Sorry if this offends anyone but...... 'plump' nannies?

[sunnyjim]

Is it just us or are nanny's generally 'plump'? (okay in this specific case I'm talking fat really, size 18+)

We have a new nanny, not started yet, but doing the odd half day alongside me to check that we all get along.

I just have concerns about her ability to deal with DS (active 22 month old) on a day to day basis. She finds it difficult to get up or down from the floor and I found I had to slow my pace massively when we went out to the park today.

I guess a part of me thinks that if she has a weight problem, does this reflect in her willpower/ self motivation in other areas?
Will she feed him decent food?
Will she take him to active sporty things (which he loves) or focus on sitting sitll crafty things (which he hates)

NN - surely she can only give them the food available in your house. Telling her the children can eat what they like is a bit vague. Why not tell her dd like lots of toast?

But what I don't understand is the OP has already HIRED this nanny despite the misgivings.

WHY?

I wouldn't see a larger person as an unhealthy person though...I wouldn't assume all they were going to feed my kids was junk!
I would honestly think.."good..someone who obviously knows how to cook a good hearty meal"!

Also - how do you get to know someone well enough in 2 days to conclude that they have food issues?

I was what you would describe as a "plump" nanny 20 yrs ago-am now a size 14-maybe that is still plump but at 6ft I think average-and I tell you now- I was far better with my charges then thanI am with dd now.Maybe slightly slower but boy more energy and staying power/enthusiasm.

well, I was much less able to run when I was overweight. Im much fitter and move much more easily now.

it is unfair that if you have food issues, they are far more visible than other, far more serious personality issues. but it is life.

She hasn't hired her yet though, or this sentence sort of says they haven't hired her yet..

"We have a new nanny, not started yet, but doing the odd half day alongside me to check that we all get along."

What did her previous employers/referees say about her???????

oh OK maybe she isn't properly hired then
in which case, just don't hire her. Probably best for all concerned really.

still think the willpower/self motivation & decent food 'points' are bollocks though

well, megalegs, when this woman, who obviously doesnt starve herself because she is around a size 30, lets dd1 go hungry rather than let her have a 2nd bit of toast, when Ive told her that the children eat what they want for their tea(there are no sweets or crisps in the house lol), then yes, I do conclude that she probably has some hangups about food and her figure. When she said accusingly "dd1 eats only sweet things" I couldnt help wondering if nanny was talking about herself, rather than dd1, who eats a very balanced diet and is a perfectly healthy toddler.
sorry if that annoys you, but the fact is the people judge on what they see, and I didnt like what I saw - I wouldnt want this nanny round my children again.
She left of her own accord, by the way, and I later heard on the grapevine that she has done similar things to other employers, and that's why she hasnt got a perm job.

why is someone who tries to regulate a childs sugar input obviously dealing with "food issues" just because she herself is overweight?

I am a lot more than plump and yet i deal with 2 children, one of which has Sn and is therefore constantly moving about and needs chasing.
I also enusre their diet is good and healthy. i do not have food issues.

I really think you need to think about your attitude. would you think it acceptable if i came on and had concerns about hiring an asian nanny in case she only ever fed Curry?

You aren't a nutritionist in the sense that Gillian McKeith is a nutritionist, are you, Sunnyjim? Because the idea that every woman should fit into a box labelled '12 to 14' is ludicrous and unachievable. People come in different shapes and sizes, you know - even healthy people.

Can't believe anyone paid you to tell perfectly happy women of size 8 or 10 that they were ill. Or perfectly happy women of size 16 and over. Sheesh. Do we all have to be 5' 4" too, or are we allowed to be different heights?

mamazon, if she did only ever feed them curries, I wouldnt be happy for that reason, not becuase of her ethnic origin. dx never gave the children anything hot, btw, although such things are often cooked in his country.
As for regulating dd's sugar input, I didnt ask her to do that, did I? sorry, I dont buy that one.

you may not have asked but i would imagine any adult who is in charge of my child fro prolonged periods to feed them in a responsible healthy way.

Quite frankly if i came home to find my children had been allowed to eat whatever they wanted (which would have no doubt been cereal, crisps and bisuits all day) i would have been furious.
she probably assumed that as a childcare professional she saw it as a fundamental part of her job to feed them properly.

And my point about the curry is the fact that the OP and then you have both made ludicrous assumptions about women based on their dress size.
It is no different than saying something racist, ageist, sexist homophobic etc etc

Maybe "plump" mothers, or "fat, really, size 18+" should be sterilised, or have their children removed from them by SS at birth,as they are "clearly unable to deal with children on a aday to day basis," can't get up off the floor like an Olympic gymnast and clearly has poor willpower/self motivation, and will only like craft issues. I have read some bollocks on MN in my time, but Sunnyjim, your posts take the biscuit.

What we have to do is, cut our portion in half, so it only has half the calories! So that means, we can eat twice as much.

Now, lets talk about Cravings.

Choclit?

I disagree with everything you have written mamazon, but its gone midnight here, so Im off to bed.

you disagree that an adult in charge of a child should feed them properly?

that claiming someone is incapable of adequatly careing for a child simply because they are overweight is not a biggoted and disgusting thing to say andmakes you no better than the hate mongers who stand at rallieswith shaved heads and bovver boots.

Lets just hope that all the food your chidlren are allowed to help themsleves to doesn't make them "plump"

not offended as i now a few size 16+ nannies

but I am a size 10 - 12.... as are 3 of my BEST nanny friends. (have a few good nanny friends not size 10 - 12 tho)

we are NOT all plump at all!

Oh and as an aside.....supernanny is a 16-18 at least. would you say she is incapable of adequatly caring for your child?

some of these women are better qualified to look after your children than you are.

i find this attitude disgracefull i really do.

We have had two very overweight nannies, and one very petite nanny. I do think that for one nanny her weight did affect what she did with the children, because it made her very unfit, and they did complain that "x never lets us do anything". For example she would get the bus home from school (a walk of 5 mins max) and never let the children run ahead, and there was (in my view) definitely too much TV watching going on. I did wonder about how she fed the children, because although she prepared the meal that I specified if I didn't say "and this should be enough for four adults" I would come home and find that all of it had been given to the children, and there would be a great deal in the bin. For me that made me worried about them sitting in front of huge meals that they couldn't possibly eat, which I think is a bad thing. But of course that might just be my own hang up (my mother was a war baby and I was brought up to think that wasting food was pretty much a sin!). On the other hand she was (and is) lovely Just not great company for two very active children( our other overweight nanny was very active and did lots of fun things with the children, but wasn't so nice!). I think that the trouble with employing a nanny is that it is easy to make the assumption that he or she will do things in the way you expect because that's what you think is reasonable, but they may have a very different way of doing things. Our most successful nanny by far told us precisely what she expected to do - it was much easier because we then had very specific conversations.

I think that people are being a wee bit harsh here sunnyjim - I understand your concerns i just think people have taken offence to the wording of your post. It is very easy for written word to come across the wrong way.

If you have concerns about the womans fitness levels, i dont think these are necesserily related to weight. If she seems nice and gets on well with your DS, and he likes her, then i dont think you should be concerned. But do not hire her if you are going to have this issue with her as this could be very distressing for you and her if it is an ongoing issue.

I do have to say though that I massively disagree about a size 10 being unhealthy and unmaintainable weight - I am a size 8-10, and i'm 5@6 also. I certainly wouldnt say i am underweight, I am curvy and i do not diet, or exercise specifically (though with a 2yo and a full time job where i am on my feet moving all night i dont need to go to a gym!)

To say it is unhealthy to be a size 10 is just as 'fatist' a comment as the overweight ones.