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Saturday, April 19, 2008

An Introduction - (Post 1)

As you can already tell, I'm a nanny. I work full time and live with the family. I have been with my current family for about 6 months and my stories seem to amuse my family and friends. I decided to share my experiences with the blog reader world. Will it be a multi post resume? Definitely not! Will it be honest and exposing to the life behind closed doors? You bet! Will it be entertaining? I sure hope so.

This will be a completely honest blog detailing the daily ups and downs of working as a full time nanny. The only thing that will be fiction is the names of the family I work for and my own name. Other then that you can be assured that everything stated here is the truth. Trust me, what you will read in these blogs will blow you away as I have the craziest nanny position in the entire world.

With that said, here we go.

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For the purpose of this blog my name will be Madison (nickname, Mady). I'm 22 years old and have taken care of other people's children since I was 15. I've always worked with great families in the past and generally love what I do. Well, that is until I started with this family. I do love my job in some ways but in many others I feel I may one day lose my mind. You might be wondering why I've stayed this long then, well I love the little girl I take care of. For the blog her name will be Kayley. She is the only person in this house who keeps me sane. The parents are the ones who drive me up the wall.

The mother is the person that I have the most contact with since the father seems to always be missing in action. The mom's first name for this blog will be Sarah, but since in real life I'm not allowed to use her first name I will always refer to her as Mrs. K. This is a woman that few people truly like. She is too self-centered to really notice though. Although I think most of her friends are the same way. Mrs. K is all about keeping up appearances and projecting the perfect family picture for the rest of the world. You will soon learn this is the furthest thing from the truth. Does anyone believe the perfect picture she so desperately wants them too? I don't really anyone she knows cares enough to give it much thought. Their social circle consists of couples with the same problems who area all trying to hide them, so for the to actually question another couple's marriage it would make them look at their own.

Mrs. K is by all accounts a beautiful woman. She has everything she probably wished for as a little girl. They have a large house, a lot of money and live a privileged life. What she doesn't have is a happy family life. Her husband, Mr. K (also known as Jason) is always away one what he calls business trips and has at least two other woman on the side. The worst thing is he doesn't try overly hard to hide if from her and I know she knows he cheats but she pretends not too. For her to actually confront him about his affairs would mean the end of the perfect life she has made up in her head. She can't take that so she pretends that he is faithful. It's sad really. The worst part is the anger and hurt Mr. K causes her is usually taken out on Kayley and myself.

I don't pretend to fully understand Mrs. K and I don't I ever really will. She doesn't work but she's never home. In turn she's never with her daughter. Kayley turned 5 this year but her own mother often forgets how old she is. Instead of being home being a mother to her beautiful little girl she is off at spas, staying involved in her numerous groups and shopping. Shopping is her hobby. She buys more things then anyone could ever really use and she does so almost everyday. The groups she's involved in aren't even worthwhile in my opinion. It's not like they raise money for needy children or are helping the world in anyway. Instead they are arranging banquets for nothing, having endless meetings and in my humble opinion hiding from their real lives. Who takes care of her daughter twenty-four seven then? That would be me.

Mrs. K couldn't tell you her daughter’s favorite color, her favorite foods or her favorite toy. She couldn't tell you what Kayley is afraid of, what makes her smile or what makes her cry. I can. Mrs. K can't even tell you the name of her daughter’s pediatrician. She can't because she hasn't been to the office since Kayley was a baby. Their previous nannies always took care of the appointments and I now do the same. What to know what Kayley wants the most though? Attention from her parents. She tries so desperately to get it but it's usually futile. A little girl just wants her Mommy but her Mommy is too busy.

As I write this blog, Mr. and Mrs. K are fighting. It's almost 2am here and they are screaming at each other. Kayley came into my room not long after I began writing to ask if she could sleep with me. I said yes and she is fast asleep next to me. Her parents fighting will often wake her up and she hates to be by herself when they do this. They know she can hear them but they don't seem to care much. Their fights are usually the same but I don't know that they notice it. It's usually about her wanting him home more and him saying he has to work. We all know that he really needs to be with his many mistresses. I actually think he has another child with one of them but I can't be sure. I over heard a phone call by accident one day as I arrived home with Kayley asleep in her stroller. He didn't notice we had walked in as he continued his conversation. I made sure to close the door a little louder then normal and he abruptly ended his phone call. He said he was on a business call and didn't hear us come in. It's rare he even speaks to me at all so I just nod and go about my business.

Kayley should be able to sleep better this week, as he's due to leave in the morning on yet another business trip. It seems this is what the fight is about tonight. Mrs. K is so desperate to have him home that she often begs him to stay. I cringe when I hear this because I know it really only makes it worse. This just lowers his opinion of her, which is pretty low to begin with. I think the marriage is only together to keep up appearances for both of them. A marriage of convenience is what it is. I also know a prenuptial was involved (I heard this from the maid) and I think it could be a reason Mrs. K stays with him and puts up with his infidelity. I feel bad for her some of the time. That might seem cold but you don't have to live with this woman.

I have realized you must think I'm crazy. Someone to willingly live in this house in the middle of a marriage sitting on thin ice must be crazy, right? Well, maybe I am. All I know is it breaks my heart that this little girl is stuck in the middle and she just wants someone to give her love and attention. I know I won't be here forever. I know one day I will have to move on for my own sanity but I feel like Kayley needs me right now. She needs to know that someone loves her and that someone will be there for her. Right now I'm the only person to do that for her so I will put up with her crazy parents for as long as I can.

Tomorrow Mrs. K has decided I should bring Kayley to the children's museum for an education outing. I don't mind, as I know the two of us will have fun but she has informed me that she will have an itinerary written up for me in the morning. These are never all that useful and usually have crazy insane expectations. She has no concept of what is interesting for a 5-year-old little girl and how children can only take so much before they are tired out. I think she does this on purpose as she wants Kayley exhausted for her when they have their "nightly time". This is what she calls it and it lasts about twenty minutes on a good day. Yes, Mrs. K only spends about twenty minutes a day with her daughter. She likes Kayley to be tired so that she can just sit on the bed and talk to her about the spa or whatever meeting she attended that day. When this time is over she goes to her room and I put Kayley to bed for the night. If she's not calm enough then Mrs. K will simply skip the "nightly time" saying, "I just can't deal with her."

I'll have more to share tomorrow.

Your friendly neighborhood nanny,
Mady

P.S. Not all posts will be this long, it took some space to introduce you to the family and the situation. The length will depend on what happens on that given day. I hope you enjoy reading! Comments are welcome.

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