Nanny Blogs: Thoughts from a Village for Hire

I love reading about other nanny adventures. For a while I didn't know that other nanny's blog. It's funny how every nanny story is different but yet some common themes can be found. I think that it's perfectly okay to hire someone to watch your kids a few hours out of the week it not only gives the mom some breathing room but it also gives me a job.

http://confessionsofanupperwestsidenanny.blogspot.com/

Lasr year I became an uncle. In order to maintain their lifestyle my sister has to work so she hired a nanny. She is a wonderful wonderful woman as I am positive all of you nannys are and your great at what you do. Your job is extremely tough at times because in my opinion you are playing the role of mother for the most part. My profession is that of a Private Investigator and I ran a check on the nanny that my sister eventually hired as I hope that your employers did the same. I just wanted to come and blog here as well as share a thought. It seems that it only takes one bad egg to ruin the bunch. I believe that I am the answer to that problem. My site www.usachecknow.com ( http://www.usachecknow.com/ ) is a website operated by licensed Private Investigators who will perform background checks and criminal records searchs. I believe in being safe so if I can help please let me know.

 Thankyou,

usachecknow

Thanks for the post!!! Nannies and Babysitter services are more in US as many parents are going out for a job. So people who need services from them can post their request on Mineeds.com and providers will post their bids on your needs.

Chicago Nanny & Babysitter Services - Get Bids & Save | MiNeeds ( http://www.mineeds.com/Chicago-Illinois-Services/Babysitter-Nanny-Services?utm_source=CommentingOnForumsBlogs&utm_medium=OnlineSites&utm_campaign=ConsumerMarketing )

I was a Nanny in college, and I still keep in touch with the family!  I would definetly have one if I could afford to . . . and I would not be afraid to tell anyone.  It is a luxury that not enough people have access to!

I think the fact that you've got a nanny is awesome, Mary. If mama ain't happy, nobody's happy, and being a SAHM is hard. Those breaks are definitely wanted -- and NEEDED. Good for you. :)

Just have to say that I know gnarlynanny personally and she is amazing with kids. My children adore her and it's obvious that she loves her line of work. It takes a special kind of person to watch someone else's kids and she makes it look easy.

thanks for the shout out! i absolutely love my job, thanks for making mention of this amazing line of work.
i totally support your employing a nanny... stay at home mom's work hard!

Thanks for the link! I found it through Nanny in New York - I wonder why it didn't show in my Technorati link?

I'd never considered myself a 'nanny', because I work from my own home. Nor am I a 'babysitter', which I define much as Nanny in New York does. My teenage children babysit - I do much more.

There are live-in and live-out nannies. These are women who help raise your children in your own home. (An au pair is a type of live-in nanny.)

Then there's people like me: daycare providers, or, as one of my commenters says, 'daycarista', a term I quite like. In that we also help raise your child, rather than just tend to them for brief periods, I guess we are nannies of a sort - nannies who work from our own homes!

Coming out of the closet... JUST hired a nanny. LOVE the nanny. I've been reticent about posting about it, which is interesting... but that's another story.

I'm so excited to discover that nannies BLOG - I'll have to check these out.

wow! came over here from 'nanny in new yorks' blog and saw you had mentioned me! thank you for that!! it's so nice when i, as a nanny, can read positive things about myself and my profession. so often people only want to hear the horror stories.

thanks for putting the word out there that we have something intelligent and positive to say!

First of all, thanks, Mary, for the plug!

Cassandra--In my opinion the main difference between a nanny and a babysitter is commitment.  A babysitter commits to keep the children alive, healthy and out of trouble for a (usually short) period of time.  A nanny, on the other hand, commits to so much more.  She commits to keeping the children safe, of course, but also to thinking about their long term health, their diet, how they're doing at school, who their friends are, and on and on.  A nanny is a partner with the parents, as opposed to just an occasional helper.

One of the problems I've encountered is that, especially when dealing with liberal parents who might feel a tad bit of guilt at employing someone who is essentially a domestic, they find it easier to say "babysitter" instead of nanny.  The idea is that everyone has a babysitter, so there's no negative connotation, and they don't have to think of themselves as a family who employees servants.  I deal with this by explaining the differences that I just went into and making it very clear--both to the parents and the children--that I am a nanny.  Words are important in our culture, they denote status, rank, importance, etc.  I don't think it's a bad thing to want to be given credit for the job you do by the title you are given.  It's the norm in the corporate world, and I think it should be in the domestic arena as well.

Being a stay at home mom IS work. At any other job you would have breaks. I think the best is the weird looks I get when I mention that I'm in a babysitting co-op (not my first choice because it's a little cult-like, but we can't afford a nanny right now). People seem to think that since I'm at home I would never need a sitter. Just because I'm at home doesn't mean that I don't need someone to watch my kids so I can.. I don't know..go have a pelvic exam without my 3 year old being there!
I like to occasionally meet up with a friend for lunch and have a break from my kids. And I still need to get my haircut just like everyone else. The judgements just never end.
A. Elliot ( http://www.flexibleparenting.com )

Rather than a 'nanny'. To me, the nanny comes during the day and a babysitter comes in the evening or on the weekends. At least that's how I've perceived it when I had an Au Pair (GASP! Shudder!) and then a babysitter. But never a nanny, because an Au Pair lives with you and a nanny just comes during the day. Again, this was told to me when I was like 8 and have lived with those definitions since then. Actually I still sound like I'm 8 when explaining it.

I've never cared about a title all that much just as long as - and you seem to have this down pat - the sitter/nanny/caregiver is treated like a person and with respect. As opposed to "the help." That happened to me recently and so I quit. Too bad for them.

Heather B.
No Pasa Nada ( http://heatherbarmore.blogspot.com )

In my graduate school days, I nannied to help pay the bills (reduce student loan damage might be more accurate...). I loved my work, and I do feel I was good to and for the children I cared for. I nannied for a family in a suburb of Washington, DC (3 kids-- ages 8, 6, and 3), and then later, for one in Madison, WI (3 kids-- ages 16 [I obviously did more supervision that actually caretaking with her], 10, and 4). The family in DC called me a nanny, and I truly felt I was one. In WI, I applied for a position of "nanny" and felt I worked as a nanny, but the kids would sometimes refer to me as their "babysitter." That really irked me.

What makes a nanny a nanny and a babysitter a babysitter?

Cass
Patience is a virtue that takes too long ( http://cassandra-blog.blogspot.com/ )

Hello - my name is Marsha and I employ a nanny, too. (This is the first meeting of Nannies Anonymous, right?)

Our nanny has been with us for nine years, since my oldest was 18 months old. Back then I was running my design business full time, sometimes 40-60 hours a week. At first I really believed I could do it without any help, but the turning point came one day when I was simultaneously breastfeeding my baby (leaning over her as she lay on the floor) talking on the phone to a client with one hand and taking down notes with the other. If this was a horror film I would have been found at the end of the day locked in a closet and gnawing on my arm.

Her hours have declined as I've cut back on my workload, and now she's only here a few hours a week, but she still is and will continue to be an important part of our family.