There is a site online that posts comments from normal people about nannies that they see. The post starts with the location, they describe the nanny and the child. Some of the comments are good but most are not good at all. Regular people see things that you are too busy to see. They e-mail the web administrator and she posts the findings.
The site is called I Saw Your Nanny Check out a couple of posts!
“Straus Park, Broadway and 106 Street, NYC”
Weds (10/11) 4 Caribbean, Hispanic nannies sitting on benches, deep in boisterous conversation with 4 strollers (2 double) arrayed in a circle in front of them. They totally ignored the children who were all straining to get out of the strollers, whining and complaining. I walked my dogs through the park again 20 min. later, and the scene was the same, but the whining was now crying. Do you have any idea what your nannies are doing when they take your kids out?“Brookline, Massachussettes”
Your nanny gossips about you ALL the time. It would be one thing if it was to other nannies, but it is to other parents. Every pick-up drop-off, playdate, swim practice, etc – we hear about your family. We know how much you drink on vacation, we know about your first marraige, and we know about your recent surgery (and feel bad and want to help you – but technically we are not supposed to know). She is not neglecting your children that we can see, but she is ruining your reputation (sometimes in front of the kids). You need to either find a new nanny before you move to the new school so that your reputation is not scarred there – or have a SERIOUS talking to her about family confidentiality. She is making the two of you sound incompetent to your peers, but I suspect she has more of a god-complex. I don’t want to embarrass you by putting the names and ages of your children on here – but if you see this I think you’ll know. I wish I had the guts to tell you this to your face. Get well soon!
I picked through quite a few postings on this site and was saddened by the quality of caregivers out there. I know this is only a small percentage but…Nannies get paid as much for looking after one child as an ECE student gets paid for a whole class. They are supposed to be the very best one-on-one care you can provide without being there. Visit the site for more comments – especially if you have a nanny!!
I think most of us have had similar “bad nanny sightings”. What makes matters worse is that people don’t know who the parents are so they are unable to report the behavior. They are left to posting and praying as I like to call it. Now there is a better way. Last week on Donny Deutsch’s The Big Idea, they talked about a new service called http://www.HowsMyNanny.com. They have a small license plate to attach to your stroller with a number on it so people can get a message to the parents via a registered email address. Hopefully this will put an end to all of these bad nanny sightings and bring attention to the warm, caring nannies out there who go above and beyond the call of duty.