Girl makes six babysitters Quit mom sets up the camera. She raised her hand to wipe out the tears that were slowly running down her cheeks when they told her that they would not be showing up. This was the 6th person who decided to cancel on her what was going on. She was determined to get some answers, but she could never have imagined what the actual problem was.
Bridget Elks was a mother trying to juggle her job with being a mother. It’s never easy, but she had to make it work to make ends meet. Her marriage had ended unexpectedly and she had to get a full-time job to just stay afloat. Her three children were all that mattered to her, but she needed some help.
Now, back to the story. After a long interview process
one woman seemed perfect for the job. She would babysit one year old Kirk and six year old Marie. Lisa was hired, and Bridget could finally put her mind at ease, but things wouldn’t go according to plan. Bridget counted her blessings finding Lisa.
When she did. After only a few weeks, she almost felt like part of her family. She felt like she could finally focus on her work during the day, no more taking her kids to preschool and other activities. But then something unexpected happened. After only three weeks, Lisa left a message for Bridget.
The laughter speechless
Lisa informed her that she was resigning and asked to have her last paycheck ready. When Bridget got home, Lisa left without so much as a goodbye. What had changed? She was so happy to be her nanny up till now. Only after a bit of convincing did Lisa explain that her daughter Marie, was the reason she’d quit.
But what could her child have done? She couldn’t believe it. She had to defend her child. She told Lisa that she was being unprofessional and had to start the hiring process from scratch again. But after six months, she would be on the verge of tears.
After six nannies
all abruptly quit, Bridget couldn’t understand what was going on. She knew kids could be a handful sometimes, but surely that’s what they signed up for. Surely her children weren’t any worse than anyone else’s. Why did every nanny come to the same conclusion? Meg was the 7th nanny, and Bridgett knew this time would be different.
This time. Nanny Cams would show Bridget why they always left. Every nanny said that Marie was the issue at hand. So after setting up cameras everywhere, she wanted to see if her Darling could really be capable of anything. The new nanny seemed to be enjoying the job just fine.
But just like every nanny before her two weeks into the job, she resigned. At least she could now check back and see exactly why Meg resigned. Like all the others, but what she found terrified her. Bridget’s eyes grew wider. The more she watched.
She couldn’t believe what she was seeing
Marie never acted this way around her, so she had no reason to believe all the babysitter’s vague allegations. In the first week, Marie was a little angel, but toward the end, Bridget didn’t even recognize her own daughter. Bridget watched. Meg politely asked Marie to hand her baby’s diaper bag because her hands were full.
You can’t tell me what to do with a little girl screeched. I’m the boss of you. Every time Mag asked Marie to do something like wash your hands before lunch or get ready for school, Marie would refuse. Bridget was furious. The last straw for Meg had been the day she had resigned.
She had asked Marie
who was running around and making noise to please quiet down because her baby brother had just fallen asleep. I’m the boss of you. I’ll get you fired, Marie screamed in the babysitter’s face. Bridget watched as Meg tried to deescalate the situation. Then she reached for her phone.
Bridget sat Marie down and explained that she had to respect her babysitter. She showed her the evidence that she had been acting out and tried to talk to her calmly. She asked the six-year-old if she thought her behavior was acceptable, but Marie’s response left her absolutely floored. We pay her. I’m her boss, Marie snapped back.
Where is this behavior coming from? While Bridgett scrambled to try and find a replacement nanny, there was no one to take Marie to her swimming lessons. When the little girl complained, Bridgett pointed out that she was to blame. She’s the reason that her sitter quit, and until I can find someone new, she won’t get to do the fun activities that her sitter took her to. The furious mom vented on parenting group on Facebook.
But was that punishment enough?
I was furious with my daughter and let her have it. She had several things taken away from her, and she didn’t do anything remotely fun until recently, Bridget continued, I also stopped arranging playdates for her and the friend who treated her nanny terribly. They don’t go to the same school so they don’t see each other at all anymore. But what did other parents think her actions impacted someone enough to make them quit a job they were being paid to do?
She is soiled a reputation as word spreads fast within the babysitter community. If a child treats their caregiver like that one mum wrote on the original post. Imagine this wasn’t three isolated incidents, but more like it was happening way more frequently. But those three times were when the babysitter was at her last strong. Then other babysitters leveled their opinion of the whole situation.
I babysit some kids in the rich part of town and they have friends like Opie’s kids. Friends. In the beginning, the kids tried to treat me like that. I had a chat with the parents and said that they can deal with it on their end, but if they wanted me to keep watching the kids, I’d be dealing with it on my end too. One user replied.
I was lucky that the parents supported my punishment
It definitely helps when the problem is tackled on both sides as a United force, but kids will be kids, and what works for one definitely doesn’t work for all. Then a professional chimed in. It sounds to me like she was unhappy with the situation, the fact that she had a sitter in the first place, Vicky Bronn Ben, founder of the parent’s blog Honest Mum, wrote, maybe she wasn’t feeling like her needs were being met. For example, she might have felt she wasn’t being listened to, had lost all autonomy over even the smallest of decisions, clashed with her personality-wise or most likely was feeling a little abandoned by her parents in this scenario.
So could Bridget have handled the whole situation differently? Vicky pointed out that while most single moms need help with childcare and are not abandoning their children when they get help, it may have been understandable for Marie to have felt let down by her mum. Vicky pointed out that Marie might have felt especially resentful about the whole situation when the reasons for needing a sitter were not explained to her properly by her mom. Vicky said that it’s so important for parents to always explain the why behind decisions and scenarios, and this is especially true when they might affect them emotionally.
Instead of just expecting Marie to accept a babysitter, she needed to be told exactly why Bridget had to hire one
So Bridget should have told Marie that she needed a babysitter because she had to work hard to be able to pay for Moray’s dolls, swimming lessons, food, etc. And the reasoning behind this reminding them how emotionally safe in love they are is key, too. I personally hated having a nanny and later babysitters as a young child, Vicki explained, I wanted to be with my parents at all times, which is completely normal and natural. And although it was explained to me that they needed to work, therefore I needed sitters, it didn’t make life that much easier for me.
According to Vicki, Marie may have felt hurt or like her feelings weren’t being considered, which caused her to act out.
Marie was trying to tell her mother that she didn’t want to sit there and her acting out was a cry for help. Does that mean Vicky thought Marie behaved appropriately and that Bridget was in the wrong? Yes, teaching children that they can’t be rude is crucial, but so is listening, Vicki said. And I mean really listening to them to the unspoken and spoken cues and empathizing with their behavior while explaining better ways to express themselves so as not to hurt others. But Vicki noticed something else about Marie’s behavior that made her think the scenario wasn’t quite as cut and dry as it seemed.
Bridget was right to tell Marie that she had been hurtful, but she should have also tried to understand why Marie was acting out in the first place. If they can’t describe why it’s hard even for adults to self-reflect and psychoanalyze themselves, then it’s your job as a parent to put in the Detective work and ensure they feel more supported, Vicky said. So who else was in the wrong here? Furthermore, in that scenario, an adult must have at some point told the girl that she was the boss of her sitter, either in jester.
In all seriousness, as age six is quite young.
To understand the complexities of money and the power that might give someone, Vicky concluded. For Bridget, it had been a real eye opener. Also, after looking up how to get your child ready for a nanny or babysitter, she realized some crucial steps she’d missed. The first one made her feel particularly foolish. In general, it’s important to build a solid bond in lines of communication and not just give the night before the new addition arrives.
Give a child at least a week to process the new information and as mentioned before, tell them why this eliminates as many unknowns as possible. Here are some super useful tips for any family and kids of any age. Invite the new babysitter or nanny over for dinner a few days before a real shift starts. This acts as a stepping stone and lets the child get used to the idea of having a new person in their life. It goes a long way to easing those tensions.
However, the meetup doesn’t end just because the plates are cleared after dinner. Bring out one of the kiddo’s favorite games or activities. This not only lets the nanny and child bond a little, but it also allows the parents to see how the two interact and communicate with each other. The next step is a duo day. When it comes to successful transitions.
There’s no such thing as over-communicating
Having the nanny or babysitter come over and spend time going through the day or evenings. Rituals, necessities and events go about your day like you normally would, but have the new helper take part in everything from snack prep to getting them into bed. Next. Believe it or not, involves a special trick with toys.
Kids don’t like inconsistency. It doesn’t foster a sense of security. If the child knows what’s coming, they can handle it with flying colors. Parents can add another layer of confidence in their kids by doing one simple thing. Just add the child’s favorite toys in the mix while doing everyday tasks.
Give them a usual toy when you go for a walk, bring out their favorite book during bedtime. This lets them know that things aren’t really that different. They haven’t lost anything. The next one, however, might be a little more challenging having the kids feel in charge in some way can help by leaps and bounds. This can be done by bringing them along.