The real nanny diaries

16th March 2007

posted in Don't Know What to Make of This, Child Care, Working Moms, Mom Rants |

Apparently, a former nanny of Madonna is planning on writing a “tell all” book about her time spent at the House of Fake British accents. Apparently, a day later, this rumor was debunked, but the netherworld of nanny diaries still fascinates me. It’s not that I’m concerned that one day my nanny will write a tell-all book about me and my family (what’s the worst thing that she’ll say, that I call too much? That I nag incessantly?) No, the only diary penned by a nanny these days that I’m interested in is the one she keeps of my son when I’m at work. And, as we’ve learned, not all nannies are made equal, and frankly, neither are their daily logs. I’m also fully against a nanny cam (not feeling up to debating this right now, though, sorry), so in my mind, the next best thing is a nanny note-taker.

As part of the suggested protocol for my new nanny, I ask her to keep a record of what my son does when I’m flitting about at meetings and conference calls. I beg of her to write down specific things so I can pretend like I know what happened all day long (in between the phone calls.) So she obeys and records things like what he eats (lots of canned food), if he poops (usually) and what activities they do (going on the swings is likely.) I don’t recommend a certain format, or style of writing, like I would usually recommend in any project I assigned at work (I’m Type A, remember?) But at home, where it’s in a mother’s interest to keep a nanny happy, Type A doesn’t go over well. So I leave the daily log up to her discretion, and assume she’ll figure out what works for me and her. The result? A somewhat-neatly written, time-oriented manifesto of babedom in a spiral-bound notebook.

Nanny diary exhibit #1: The Timekeeper

I did not come to this design by chance. Being the neurotic first-time mom I am, I did a little research with some of my other working-outside-the-home-with-nanny (WOHWN?) friends before I settled on my decision. I talked to one friend who purchased a professional nanny-log with its very own pre-designed time slots and kiddie graphic. It even came in a neat pleather carrying case. She investigated all the “baby tracker” (that’s what she calls it) options, and from what I can tell, I think she’s getting a good return on her investment.

Nanny diary exhibit #2: The Power Broker

Another friend gave me a peek into her nanny journal. I love my friend, but boy, I could do without all the detail. I mean, I like a play-by-play as much as the next mom, but when it comes to bowel movements, I don’t need the color commentary. Apparently, my friend likes her nanny to document the ups and downs of poo-poo.

Nanny exhibit #3: The Poo-Poo Log

So working moms of the world, there you have it. Real nanny diaries for you to peruse. Anyone else have logs they want to share? Where do you fit on the nanny log spectrum? Dare I ask?

Tags: nanny diary, nanny cam, working mom, child care, baby tracker

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1 On March 19th, 2007, Jackie Van Tilburg said:

In today’s “busy Mom world” it seems that everything has gone crazy! Though my children are grown, I used baby sitters when they were tots. I gaged my choice of caretakers being good, bad,other by the way my child greeted me on my return to pick them up. A happy, clean and well rested child who had ventures to share with me was my review. I fired only two sitters in the years I used them. One had my child sitting in the floor wrapped in a towel because she had run out of clean clothes. I had only packed four outfits. It would have cost her 10 cents to dry one of the used outfits, which I would have gladly paid. He was taking an antibiotic for an ear infection. The other returned a blouse which was literally in shreds. She had no explanation of how this occurred. Thankfully, my daughter was in perfect condition! I think nanny’s can write anything down in a log. You have to work with intuition as to whether or not the caretaker is a good fit. Lots of Mothers work, the time spent with their children after pick-up tells a multitude. And, in this age of two income families, you are going to experience giving up the same first moments that fathers have done for generations. It’s the moments recorded in the Mothers’ Minds’ Eye that count.