. This garbage would never have been put up in the past.

Anonymous said...

Thank you. But come on, whoever submitted this post isn't actually nanny of the year I'm sure. Unless she engaged her charge 100% of the time, which I'm sure she doesn't. I'm sure she's taken her charge to a park and sat down and checked her phone too. We've all done it. Maybe not for extended periods of time, but any nanny out there who acts like she's all high and mighty needs to be knocked down a peg. The kid's parents are fat. So? Why was that even part of the story??? All that needed to be expressed was the disappointment she felt at the parents for not engaging their child. But adding that they're fat makes them seem even lazier. Judgemental much?

Bina said...

I'm very interested as to why kids need someone to entertain them at the playground? This didn't happen in the old days. Now in nyc, you leave kid to explore and be adventurous on their own, you're supposedly some sort of lazy person.

Chinese Nanny said...

What is not your professional might be difficult to do sometime. Many mum have tired. because what they expect is not what they got. some thought that raising children is very easy and they will say "I dont need Nanny to take care of my child" But after some months that they gave birth, they are tired already.

But if its your field, you will always be happy to do it because you will pity the condition the the child. Because You knew what he/she feel when nobody is playing with him. And is only nanny that can know that because is their professional.

You will see many child dull, looks unhappy etc because they dont find people to play with. their parents will go to work and come back late, they cant share with their parent. I hope parent will be able to learn the important of Nanny with this your great post.

Thanks for sharing this.

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mandynanny said...

I agree with CaliforniaDreamr...
But it is confusing why the site has become more of a "venting ground" I rarely see any bad nanny posts anymore! I guess that's a good thing...I too see a lot of parents ignoring their children pretty much all the time but I never thought too much about it because I do not know them personally or what kind of day they have had. It's definitely harder not to judge than it is to judge!

Anonymous said...

And thes are the parents who complain about a nanny who is on her phone for a minute or two.