Monday, June 01, 2009

delicate moments

All nannies have them. 
  • You walk into the kitchen in the morning and you can feel the chill in the air. Mom is not talking to Dad and everyone is being extra nice to the kids. 
  • Or you call Mom and she obviously has not talked to Dad about something important and now you are left breaking the news. 
  • Or Grandma comes to visit and she does not know many things about how the home is run. You are the listening post as she complains about how Mom and Dad do things. 

These are just a few of those situations. There are so many more. And as a live in, the awkward moments can be pretty intense. I have had conversations with Mom's who are blow drying their hair in a bra. Not your usual workplace scenario. 

Nannies work in private homes. We are family, but not family. We are employees, but so much more. These situations are not ones you can take a class to learn about. And really there are no rules when it comes to dealing with them. I struggle with these kinds of situations all the time and I have been in the biz for more than 15 years. Like so much about our jobs, these delicate situations are so uniquely personal to the families and so intensely PRIVATE there is no where to go for advice. So how do you cope? Are there any hard and fast rules for these "delicate moments?"

feel free to share... but please do not post any specifics or names!! 


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