In many households, nannies are more than just hourly workers. Looking after the little ones on both the lego-playing-cartoon-watching-snack-eating days and the temper-tantrum-total-destruction-don’t-want-to-talk days, they become so enmeshed in the family’s day-to-day, it might be difficult for its members to imagine a life without them.
Being a part of the family typically also means living the same lifestyle as they do (even if only while working), no matter how lavish or meager it is; and today, we’re focusing on the former. If you’ve always wondered what the life of wealthy families is like, continue scrolling to find firsthand accounts of nannies of the ultra rich, as shared on Reddit, to catch a glimpse of said life, entailing the good, the bad, and the ugly.
#1
How tight they were with money. I would even go so far as to say selective rather than stingy.They were wealthy because they knew how to budget. I was always to look for free activities to do with the kids. I can tell you that the Peggy Norbert nature museum in Chicago has free entry for Illinois state residents on Thursdays, the pool closest to their house has free child swim for two hours every Friday, little beans cafe and play place has half price Monday's, the Chicago Cultural Center has a monthly music program called the 'Juice box', and to keep an eye out for discounted and free entry days for Chicago residents at the area museums. The zoo is always free and picnics and park days were encouraged. The mom was always on Groupon and the children were never lacking for something to do.
While they might not have been SUPER wealthy they were certainly up there. What surprised me most of all is how much they truly loved their kids. There were a few times I woke up to texts saying I had a paid day off because the weather was beautiful and they wanted to take their children to play at the lake. Or how they preferred to pick their kids up from school themselves so they could hear all about their day. I miss that family so much but I'm still in contact with them and get texts and calls from them so I can be a small part of the kids' lives.
Image credits: Alisha33
#2
I had an interview with a family who had a 1-year-old and was expecting their second child in the next month or so. The mom was a stay-at-home mom, but they knew their second daughter was going to have Down syndrome, and they told me they wanted to be prepared just in case she needed a lot of extra care. As it turned out, the little girl hit almost all of her developmental milestones slightly delayed. I took care of everything. I cleaned, made their bed in the morning, did the whole family's laundry, AND provided the vast majority of childcare for both children. The mom did next to nothing. The dad woke up with the girls in the morning and handed them over to me. Most days, the mom didn't even leave bed until after 9:00 a.m.The mom was pretty odd and believed heavily in various QAnon conspiracies. At one point, she got electrolysis hair removal on her privates and had me help her Saran Wrap her crotch with numbing gel before going in. I probably could have sued them for sexual harassment, but nudity and bodies don't really bother me. This experience also helped me win concert tickets from a radio station for the best answer to, 'What's the worst thing your boss ever asked you to do?' so there's that.
Image credits: anon
#3
The family I work for right now is very wealthy- the live on fifth ave right across from central park. Three things. The first is the clothes. The girls have numerous name brand clothing items- Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Vineyard Vines, Lilly Pulitzer, etc. The 6 year olds backpack was 85 bucks. I get wanting your kids to have nice things to wear, but they're growing fast, and that shits expensive. The 3 year old outgrew her wardrobe last year, it was al replaced with the same expensive stuff.Next would have to be scheduling. They want there children to be successful in life, I get it. But every day is something- piano, ballet, tennis, Chinese lessons and squash. They have no time to play.
The last part, which is a bit more sad if you ask me, is the lack of connect in the girls and their parents relationship. It could be as simple as scheduling- for instance, the mom doesn't know when ballet and tennis is, I do, or as intense as worries and fears. They confide in me and when I bring it up with the mom she's surprised to learn they're not just always happy because they have nice things. There's definitely something missing there and it shows. The 3 year old slips up and calls me "mama" constantly and it breaks my heart.
Image credits: cnk93
#4
I temporarily nannied for my former bosses after they sold the company I worked for. Both of them were born into money and had earned their own; they were multimillionaires. Other than a rather large house, they were chill and humble. They didn’t have new expensive cars, they weren’t about name brands (though there were some things that needed to be a certain kind for their daughter that was on the spectrum), and they paid veeeeeery well. They were around a lot, both taking turns to work from home while running the other businesses they owned. They’d take “play breaks” and spend time with the kids during the day (that also served as my break), we’d all make dinner together and eat together. Any time I needed to take the kids somewhere they made sure one of them loaned me their car because my car was actually newer and more expensive than theirs and they didn’t want the kids to ruin the interior. They were honestly some of the best people and bosses I’d ever known.#5
How uninvolved they were with their kids life. I nannied in the US and lived with a (very young) widow whose late husband was a billionaire and had left everything to her and their two boys.Honestly, if she saw her boys (7 and 4) 10 minute everyday, that would be a stretch.
She had 3 fulltime nannies to rotate every hour of the day, plus a cook, a driver and a housekeeper.
The driver drove the kids to school every morning and the nannies would be in charge of homework, meals, shower and bedtime when they got back. She went out every night.
I don't think she cared. I think she had kids because it's what you do and she had the means not to be encumbered by raising them. She spent all her days shopping: they were always a s**t ton of bags from very expensive brands lying around.
She didn't spend a lot of time with them and boy did that show in those kids. They were starved for affection and attention. They were super spoiled and didn't understand the cost of life: I once told them how much I was getting paid and the older one told me that wasn't a lot, he had gotten that amount for his birthday. They did not understand frustration and everything had to be given to them when they asked.
It was actually kind of sad. I wonder how they are doing now, they should be preteens.
Image credits: anon
#6
A good friend of mine is a nanny for a very wealthy couple. They own and live in an entire brownstone type building. I think they're both lawyers. He is the source of the wealth, which is largely inherited. He has a job, but it's the kind of job where he never has to show up or do much work at all and it pays him hundreds of thousands a year.Every day, the wife goes to her job. The husband goes to his floor of the house that nobody is allowed to bother him on. He spends the day smoking pot and lazing about like he's Jeff Lebowski.
That's it. That's all he does. But he doesn't want his kids bothering him, so he locks himself away to pretend he's still in college or something and pays my friend to raise his kid for him.
They're nice enough people. My friend likes her job. But I'll never be able to have much respect for a dude who has all the time and money in the world and he uses it to sequester himself away from his own kids, get high, and watch movies all day.
Image credits: MidasVirago
#7
I briefly worked with a wealthy family a few months ago before I had to leave the job because it was just unbearable. They were pretty nice to me, but terrible to their kid. The kid was 6, for context. These things were more sad than crazy. The saddest thing I saw was how much money they spent on themselves and paying me, and how little they spent on their kid. I was being paid pretty well (enough to almost match what I was making at my primary job while working half as many hours), the parents would be buying new iPhones, new clothes, wine, etc. Their kid however, had clothes that didn't fit, broken toys that were "too expensive to replace", wasn't enrolled in any after school activities either because it "cost money". Some other things I noticed was how uninvolved and bad at parenting they were. The kid was 6 still wearing diapers because he hadn't been fully potty trained. When I asked about it, they said "oh we just never fully got around to it, he's scared to go to the bathroom because one time we spanked him because he peed on the floor". He was completely undisciplined and whenever I told him no, he would try and hit me, scream at the top of his lungs, try and bite himself. One time I was with the mom and him in the store, and he tried to take a bunch of candy from a shelf and eat it, and I said he has to wait for his mom to pay for it first, and he LOST it. Tried knocking over shelves, ran around screaming, tried hitting OTHER people, and swearing up a storm. His mom LEFT the store, and said oh that's too much for me to handle, that's why you're here. In the end I just quit because I couldn't stand them as parents or people. They were so arrogant, always neglecting their children. The day I left, they wouldn't even let me say goodbye to their son, who was crying watching me from a window as I walked to my car. I guess they trained him not to say hi to me and give me nasty looks when I see them in town, because they'll go out of their way to avoid me if we make eye contact in town.
Image credits: Rickayy_OG
#8
Not a nanny but I was still involved in the day to day. Long story short, the daughter (younger than her more mentally stable and normalized brother) was having issues that are at least typical of a teenage daughter. So what do they do? Buy a house (a decent sized rancher in the city's nicest old money neighborhood) nearby and stuff the daughter in it with a full time caretaker who was given a SUV and a salary. Really nice girl based on my interactions with her, just probably felt the way many children of the super wealthy do. I have lots more stories and details but prefer not to reveal too much as I still respect their privacy.
Image credits: anon
#9
I nanny for 2 different families regularly and I have tons of other family's I babysit randomly (date nights etc). Twice a week I babysit a little boy and girl who are so sweet and who I rarely have problems with (their parents are both servers at a restaurant.) The other family I also babysit twice a week and they have a boy and girl who I often have behavior problems with. Their dad is manager of a car dealership and the mom is stay at home (they have money). I love all four of them but I think it's interesting that the kids who don't have as much are far better than the kids who are rich. And that's been the case many times. A lot of the rich kids have been spoiled brats who never hear the word no. A lot of them aren't as excited to see me because I'm not always the "cool" babysitter who lets them get away with everything. Don't get me wrong, I know how to have fun with kids but I don't put up with brats.With that being said I don't see as much discipline with wealthier families.
Image credits: nevergettingoutofbed
#10
I nanny for a girl in Japan, and her parents primarily work for their own real estate company. One of the craziest stories was when the girl wanted to make a flower garden. They already have a huge beautiful garden at their mansion, but the gardener didn’t want her to mess it up.The girl saw a plot of land next door and asked me to make a garden there. When I told her that we couldn't because that’s not her house, she said she would ask her mum. The mum called the owner of the land and offered to buy it. They told her that they weren’t selling the land – so the mother bought the whole apartment building, along with the land, just so her daughter could make a garden next to their house.
Image credits: anon
#11
My friend's son is an exceptionally well paid banker in NYC. His grandchild (just one) has 4 nannies. At 2 this child couldn't walk because it gets carried everywhere, can only speak Spanish because that is the only language it hears. The walking thing is a problem because if the kid can't stand up properly how on earth is it going to learn to ski?
Image credits: ChopsNZ
#12
I lived in a fairly wealthy suburb and nannied for several families with young kids. Feeding them was a huge pain, and always consisted of checking food labels to make sure everything was organic and natural and blah blah blah. One day the kid's mom came home from the store thrilled because she found graham crackers with no hydrogenated oils in them. Her daughter was 1, and I'd just seen her eat a massive amount of play dough so it was hard to get excited about those graham crackers.I also taught special ed in a very wealthy school district. During a meeting with one set of parents, the mom asked me if I could teach her 10 year old son how to wipe his a*s because she didn't want to do it. This kid had no physical disabilities that would prevent him from doing this himself, he just didn't like it and the mom thought asking us to teach him was a perfectly reasonable request.
#13
The family was great overall, but the kids didn't have a huge grip on how wealthy they really were. They didn't consider their family rich or their house large (that was what really got me--they lived in a three-story mansion and the bottom floor was literally empty. Like completely empty. Eventually after a couple years they put a couch and a TV down there, but that was it.). They were surprised when they learned I, a recent college grad when I started working for them, didn't have certain gadgets, or couldn't just buy a new car, or hadn't done much travel abroad. They weren't little jerks or anything, but there was a slight degree of entitlement and their baseline was so high and they didn't see it.
Image credits: ChuushaHime
#14
I once nannied for a family who had a small room with board games/table top games lining the walls (as an indication of wealth) I was called in on weekends to spend time with the 6 year old and play games with him - basically do anything he asked of me. A majority of the time the mom and grandma were home and in their own room. Once the mom and dad were home and napping. I was basically being paid good money to play with the kid. Of course, the kid was incredibly bossy and fussy when he didn't get his own way.I also received a text after my first few sessions saying that I could bring my own lunch and use their fridge; don't worry, no one has any allergies.
Image credits: nerdcamper
#15
The woman played WOW all day and ate spaghetti-o's, the husband was always away, and she was never with her baby. Also, she had a surrogate with twins on the way! I never understood their family or why she wanted more kids.
Image credits: hussy_trash
#16
My younger sister nannies for an wealthy couple, and she's mentioned a few things that really threw her off at first.The biggest thing was how uninvolved they are with their daughter's life. She was born early in October, and by the end of the month, my sister was already spending 80+ hours a week with her. The husband has only been home one day since she started working for them and the wife is gone from 6am-9pm every day.
Then, it was how casual they are with money. They've offered to pay for work on her car countless times, and the wife gave my sister all of her Christmas decorations from last year. Most of them still had their tags on them. She spent $20/ornament and didn't even use them.
Image credits: IslandoftheMoths
#17
How incompetent they are. I worked as a nanny for a few months for a wealthy family with two kids to make extra money while in college. I had to get up every morning to get the kids ready for school and then walk them to school because the mom couldn't do it herself.Also the mom wouldn't go anywhere without a nanny present for the kids. Play date at the playground with another family? I would go and watch her kids while she would just sit there and chat with the other parent. It was so weird.
Unsurprisingly I was one of 5 nannies they had coming around every week. They spent close to $1000 a week on nannies but didn't want to commit to getting a live in.
Image credits: anon
#18
A few things...1. The drama that is just like TV. The dad in the family I nannied for had a secret daughter and other family for 5 years.
2. How money was just thrown around. A $500 rocking chair is the wrong shade of orange? Just throw it in the garbage and go buy a new one. Daughters are fighting with each other over their Barbie dream houses? Calm them down by taking them to the American Girl store for new dolls and then get them a blowout afterwards.
3. And yet, despite this, they forgot to pay their bills for three months and got the gas turned off in their house.
Image credits: pinkpanda24
#19
I used to be an au pair for a super rich family in China. The funny thing was that they already had a nanny. She was extremely poor and had to give a bratty kid everything she couldn't afford for her own kids. The kid even kicked her and she simply tolerated it.The weirdest thing was that whenever we went somewhere as a family, she was the one taking care of the child while the mother was talking to others. She even slept in his room while his mom had her own bedroom.
Personally, I just couldn't deal with how spoiled and entitled the child was. They literally told me it didn't matter if he respected me, he just had to like me.
Image credits: Njoerun
#20
I do tutoring for a wealthy family, and despite the fact that they seem to have come from fairly average backgrounds, they really have no concept of how normal people think of money. I was talking about visiting the library after a session, and they were confused by the fact that I didn't just buy all the books I wanted to read. They also pay me every six months or so, and seem confused that I want money so often - they're good for it, after all. They fly their kids home from their highschool sports tours (they play in tournaments all over the continent) to take a driving test and think nothing of it.They're good people, but weird.
Image credits: Alsadius
#21
I worked for an extremely wealthy family and when I was going to eat lunch with the kids, I was told "the help" eats in the kitchen. I quit soon after that.
Image credits: sydthesquid18
#22
My friend nannied for this family in Western NY and once she was invited to go their parents (so kids grandparents) house in the Hamptons for a week. There were other staff in the household, and grandpa called people by their role, not their name. "Nanny, come here." "Chef, more salt." The only food she was allowed to eat was the children's' leftovers, otherwise she had to go out to restaurants/stores to buy her own meals, which she didn't always get time to go do. She came home after the week and told the family never again. They were horrified that she wouldn't want to go back!
Image credits: anon
#23
Apparently Russians are happy to piss their money all over the place. A friend of mine got a job as a ski nanny for a Russian billionaire's ski holiday. Several were hired meaning there wasn't much work to do. My friend's only job? To put the kids' ski boots on in the morning and take them off in the evening. The pay? £1000 sterling a day. 7 days' work.I don't know where these jobs are advertised, but I want to get involved. My friend just skied the rest of the day and was allowed to party of a night as long as he was on time each morning.
#24
I work for a middling-wealthy family, have been for two years. My girls don't think they're well-off because they don't have a tennis court or a rock wall, but they know kids who do. They just have no idea how much money they have. The younger one doesn't realize why it's inapproproate to joke about how much money she has stashed away for "chores." She doesn't realize that it's more than I earn in weeks, and that she didn't actually earn it.
Image credits: 847362na
#25
The father would give me unbelievable amounts of money for basic things and refuse to take change back. Need to renew the kids' library cards? Take a $100 bill. I felt so bad for the librarian who had to get bills to break that. There was $85 leftover that he wouldn't take back.#26
Not a nanny but I used to work at a golf club in a very rich community and people would just drop their kids off at the club and we would end up essentially babysitting them in the restaurant. We had one kid who was probably 11 and he was so stingy. He would complain about any upcharge, how our meals didn't give enough for their price, and how what we sold was way cheaper at the store. (which obviously he was way too young to understand overhead costs)One time after about 10 minutes of his ranting over how he had to pay more for milk than you would in a store I just pointed out to him "I get that its annoying, but we couldn't even buy one meal with an hours worth of pay before taxes"
The LOOK on this kids face was just shock. You could tell he had not true concept of money and earning it and that some people got vastly more than others. He never complained to me about cost again and would often tell them adult golfers how unfair it was that we weren't paid enough. (in his opinion)
Makes me wonder how affluent people teach their children about money beyond to complain about having to use it.
#27
I work in a rich town working with kids. I'm frequently asked to babysit. Some parents are awesome people who love their kids a ton, but they work a lot. Some parents are total f*****g a******s who probably only even had kids to impress the neighbors. The craziest part was this ultra wealthy couple, whose bedroom is about as big as my house, stiffed me my last pay check.
Image credits: loritree
#28
My sister worked as nanny for a famous hollywood actress (married to a very famous british pop singer... can you guess the couple?) and she was always shocked by how cheap they were! For example, they took her to Hollywood while she was shooting a movie (they live in London). My sister was asked to babysit for 12-13 hours at a time (he contract was 40 hour/week, 8hour/day) while she was at the studio. The end of the month came and she didn't get paid for ANY overtime (which would amount to over 50 hours). When she asked what happened to that, she was put on a plane back to London and fired on the spot.It had its perks too. I was insanely jealous when she told me that one day, she was in the car with the husband (pop star) and the 2 children. He started singing to the children his latest hit (featuring a female equally famous) and my sister suddenly realized: "Wait a sec... how many people IN THE WORLD have ever had a private concert like this? handful? less than that?".
Anybody cares to guess the couple?
Image credits: Letusso
#29
Well just until last week I was working as a nanny for some wealthy single mom of 2. She had hired me and then eventually my SO to be a nanny and maintenance man respectively, so he was staying over in her place a lot (I was a live-in nanny).The problem is, my boss is 46 but is still controlled heavily by her parents (she runs her dad's company). She knew that her parents wouldnt like the idea of my boyfriend staying over HER house (even though she bought that house by herself and he was staying over under her acknowledgement) so we kept this information away from her parents.
Last week I went on a holiday with my SO and we came back to the house early in the morning and proceeded to rest. At about lunchtime I heard banging on my bedroom door. Turns out, one of my boss' sons had accidentally told his grandma that my SO stays around their house a lot and that my boss was paying him to be the maintenance man and that pissed the grandma off. She asked me to pack and leave the house right there and then and that I couldn't even shower or get dressed. She also said that she'd get a grown woman (I'm 21) to take care of my boss' sons. Next thing I know, she's called backup from her husband and BIL. Husband and BIL starts calling me s**t, whore, harlot, c**t, asking me who the f**k I am to have turned their house into a "brothel" and constantly swears while I was packing my stuff away. At one point my SO was even shoved until his head hit the wall. I was toying with them the whole time making jokes and s**t. I didnt wanna take any s**t from them because I knew I didnt do anything wrong. I just packed my stuff, went in an Uber and texted my boss some very angry chain of messages (she was at work when this whole incident happened). Turns out, she didnt even know her mom was coming into her house and kicking me out, her mom came specifically at that time because she's a cunning b***h who knew my boss wouldnt be able to pick up her phone because she was at a meeting.
That night I received a lengthy email from my boss profusely apologizing and saying how embarrassed she was of her family. And that she liked having me around not only because I was only good with her boys but because she considered me as a friend because she gets lonely being a single mom for the past 12 years but her mom doesnt believe in "being friends" with your employees which is a buttload of rich people snobby b******t (considering her mom came from a poor part of the city, she got lucky she fell pregnant with her rich husband)
I could go on about this story because there is a crazier continuity to it but I guess the craziest part is that rich people think they can trample on you just because you work for them. And honestly it is just disgusting how they think they can get away with anything by threatening and harassing you because they think you would be scared of them. Absolutely repulsive.
TL;DR: worked as a nanny, got kicked out for having SO around, branded a s**t, rich people think they can play God.
#30
I used to nanny for a family where the dad was a well-known screenwriter and the mom was a lawyer for a high-power law firm in the city. They had one daughter, who was 10 when I first started nannying for them. The strangest thing was that they expected me to serve as almost a parental "role model" for their daughter. As they were gone for work all day, they didn't have much time to discipline her or instill good morals in her-- so all of that fell to me. I just found that extremely strange, probably because my childhood was full of my parents teaching me how to behave, etc.Also, they had no regard for throwing around money like it was no big deal. When I moved to a new apartment and mentioned that I needed to go buy a new bed, they just bought me a new bed frame and mattress from IKEA, no questions asked. Same thing when my car got dented. I was just in awe of how someone could spend so much money without having to worry about paying the bills or getting food on the table.
#31
I interacted with Dan Snyder briefly. his servants cannot make eye contact with him, even while speaking. holy. s**t. can you imagine?
Image credits: anon
#32
Putting little baby Nikes or expensive name-brand clothes on a two-year-old, who will grow out of them in a few months. I nannied for a little girl who had a bigger and more expensive wardrobe than I did, tons and tons of shoes, and everything she owned were high-end fashion brands. I mean, the girl had Uggs in every color. She had a Coach lunch bag for when she went to preschool. That level of expensive for kids who play outside, go to school with other messy kids, and grow practically over night is pretty insane to me.#33
Most truly wealthy people prefer f/t live in nannies so you really don't have set days off even when you are supposed to. You're usually on salary and exclusive so you can't sit for anyone else even when you are off. The security checks for some jobs can be extreme and they can get really ticked if socialize with anyone you meet on the job. I met a guy while sitting who lived in the same building as my clients and they were more than a little put out that he wanted to date me. There's neighbors and then there's the "help" and I was the latter and in in their eyes I had no business talking to him let alone dating him.They treated me pretty well otherwise but I wasn't too happy to be told that it was inappropriate for me to date a guy they didn't even know in the same building just because in their eyes he was ranked higher on the social scale than I was. It was so classist of them. I hated live in jobs and rarely took them. You had no privacy doing those jobs. One job they rifled my suitcase. I don't like having to be essentially available 24/7 just because I live in. It's just a little too much like indentured servitude for me.
The perks and the money could be nice but being a nanny to the rich and famous it can be a little degrading at times too. The good people they treat you like family. The not good people they treat you like furniture or like a servant and it's not so nice. You really have to be very discreet, a hard worker and have to able to let a lot roll off to be able to do that job well. Your dignity gets hit a lot. If the job is good, it's usually very good, but jobs like that can really be the pits too. Some rich people they are total snobs and think they're practically gods. There are a lot of nice rich people but too often wealth breeds a warped sense of entitlement.
#34
When I nannied for a wealthy family. Mother was a head pharmacist and the father was the NW superintendent for Intel. They made A LOT of money. Basically i would show up at 7am every day and leave when the parents got hone at 10-11pm. I would wake the girls, feed them all their meals, take them to dance lessons, pick them up, bathe them, everything. The parents would even pay for my entertainment while the girls were at dance lessons. They would give me extra money to see a movie or get a manicure and s**t while waiting for the girls. I basically raised those kids for them.
#35
Oh boy...I had a family where I worked as a live-in on call 24/6 nanny but the parents didn't want to ever see me if I wasn't needed. If they came home unexpectedly while I was in the middle of eating lunch they would ask me to get out of the kitchen and finish eating in my room. Whenever they came back from holiday they would ask me to stay up until they got home at 1am so that I could open the suitcase and plug in the baby monitor for them - they thought that was a reasonable request. Once the mum sent me to the other side of the city to go and buy a new set of pyjamas for the baby - she wouldn't specify which set she wanted and told me to choose, so of course after a 3 hour round trip I come home and she says "I was sure you would choose the green set! Can you go back and return it." She had a complex that her baby was too fat so she made me weigh and count every single thing her baby ate and I had to sneak fats into the baby's diet because the mum wanted her one-year old to be on a carb and fat-free diet! She also restricted me to a 1.5 mile radius from the house - I wasn't to take the baby to anything outside that perimeter. That job nearly broke me.
#36
I've babysat and nannied for wealthy families, and it is always the disinterest in their children as people and their child's daily lives that get me. So many of these children have behavior issues because their parents don't do any parenting and also because they keep pawning them off on other caregivers. These kids just want to spend time with their parents. I've worked with parents who don't know their child's bedtime routine, because they've never done it. They don't know their child's favorite color, and are surprised when I mention it--they didn't even know he had one, even though everytime he's given a chance to pick an item in a certain color, it's always the same one. They don't spend enough time with their kid to know their child is outgrowing their clothes or needs new shoes, or what diaper size they wear. The saddest ones I've seen are parents who were raised by staff themselves, who then perpetuate a lot of the "hands-off"-ness they grew up with.#37
My sister nannied for a wealthy family for a time. The husband didn't do anything on the domestic side of things. In fact, he wouldn't even let his wife iron his clothes. He would gather up all his clothes every few weeks and take them to his mother's where she would iron them all for him.#38
I worked as a nanny for a wealthy couple with two kids. They had five nannies, plus an au pair. They scheduled us so that 2 people were working any time the kids were awake and 1 person was working overnight (just in case a kid woke up). The parents were nice, but only wanted to be involved with the “fun” stuff. They would go with us to the zoo, aquarium, museums, etc, but never put the kids to bed or changed a diaper.#39
I have a close friend who was a nanny for a couple years. She routinely called me to vent about the parents. She was paid well and had many perks but she was a live in so she was always there and was frequently asked to help on her days off.A couple situations that stand out in my memory.
I flew out to visit her for her birthday weekend for birthday shenanigans. She had previously asked her employers if she could have that Friday off seeing as she had company coming in. They gave her this huge guilt trip then refused. The dad ended up having the day off and spent it alone up in his study then proceeded to go to the gym and meet friends while I helped my friend watch the kids.
Once the parents wanted to take a family vacation (my friend included) to Florida. Only the parents decided to go to one place and flew my friend and the kids to the grandparents just a couple hrs from where they were staying. There reasoning was they didn't want to feel guilty for not doing things with the kids.....
When my friend quit she gave them 2 months notice. The mom flipped out, slamming doors, crying, cold shoulder. Gave her a whole speech about 2 months was not enough time to find someone new and that she was essentially leaving them high and dry. Later the mom came to her all sad faced and apologetic and asked her if she would consider staying longer if they hadn't found a replacement in time. My friend refused and she got the cold shoulder again.
Her replacement showed up a week before she was leaving and was a super sweet girl who she kept in contact with after the fact. Apparently a couple months later the replacement was fired because she had a Spanish accent and the mom didn't want her youngest (4) to develop one as well.....
My friend says watching 'The Nanny' with Scarlett johansson is so spot on it hurts. It's such a shame because those kids were so incredibly sweet and their parents are going to ruin them.
Image credits: ittybittytittykitty
#40
Nanny here, I worked for a super rich family and they were so odd. They would just be home doing housework or sleeping and paid me to organize their closets and buy things from the container store. Their kids were wild, and both parents had no idea what either of them liked. I quit when it was the middle of Covid (not a vaccine in site,) and she flew all of her friend’s over from all over the world & I walked in at 9 am to see them all passed out in the living room, the dad drinking, and the kids fighting eachother….#41
I was not nanny, but rather a sort of a personal 'fun activity' guide for three extremely rich children. As in these kids were four places removed from literal royalty. The thing that amazed me was how disconnected they and their parents are from the real world's standard of living.As an example - they held a party to celebrate when one of the kids 'graduated' from P5 which would be the American equivalent of 5th or 6th grade. This was not anything like a birthday party or a trip to Chucky Cheeses. It was held on one of their estates and involved three different caterers. One was for the hors d'oeuvres, one for the main course and one for the desserts. This is not counting the two bartenders - one for adults and another for the underage crowd. By my estimate, they spent over $20,000 on this affair. It was mind boggling.
They invited my father who lives with me as a matter of etiquette, though I was not sure if they expected him to actually attend. I used half my paycheck to buy him something that would not look like he was there as the gardener's tool carrier. He protested that he would not know anyone there but I told him it did not matter. I would introduce him to the parents, their children and the immediate staff and that is all he would need to worry about. He grudgingly accepted.
So we are there and I am working with one of the DJs on setting up the equipment. My dad was enjoying the immense swimming pool and the amazing food. Once he got there, he lost all sense of self consciousness and somehow fit right in. Maybe it was the fact that he changed into a bathing suit and that is sort of an equalizer for everyone.
Anyway, we got the sound system setup and then I was asked to help with the bounce house. This was one that could have been straight out of a Class A Theme Park. It was a huge castle that had a dragon lying on the ground with his tail curled all the way around it. That took well over an hour to get staked down, inflated, and tested out.
So then they tell me I am OK to take a 30 minute break for some food. By this time the place is packed. Easily a hundred adult and child guests. I go over to the buffet and fill my plate. Here is where I finally realized how far apart our worlds were.
There we no paper plates one might expect to find. They were literally using these Royal Albert china dishes at a kid's party. I had my food and was about to sit down when this kid throws a huge beach ball my way, yelling "Think fast!" Well I did not, and I ended up dropping the plate on the ground. It shattered into thousands of pieces. I felt horrible. No one even blinked once. Someone came by, swept it all up and the day carried on as if nothing happened. That plate cost £60.00. I turned around and someone else had already grabbed another one and filled it up with the same food I had chosen before.
That night I asked my dad what he thought of that whole scene. He muttered something about a huge waste of money. But then he beat the living s**t out of me with a set of jumper cables because he said I embarrassed him in front of his "new friends". That was 2 years ago, and he still blames me that they never call him back. Somehow I think he does not get it yet.
#42
The mom and dad both didn’t work because the mom was an heiress. So everyday the house would be 4 adults and one baby. Mom, dad, full time maid, and me. The dad would go on bike rides and swim in the pool by himself and would let me know when he was done to take their son.#43
I work at a private school and get a lot of nannying/babysitting jobs through my job. Most families that I work for try to teach their children to appreciate what they have, but the most striking thing I've witnessed in some families is such a short-lived excitement that the kids get from receiving gifts/gadgets/outings/pocket money, and it is because they get these things EVERYDAY! To them it's normal and expected. It's hard to reward these kids for good behaviour when the rewards aren't rewarding!#44
My sister nannied for a couple who got rich owning race horses, but both of their dream was to be jockeys. They lived in a crazy nice trailer near the racetrack. They never ate, to keep their weight down for work, my sister was there before he got up, so she fed him breakfast and lunch, and was expected to feed him dinner before they got home, so they didn’t have to handle any food and get tempted. They were always at the track tending to their horses, training or racing. They paid $25 an hour, $35 for overtime, and this was back in 2010, all under the table. My sister hated it, but made so much freaking money that summer.#45
My mom used to nanny for a decently wealthy family so I would normally tag along for the rest of the day after school ended. The mom was a doctor and I don't remember what the dad did. They had a 4 year old son and a 7 year old daughter. The parents, mostly the mom, definitely made some questionable and horrible decisions.I think one of the more insane moments was when over the span of a week the girl started getting pretty sick and the mom knew she was sick. She had a fever that just got worse and worse and would throw up occasionally. One of the days I was playing barbies with her and she started to look worse, flopped on the bed and started talking about and to things that weren't actually in the room. She was running a horrible fever and when my mom called the woman to explain her daughter needed to be taken to the hospital she demanded that we shouldn't because she was letting the sickness "run its course". I remember the next day she called us laughing about how the little girl had continued to occasionally hallucinate and vomited everywhere the rest of the night.
My mom quit shortly after that and when the payments started coming in weeks late.
She also kept the girl on some horrendously strict chicken and vegetable diet with an occasional fruit drink and the kid would cry hysterically when someone gave her sweets because she knew she couldn't have it. The mothers explanation was she didn't ever want to put up with her daughter complaining about being fat. The 4 year old was still breast feeding and had not started being taught how to use the toilet. I still sometimes wonder how those kids are doing now.
#46
The little beast kept throwing her toys on the floor and telling me to pick them up. She would say "oops" every time she "accidentally dropped the same doll"I quit that same day while her mum begged me not to quit.
#47
Not really part of the job, but that customers (yacht cleaning) didn't care how poor the cleaner was. I pull out my flip phone to answer a call and they just kinda turn away like it's gross. One guy dropped his iPhone in the ocean by mistake, said "oops" and grabbed another from a kitchen drawer.#48
I had a friend who did this and one thing that was weird is that the family had a car that was just for the nanny to use. They made her live there at their house as well.#49
I babysit for several families. Last year was nuts. One family had a 3-year-old. They lived in a brownstone in Boston. They would send me home in uber (even if it was early, like 9pm) and in the big cars, they paid $20 and hour and gave insane bonuses, were always having work done on their house, had a live-in nanny and sent the boy to private school. I nannied for them for 8 days on Nantucket. They bought me almost $200 worth of groceries, had their own house on Nantucket and paid me a flat rate of $250 a day. I paid for a trip to Australia with that money. They had a daughter in June and both she and her brother were IVF babies. They've always left money for me for lunch or dinner and will keep whatever I want in the fridge. The mom gave my name to a ton of her mom friends and it's kept me in business.Another client (referred from the above family) is a single mom (adopted her daughter as a baby), yet can still afford a brownstone in Boston. She has a live-in nanny, sends her daughter to private school, goes on a vacation and out to dinner all the time and gets everything from Whole Foods. Daughter never gets hand-me-downs. I make $20 and hour and she will always send me home in an uber. Last summer when a different nanny never showed up, I made $25 an hour and could go out to lunch every day and add the money to my check. I got to take the daughter out to a fancy pool with their membership, the aquarium and a rooftop pool. I paid off one of my student loans with the money. Mom also belongs to a very expensive gym.
Different client referred from the first family. Dad worked and mom didn't, but the dad did well and both sets of their parents were wealthy. I made $20 an hour. When I watched their baby so they could go a concert, I worked 4-11 but got paid the rate from 2-11 (the original hours), the parents ordered me dinner, said I could order a movie and paid for an uber. I made $200 once and got to raid the fridge (and was always allowed to) when I watched the baby overnight. Also got a $100 bonus for my birthday this year. Parents moved to a six-bedroom house in Wellesley, a very wealthy place in Massachusetts.
Final client is also thanks to the first family. Make $15 an hour, but have gotten tips and a $50 bonus for the holidays this year and last year. Mom always makes me dinner or orders something. They live in the new Millennium Tower in Boston. I have no idea how they afford it since the mom doesn't work. They paid 13K for blinds. Paid to have an office installed. They don't act like they have money and buy cheap clothes for their daughter and want her to go to public school as opposed to private.
#50
I used to babysit at a country club over the summer. The kids had money clips. I had to take a couple 5-7 year olds fishing and they were all experts while I was trying to figure out how a fishing line worked.from Bored Panda https://ift.tt/VwAj7Ci
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