2015 The Firings, #4

      I was with this family for an entire summer after leaving an amazing teaching job of 5 years. The 2 children ages 3 and 6. This was my transition job from a wonderful but high stress teaching position back into the nanny field and was supposed to be a stress reduover... After a few days the 6 year old began showing his true colors ie hitting me and brother at will noodling in parking lots, urinating in my car because I said no to ipad, Using abusive language toward me" shut your hole" when I sang along to snuggle puppy and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I was really trying to make it work as I have never been one to job hop or give up easily and felt that after 3 other nannies in 3 years the children deserved a bit of stability. After 3 months of grueling work I was finally starting to make progress when I received a call from the agency I was with asking to speak in person. I knew it was odd but went along and met with the rep on a Wed evening. The meeting was called to address the fact they felt I was eating to many Peanut butter pretzels. Seriously. The kicker is the pretzels were being eaten by the live in aunt whom was the one pointing the finger squarely in my direction. Above and beyond the insanity of this" issue" they found the need to have a mediator discuss this with me.? I was given an ultimatum replace the pretzels or find another job. .I Never went back. I ran into them at the aquarium a month later and couldn't help but notice the 3 year old was back in diapers and the 6 year old had his nap pull up ready for the ride home. Neither child said hello because one had a pacifier and the other a zippy bottle.

     I was fired on Feb 15th of last year for basically being too hot. My female boss had made plans for a night out on Feb 14th. I was staying late to babysit. I don't know what happened exactly, but he came home ahead of her. I was eating a salad in the kitchen. He sat down next to me. She came in ten minutes later looked at us both and stomped upstairs. The next morning, I come out and get started on work. She comes out in sweats and says, "We don't need your type here. Here's your pay through today, you have until noon to be out. I'm taking X to my sister's. And the cameras are on, so don't be stupid.".  I was of course shocked. I was crying and shaking when I packed my stuff. It was humiliating and I did nothing wrong. I never got to say goodbye to either child and I was there for almost 4 months.


     I just started my career, and was working T and Th for a W/SAHM. (I questioned if she did any work, as she was always leaving when I arrived. Bags under her eyes; not even foundation and concealer could help her. I later found out why she always looked tired all the time.) I had been there for a month and half when she decided to disenroll her 3.5 year old son from preschool. At first she would take the older child with her when she went out, and that changed soon, as she left him with me. So now I had two kids to care for, instead of the baby. No schedule for naps, meals or anything else. After Christmas break, we chatted about putting the 3.5 year old on a nap schedule, as I noticed he was getting sleepy after lunch. She agreed to me having him lay down for a half hour rest, if he fell asleep, he fell asleep. It worked for three days T, Th and T, my days that I was there. The next time I worked, Th, she asked that I not put him down at noon because she claimed he wasn't going to sleep until midnight. OK, fine, it's your child, but I don't believe you are telling me the truth. So I didn't put him down for a nap, and the kid is falling asleep standing up. She got home around 415, and I had to be in class by 530 in rush hour. As I was leaving, I noticed S was alseep. I asked MB if she wanted me to wake him up. Her response? " 'Oh let him sleep until dinner is ready at 630p.' " Wait, what? But you said if he naps during the day, he won't fall asleep until midnight. No wonder why he won't go to bed and you have bags under your eyes! Other things she didn't like: how I read "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" (apparently my tone was "scary") and the fact that I made him dress himself and he would start having a meltdown. One morning I was running late due to weather. Not that late. I start pulling into the driveway, and I see her leaving. She calls out of her car window, "We don't need you today, as my MIL is going to watch them. Your lateness is unacceptable." It was so long ago, I don't remember what happened. What I do remember is having clear boundaries with WAHPs. It was a learning experience.

     During my junior year of college, I found a once a month weekend position caring for an infant. I made them a priority, and literally cleared my schedule just for them: if anyone else needed me to babysit on this family's weekend, I declined, as this family came first. I charged them $12/hr, and had no issue doing so; with my experience and background, I thought $12/hr was very reasonable. I was there for five months (August-January) and liked the job. The baby and her dog (a huge lab) were so cute! I wasn't needed in February, as DB had that weekend off, so I waited for the text about working in March. Nothing, until I texted MB after not hearing from them for several weeks. I texted Wednesday afternoon. She gets back to me Friday afternoon and tells me they don't need me, as the baby is going with a relative both days. OK, hmmmm. April came around and I didn't hear from them. I felt what they did was rude and classless-I didn't do anything wrong except charge them what I thought was a reasonable rate. Apparently they thought I cost too much, so they fired me.

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