To think that people look down on women who work as nannies?

[ImSeRa]

Am I being unreasonable to think that being someone's nanny automatically makes you seen as 'the help' and therefore, you will always be seen as lower class?

I have taken 18 months to raise my DS because I didn't feel comfortable sending him to nursery. With my parents' offer of childcare, I will be able to work 3 days a week.

Going back to my previous role of Accounts Admin, I will only be able to earn £35k pro rata but as a Nanny, I will be able to earn £60k pro rata. In other words, 3 days of Nannying will pay me the same as 5 days of Accounts Admin and, with the exception of looking after babies, it has the potential to be much easier in my opinion (I have done both jobs).

Is it better to have more money and to work less or to have a socially respectable position as a finance professional?

The only disadvantage to being a Nanny is that you can feel very lonely and vulnerable if you have a bad boss, whereas you feel protected and a sense of solidarity in an office and there is always someone to give you a good reference if something goes wrong. As a Nanny, if you come across a control-freak, unpleasant parent/employer, they will refuse to give you a reference and prevent you from working for someone else.

Yep. Not that any job should be looked down on, but Nannying would generally be seen as a skilled job like administration, so much the same category.

Perhaps it's because you feel you should be in a profession? I think usually when people feel sensitive about what other people think it's because they are seeing something in that person's reaction that's actually bothering them.

If you'd actually prefer the creative work and emotional satisfaction of being a nanny to working in an office, then own that - and be clear about why you enjoy the job to your sister and anyone else who asks.

If you'd actually like a professional career that uses your academic ability then make a plan to make that happen when the time is right, so you can explain that you really enjoy working with kids and nannying works for your need for flexibility now, but when your son is 7 you're planning to train as a teacher / accountant :/ whatever.

Figure out what's best for you and then own it.

This sounds like your insecurities. I've been a nanny and employed nannies. There is no need to be isolated, plenty of networks out there. Equally, it used to crack my colleagues up when I a senior leader at work, had to pander and practically beg the nanny to cover an extra hour so I could go for a drink after work. As a nanny, parents hand you their 3 most valuable things when they walk out the door, their children, their home and their car. That's very much a position of respect.