Bringing toddler out in the rain

YABVU- this is your job. It’s what you are hired to do. If it’s not suitable for you then quit and find a different position. It’s absolutely not unreasonable to expect you to go out with the toddler in all weathers (severe weather warnings aside). The benefits to you and the child are endless. Buy better clothing or find a new job.

seems odd to me people find "30 minutes" an impossible task because it rains.

Each to their own. I just buy the right clothes.

I actually think it's unreasonable of the mother to not allow you to drive occasionally. If she cares that much, she can do it. Oh no, wait, she's too busy and has given the job of looking after her child to someone else... Surely they get to decide if they're walking or not. You're her nanny not her slave.

30 mins in the pouring rain to the library and back sounds miserable, yes on a dry day.
Seems odd she's so against the car.

I am not a fan of the rain, but no ,it has never stopped me from going for a run, my kids to play sport or having a normal life. Rain clothes just make being outside more comfortable, how hard is it to understand.

I live in England of all places! Who in their right mind stay stuck indoors everytime it rains?

It's terrible for your mental health to be stuck and inactive. It would make me fat too 😂

I haven't heard of many children missing school because it was raining that day! Surely it's basic to make them used to be out in all weather?

Since when is life stopping because it's raining. Can you imagine? No sport, no school, no nothing?

I applaud the mother not to rely on cars for small distances, it's so unhealthy and lazy.

So important for little ones to get out and about most days, in all weather. I actually have always loved being out in the rain. Used to love going out with the buggy when they were small, too. Then the lovely feeling of coming home and warming up.

@RainRainRain123

if it’s really chucking it down YANBU to want to drive or stay in.

lots of mumsnetters are weird about the weather - they love to pretend that they and their kids love nothing more than wearing lots of ugly rain clothes and walking about in the pissing rain and wind for hours on end “cos there is no such thing as bad weather if you’ve got the right clothes!!”

yeah, no

Is the child happy out in the rain and cold?

I think people often fall into two camps - those that feel the cold and those that don't. We're not a family who feel the cold very much, but my children have friends who go into school shivering and wrapped up in multiple layers while my DC is happy in just a polo shirt.

I think it would be unreasonable to expect you to drag a shivering, unhappy child outside in bad weather for long periods of time just for the sake of it, but equally an energetic child who is happy outdoors shouldn't be kept inside unnecessarily just because it's easier and more comfortable for their caregivers.

Seems perfectly normal - no different to doing the school run for an older sibling each day.

No such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes!

Sounds like the family might not be the right fit for you though if you're not wanting to walk in the rain but you're willing to take them out in a car and the mum won't let you? I really don't mean that in a rude way, it just sounds like it's not a great match expectations-wise.

Can they provide rain gear for you.
I know it isn't a uniformed position, it might be worth asking.
The Mother might have some spare raincoats she is past using.

I think a rainproof coat and a pair of waterproof boots/wellies are standard clothing items for nannies, surely? JD sport and numerous online retailers sell both for under £20, so you clearly need to buy some.

It sounds as if you are not particularly well-suited to this job. Whose fault that is depends on whether the mother made her expectations clear at the interview stage.

She's not unreasonable to want her child taken out in all weathers, suitably clothed, unless genuinely unsafe. Or to want the car not used for short journeys which can reasonably be walked. You're not unreasonable to prefer staying in when the weather is mildly unpleasant and driving rather than walking up hills, but that means that this is perhaps not the job for you if your employer requires you to do these things cheerfully on a daily basis.

That stuff that falls from the sky, it's actually H2O, not hydrochloric acid.

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask you to take a child out for walks etc in the rain. I appreciate you don't have 'rain gear' but you could get a raincoat with a hood from somewhere like Primark very cheaply. A twenty-minute walk is not a long walk at all.

Why can’t you drive? I would invest in so warm and waterproof clothes.

Surely there needs to be a bit of flexibility here..Great to get out loads..rain is fine..however yesterday here was awful. That is a day for the car. A good buggy would be important to me too for all this walking..need to have a chat about what are the priorities

Going outside in all weathers (except high winds) is normal for early years workers.

My nanny had the same routine with my kids. Out in the morning at a play group or the library or something, back for lunch, then out to the park in the afternoon. I didn’t want my children stuck at home in doors all day every day. If I wanted that, I’d have put them in a nursery. The benefit of having a nanny is that they can go to all the local play groups, activities, parks, libraries etc that they did whilst I was on mat leave.

Kids don’t care about the rain.

It's ok OP, the sun will come out for its annual appearance between the 2nd and 14th of July. You can go out then.

I think you should take him out as long as it's not blowing a gale like we have had recently. And twice a day in the pouring rain isn't necessary
But generally life is easier with a toddler if they go out . But 30 minutes each way does seem a lot in the teeming rain. Is there a bus you can catch?

They are all in walking distance though? 20 minutes really isn't an exceptionally long walk.

It doesn't sound like you are suited to the role if you're already finding her requests frustrating so I would look for another position.