Why do people bring nanny's?

[huey duey & luey]

If it is a family vacation, then shouldn't it be as enjoyable and relaxed for every member of the family. When we went to wdw last year we took my bil and his fiance. I am with my children for 12 hours a day 6 days a week without any help, why shouldn't I be able to enjoy my vacation as well. The 4 extra hands definitely made it alot easier. So many posts here make it sound more like matrys than mothers. You never know anyone's reasons for having help. My friend had triplets when her older son was 19 months old. She hired an Au pair. Her triplets were born very early and could not be exposed to any germs. Her dh worked long hours and travelled. Her son was still part of the family should he have been kept in the house for 6 months?
Why is it so bad to have help. Years ago so many generations lived together and/or in such close proximity, and mothers often had a lot of help from mpms, grandmoms and aunts
Tara

 

[awatt]

If I spent all of that time, energy, determination, dedication and money on becoming a dr, there is no way I would not practice medicine. Maybe, I wouldn't work full time but I can't se doing all of that work and not be a practicing dr. I don't think it is selfish at all.

huey duey and luey- Thank you for your comments. I am a doctor. I do some good work for people. And I am a devoted mom. If anything,doing both is the oposite of selfish, because it means I have little personal time for myself. And I wouldn't want it any other way.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Maybe they wanted to show their appreciation for a nanny who works hard for them all year.

I stand by my original statement that traveling with my bosses would NOT be a vacation, it would be a change of venue. I DO work hard all year and I most certainly do NOT want to be "rewarded" by having to watch the children all week at WDW and then get home and be told it was my "vacation". Yes, there would be PARTS of it that would be fun, but when all is said and done it would still be WORK.

I don't know any other job where you would be expected to follow your boss on "vacation", work the same number of hours you do ordinarily (or MORE), and then come home and be working again in a day or two. I can think of no better way to burn out than to spend ALL of my time with my charges. Everybody needs a break from each other now and then.

EsmereldaX-
I don't have a shirt that says "I am the Nanny" but I have seen them! I have also seen shirts for the kids that say "She's not my mommy. She's my nanny." I don't dress my charges in those, either. Of course some of my friends have charges who call them "Nanny", so then it is pretty obvious! My own charge calls me by my name, but she is very clear about who I am. She can name all of her friends at school and then name the nanny that goes with each one. Now her thing is to ask me why some kids DON'T have a nanny!

 

[tmq2766]

It is totally amazing to me how judgemental people are....... As long as they aren't disrupting your vacation why let it bother you sooooo much?????? This is a prime example of how people should mind there own business!

 

[PaulaSue]

I was a Nanny to 4 families for over 7 years total. 2 families took me along on vacations with them. They paid for everthing for me and my pay for the week. I only had to work a few hours a few days. They treated me well and both of those families, both the Dh and DW were doctors. They didn't trust just anyone at the babysitting services and I got a great week with only a little bit of work.

I don't see what the big deal is. The kids are happy and we all had a great time with lots of great memories. I went many places I would never have a chance to go without the families I worked for taking me along.

 

[ksdave]

[SNIP]

I don't know any other job where you would be expected to follow your boss on "vacation", work the same number of hours you do ordinarily (or MORE), and then come home and be working again in a day or two. I can think of no better way to burn out than to spend ALL of my time with my charges. Everybody needs a break from each other now and then.

[SNIP]

Obviously you have never heard of people who do volunteer work on their vacations.
This past summer I took a three week vacation from my job. I left from work on a Friday afternoon to join up with a competitive drum and bugle corps. I drove all night, cooked (4) meals a day for (120) people, and pushed marimbas, chimes, etc. all evening for their competitions, day after day. I averaged 3.5 - 4 hours sleep a day on an air matress in mostly un-air conditioned schools and only got to do laundry once. We arrived home on a Sunday evening at 6PM and I was back at work on Monday morning at 7AM.
And you know what? It was the best "vacation" I ever had. Watching "my kids" (ages 14-22) compete at the World Championships was the best "payment" I could ever have.
Not everybody spends their vacations sitting on a beach chair sipping pina coladas.

(PS: One bonus from this trip is that I lost 20 pounds!!)

 

[3xthecharm]

I'm not having kids unless we can afford a Nanny. And she'd go *everywhere* with us. In fact, no she wouldn't. She'd stay at home with the kids while DH and I romped our way through WDW!

Now, this is who should not have children.

 

[delilah]

If I spent all of that time, energy, determination, dedication and money on becoming a dr, there is no way I would not practice medicine. Maybe, I wouldn't work full time but I can't se doing all of that work and not be a practicing dr. I don't think it is selfish at all.

I did and I do. This is a perfect example of you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. Some of my patients who were my patients before I had my son resent it whenever I need to attend to a parenting emergency or spend a school vacation day at home. It was resented the day I had to bring my son with me to the nursing home to see a patient after office hours, because the day care closes at 6, and the family demanded that I see Grandpop right now. It was resented the day school was snowed out, but, I needed to visit nursing homes, so, I had to bring my son with me to all of them. Too snowy for schools, but not too snowy for Doc to bring her preschool aged son to all the nursing homes, because, unfortunately, bad weather is not an excuse not to provide medical care. Other parents resent it that I cannot go to every Cub scout meeting, and if I do, I might need to leave early, because I am on call. The list goes on and on. All I can do is do my best, which is all any human can do.

OK, it's Mom's brag time. If I am such a bad mom, why did my son bring home a first term report card with all grades 95% or better? Why did he already recognize letters by the time he was three? Why did he score consistently above the 90%ile on his MAP grade? This doesn't describe all the kids I know with SAHMs. Can't say it's genetic--he's adopted. Must have been learned--gasp, from his MOMMY!

 

[BonnieBell]

period

that's all I've got to say!!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

If you did those same activities every week all year long do you think you would have WANTED to take three weeks and go do it some more? That's not a vacation, it's a business trip. Anyone who has been on a business trip knows there is some down time, but a business trip is not a vacation. If I chose (for example) to go on a relief mission for AIDS patients in Africa I am sure I would be absolutely exhausted when I came home, but it would be completely different than if I spent the same amount of time traveling with my employers doing the same duties I do every day, year round, at home. I am sure you gained a lot of personal satisfaction from your tiring vacation.

For nannies who travel with their employers and are only on duty a few hours out of each day then that's terrific. That could be a very enjoyable experience. But employers who bring the nanny along because they need (or want) her help for 8-10 hours every day and overnight aren't doing the nanny any favors.

I know some really bad parents who do not have nannies. I know some really good parents who DO have nannies. Parenting skills (or lack thereof) can not be determined based exclusively on the presence or absence of a nanny or any other domestic employee.

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

I'm going to jump in here just to pass on what we saw on a visit to WDW a few years ago......to help those on one side of the issue get their BP back up!

We ran into a very delightful family at AKL who were travelling with 2 1/2 nannies!!! They had 4 children ages 3 to 8 and we didn't see all of the nannies with them at all times, but did see Mom and Dad with them always. We met them at AKL one day when our kids started hanging out with theirs at the pool, and kept running into them throughout our stay.

They were english speaking, but Dad was from Mexico originally. One nanny only spoke to the kids in Spanish as it was the parents wish to have the children speak spanish. The other nanny was French and only spoke to the kids in French. My thought at the time was what a great advantage for those kids to be learning to speak two other languages at their age. The half nanny was there to organize and help with the children where and when needed.

I didn't see any problem with this whatsoever and didn't think of this until reading this thread.

IMO - to put it simply. They brought the nannies because they could!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I'm still interested to know how you knew the people with them were nannies, and not an aunt, friend of the parent, etc? I can't figure out how you would be able to tell, unless the kid called them nanny or something?

(Staying out of the debate- I have strong opinions on how I want to raise my kids, but they have nothing to do with how you guys raise yours)

 

[Mickeyhugger]

WDW Poly Princess, I LOVE your cat! What's her/his its name?

 

[Forevryoung]

My parents are happily married- my father is a dentist and my mom went back to school when I was in 4th grade and got a (2nd) BA in nutrition.

My mom has always worked at my dads office but she made sure it was while me and my sister were in school. My dad worked 24/7 to provide for my family (he works 22/6 now). So much so that when my sister was 3 and my dad came home for lunch one day she said "Daddy, you came to visit!". My mom works hard as well to send me and my sister to college (almost done with me, just started with my sister).

What do I remember? vacations to awesome places, playing in our huge backyard, wrestling on the carpet in front of the fireplace, lots of pancakes and bbq (hes a grill master), baseball games, corney jokes and calling him at bedtime to give him hugs and kisses over the phone.

Did I miss out on not having him around Monday through Saturday (a few years ago he started working every other Saturday instead)? Sometimes, but the time spent together was always extra special

 

[WendyMichaelJohn]

A pp brings up a good point. How do you know they were nannies? I went to WDW with my family when my sister was barely 3. My brother was 6. I was 21. We all have the same parents, btw. I probably would have looked like their nanny too.

Also, before my mom and fam decided to join us on this trip, we thought about bringing a college aged aunt or two of the kids. Just so we'd have an additional family member around to help out (and enjoy herself too) and so dh and I could get one night out together.

So yeah, you may not have been seeing nannies at all.

Shel

 

[AnaheimGirl]

Can't say it's genetic--he's adopted.

Just because you adopted him, doesn't mean his intelligence can't be genetic. Our adopted daughter is also very bright, and I always think that her birthparents must be pretty bright, too.

Anyway, though, I completely agree with your post. That one comment rubbed me just a bit the wrong way, though, as it seems to imply that an adoptee can't have inherited intelligence from a birthparent. I'm sure that's not how you meant it, but I can't read over it without saying something.

Aggie

 

[Mickeyhugger]

I went to WDW with my family when my sister was barely 3. My brother was 6. I was 21. We all have the same parents, btw. I probably would have looked like their nanny too.
Shel

I laughed at 'we all have the same parents.' There's a 16 year age difference between the oldest (my sister) and youngest (my brother) and people thought she was the mother. Nope, 'she's the sister, yes same parents.'

 

[WendyMichaelJohn]

I laughed at 'we all have the same parents.' There's a 16 year age difference between the oldest (my sister) and youngest (my brother) and people thought she was the mother. Nope, 'she's the sister, yes same parents.'

LOL, the oldest in our family is 22 years older than the youngest. We all share the same parents. People used to ask me (and my mom) if she had remarried. Nope!

Shel

 

[katerkat]

I don't get how people know they're nannies. I'm going to Disneyland with my (*gasp*) six month old next week, and we will have 6 adults to care for the munchkin. An aunt, a grammy, a grandpa, a friend and her mom. Oh, yeah, and me.

Was I supposed to have kids, by the way? I'm a SAHM who keeps the house, um, in decent shape, barely cooks, and my husband is gone 1/2 of the year. Not just at work - I mean, GONE. He has missed more than half of his son's life. Were we supposed to wait until Dad was around to have kids?

 

[DanaHesson]

I can't believe how some of these posts making jokes about 'being the worst' parent. How sad for your children.

that they are just trying to lightenthe mood of this thread....