Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Nanny Number 2

We had another nanny come over last night. This lady has 2 kids, a 7 year-old and a 2 ½ year-old. The 2 ½ year-old would be coming with her daily, and the 7 year-old would come when there wasn’t any school.

The lady seemed really nice and really active and talked about how she really liked taking the kids places. I really liked her energy!

One thing that kept bothering me was that every time her son came upstairs (they were playing in the playroom while we talked) she would immediately look over and talk to him…even though I was in the middle of talking to her! She just let her kids interrupt the interview! Interrupting is a HUGE pet peeve of mine, and I work really hard with my kids trying to teach them that it’s rude. Now of course they still do it, but I always “ssshhh” them and continue listening to the person that was talking to me. We really got the impression that her kids get her total attention, which isn't a bad thing in itself, but we were worried she would be giving them more attention than our kids.

We started talking about discipline, and she told us that she was really into getting down to the child’s level and explaining why what they did was wrong. She said she would rather do that five times per day than put them in time out. OK…hubby I thought that sounded great…we’re really big about making sure the kids know why it was wrong to do what they did. However, as they were leaving, the 2 ½ year-old kept running off and wouldn’t put her coat on and threw a tantrum. The mom had no control. Seriously, they sat in my foyer for 10 minutes and she just waited until the little girl was ready to go.

Now I’m not saying that my kids don’t get upset when it’s time to leave a place they like, but there’s a look we can give them that means business, and they know it. I just couldn’t imagine my son, who is also 2 ½, acting like this little girl! So hubby and I decided she probably wouldn’t be a good influence on our kids…I can already hear my daughter “mommy, why is she allowed to do that and I’m not?” The nanny also shared stories of her daughter smearing mascara all over her parents white carpet. Ummm, yeah, we have white carpet and so help me if anything like that ever happened…

It just emphasized again what great kids I have. I know that even if I wasn’t watching them, there’s no danger of my daughter getting into my mascara and smearing it all over the carpet.

So the first nanny is looking like a winner so far. The problem is she wants to give her current boss a month’s notice, which I find very honorable. So we might have to put the kids in daycare for a month…which I’m not that happy about, but if it gets them the right care then it has to be done.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like Nanny #1, too!!

The month's notice is tough, but if she does it for her current employer, you can bank that she'd extend the same respect to you should she ever leave.

Glad things are looking up!

Dani said...

Nanny #1 sounds cool.
The month is tough, but at least you know she won't bail on you without any explanation.
Good luck!

ChrisB said...

A month's notice is pretty general here~ working both ways or fees in lieu!

Rachel (Crazy-Is) said...

Nanny #1 sounds good to me too! And, would you want to employ someone that would be willing to leave another person in a bind to come and work for you? I think it's great that she has some integrity!! She sounds like she will be a good role model.

Julie said...

Ok, that would drive me nuts too that she interrupted your conversation for her child.

Kelly said...

Yeah I think Nanny #1 sounds good as well!
As for Nanny #2, I think she gave you a good preview as to how she would handle or not handle your kids..so I think its a good choice to move on and keep searching or go with Nanny #1.

Good luck!!