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Original poster

would you employ this nanny?

36 replies

00Amber00 · 11/10/2010 22:55

hi everyone,

my nanny is due to start tomorrow but it was her induction day today and i have serious doubts if she is the right nanny for us.

we were getting ready to go out for a walk this afternoon and she had my LO in her arms. whilst i was getting my shoes and was locking the front door she was in the garage, where the buggy is. when I got to the garage i saw the following - she was putting the buggy together and my 13 month old baby, who doesn't walk yet was crawling on the garage floor next to the bins!!! i was shocked to see this but did not say anything straight away until 5-10 minutes later when i gave her a suggestion as to how she should organise herself before going out, hoping that she would get the hint. i not sure she did and i have lost all little trust i had in her to start with. i have only met her twice before today and she had excellent references from the two families she worked for. the previous children were older when she started to work for the previous families. i knew she didn't have much experience with babies of my LO's age but didn't realise she had no common sense.

would you feel justified to not let her start her employment with you tomorrow if you were me?

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ThighsWideShut · 12/10/2010 01:05

Looks like someones out of a job tomorrow then. Can you not just give her the benefit of the doubt on this occasion, make it clear tomorrow how you feel on this, and see how it is in a weeks time?

Original poster
00Amber00 · 12/10/2010 00:35

Hi,

She knew in advance the buggy wasn't up and as Zakuro said she should have asked me to hold her this time, to make the most of me being around and then think for next time. Nor did she ask me to put the buggy up. Anything would have been fine but what she did. I won't be here tomorrow so won't be able to put the buggy up for her. Is she going to put my LO on the ground every time she puts the buggy in my absence? She chose to concentrate on the buggy instead of the wellbeing of my child and who is to say she isn't going to do it again (even if i tell her)? I guess this incident mixed with the general feeling of the nanny being quite sloppy and way too laid back is what making me to be unsure about my choice. Kylesmybaby, I appreciate it is a bit late to have doubts but as with every employee you don't really know them until they are in a job. And what goes against this nanny is that she started to show her weak points on day one when lets face it even the laziest of us would make an effort. If I were applying for a sole charge position I would have not behaved the way she did today.
But as one of you already pointed out may be my standards of cleanliness, which I think is called hygiene, are a tad too high for her. I think I just made my mind up guys. Thank you for posts.

OP posts:
kylesmybaby · 12/10/2010 00:09

wouldn't you have known the buggy was not set up - not her - so maybe you should have set the buggy up first. or at least told her the buggy was not set up so she could have left lo inside with you and sorted it out.

i think it is a bit late now with her starting in the morning to be having second thoughts.

why didn't you say something at the time to her. at least then she would have known you were not happy with it.

ZakuroFujiwara · 11/10/2010 23:51

I wouldn't be comfortable with this (have had 3 nannies over the years). Why didn't she come and pass baby to you saying something like "sorry didn't realize the pushchair wasn't set up'

People have different thresholds for dirt though - I can't bear babies crawling on any surface other than those inside a house, for eg don't even really like church hall floors @ toddler groups

Am totally willing to admit I may be slightly in the OCD camp in this respect though!

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 11/10/2010 23:51

Why didn't you have the buggy ready and set up, OP? Your nanny isn't psychic.

SpeedyGonzalez · 11/10/2010 23:19

You're sounding rather shirty now, Amber! I was asking how dirty the floor was so as to help you. The correct response would be to describe the condition of the floor. Your stroppiness is uncalled for.

Am now wondering whether your nanny should be writing 'AIBU to not want to work for this woman?'

Biscuit
JiggeryPopery · 11/10/2010 23:14

You're being a bit PFB.

Unless the baby was actually crawling around in dog poo and broken glass.

Many of us pick up the baby, give its hand a quick dust or wipe and carry on. And fairimum makes a good point about how would she have prepared earlier.

Bink · 11/10/2010 23:14

I'm with speedy, I don't quite see the problem - it doesn't sound dangerous as such. People have different tolerances for grubbiness. Are you quite a carefully clean person? Would you eg let your baby crawl about in a public sand pit?

Do you think she was monitoring your baby enough to notice if she'd put something in her mouth? You can monitor for risky things while not minding grubbiness - a good nanny will have priorities.

However, she's your baby, so if you want her kept away from dirty places that's your call. The most important thing is whether the nanny understands and is ready to go with what's important to you - if not (so if she made you feel you were making an unnecessary fuss) then that's how she isn't right for you.

fairimum · 11/10/2010 23:06

I have to say if she didn't know the buggy wasn't up and ready to go then how could she have prepared earlier? I expect she was just trying to get little one in and ready to go asap so they would be ready when you joined them. If I knew buggy wasn't ready before we needed to leave and nowhere suitable to leave LO then I would have put set buggy up earlier when they were sleeping etc?

Original poster
00Amber00 · 11/10/2010 23:05

Hi Speedy,

It is a garage floor, right next to the bins. Although it was not like the bin's inside but pretty dirty for me to walk barefooted let alone for me to think it would be ok to put my baby there who is still at an age to put pretty much everything she finds in her mouth. Would you be happy for somebody to do this to your kids? and would you trust them from then on to look after your child? i take it the answer is yes. is there anyone out there feeling differently?

OP posts:
SpeedyGonzalez · 11/10/2010 22:57

Um...was it particularly filthy on the garage floor? From your post I'm not quite seeing what the problem was. Doesn't sound like a deal breaker to me.