Latest news with #Nanny
Buzz Feed
5 days ago
- Business
- Buzz Feed
9 Things I Won't Do After Working As A Nanny
There are 2.2 million domestic workers in the U.S., and a lot of them are nannies. Nannies have busy, demanding jobs with tasks that can completely vary from family to family. They may be responsible for driving children to school, making meals or live-in caregiving. Nannies work in private homes, often putting them outside of public view, so their critical roles in families and society can be undervalued and exploited. Misunderstandings can happen between what parents think they want in a nanny and the reality of what it's actually like to employ or be one. That's why HuffPost reached out to nannies for what they think about working for families and the biggest 'won'ts' they have learned. These are their hard-earned lessons. 1. I won't accept money under the table. 'I've been in the industry for over 25 years now. And I remember when I first started, that was the big thing: People paying you under the table and not paying their taxes. 'I remember even working for a family and they were lawyers, so they figured out how to get around it. I was like, 'I can't buy a car because I don't have any proof of income,' because I got paid in cash. ... It was really weird. At the time, I was young and I did not understand the whole business of it. It definitely was done and it's still done even though it's illegal. People still try to pay you under the table. 'On a bigger scale, when COVID happened, so many nannies who were getting paid under the table couldn't file for unemployment. It's a big 'no' for me.' — Kimberly C. Brown, the CEO of the Nanny Kim on the Go consulting agency in Jersey City, New Jersey. 2. I won't be paid less than a livable wage. 'About 10 years ago, I took a nanny job that paid $200 a week, so a lot of the stuff that I post [on TikTok] is based on real experiences that I have gone through within the last 10 years. 'A lot of people undermine our education and our professionalism because they assume it's a little girls job. I am a professional and I have tons of education, and it is not comparable to being a teenager [babysitting].' — Coco in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Coco's last name has been withheld for privacy reasons.) 3. I won't forbid a nanny from answering a phone or leaving the house. 'I would never tell the nanny they can't take the child outside or can't answer their phones at work. People have to realize that nannies work during the day when most calls come in. 'A lot of people, they feel like nannies need to be 'on' all the time. That could be exhausting and wear your nanny out really quick. [I would never] assume that they don't have emergency calls that may come in. 'I've definitely had that at work or at a job where they're just like 'Oh, I don't want you to answer the phone for anybody but us' or 'I don't want you to have your phone on at all.' 'I've worked with families where they won't give me a key to the house, because they don't want me to go in and out. They don't want me to take the kid to the park. I just sit in the house all day with them until they come back. And that's just not normal.' — Brown. 4. I won't assume a nanny is a housekeeper. 'I am more than happy to help out and I understand that managing their home is part of my position, but it's not my job to scrub your baseboards. It's not my job to wash your windows. It's not my job to clean out your pantry and your fridge. I've even been asked to take the dog to the vet or come over if I have a day off, let's say, and they say something along the lines of 'We don't need you today, but we just need you to stop by and water the plants.' Something like that, to me, is inappropriate. I live an hour away, and I'm not going to drive an hour to water your plants. 'This job is very weird because you can be family with your bosses. It's strange. You don't want to be treated like any 'regular-degular' employee, because if I wanted to do that I would work at a day care.' — Coco. 5. I won't contradict a family's decisions. 'As a nanny, I won't contradict my employers, even in the smallest ways. Parents deserve to be respected in their absence, and my role is to be a supportive team member. 'I may offer advice or information, but ultimately will defer to the parents' judgment. As long as the children are safe, I follow the guidance and preferences of my bosses when making decisions in their household.' — Amber Sembly in Atlanta. 6. I will not work without guaranteed hours in my contract. 'An issue that I've seen happen to other nannies and even to myself as well a couple times is a family will hire you, they'll say whatever hours they need, say it's Monday through Friday, 8 to 5. Those are the set hours you're going to base your life around, you're going to keep your schedule open. But then every once in a while, the parent might get home early. But that affects your pay at the end of the day. So those guaranteed hours just keep you safe in case they do send you home early. 'Vacations — that's a big one as well, especially with spring break coming up right now. [The family I work for is] going out of town with the kids for spring break, but I'm still getting paid for that week because of my guaranteed hours in my contract.' — Maiya Mosley in St. Louis. 7. I will not hire a nanny without meeting them. 'If I were to hire child care, whether it's short-term or long-term, I would definitely make sure my kids are comfortable with them and do a trial, even a few hours or so. Luckily for me, I've never had any issues. But I always think it's crazy when people are like 'OK, come over tomorrow night and watch them.' And I'm like: 'OK, you haven't even met me yet. Are you sure?' 'Calling references, too — you want to do your due diligence. Luckily I have very good references and kids really like me, but I would never message someone on an app and be like, 'You sound great, come over tomorrow.'' — Teniya Renee in Boston. 8. I will not arrive home late. 'I wouldn't come home late. Obviously, it happens, but I would definitely let the nanny know 'Hey, I'm running behind,' because nannies also have things to do after work. Being a nanny can often seem like, to a family, that you're beholden to them. That's a big one that comes up for nannies.' — Danny Rosenthal, the owner of United Nanny Agency in Chicago. 9. I will not assume a nanny knows what I need. 'Most families don't realize that hiring a nanny means opening a small business in their home. Families have a huge learning curve ... [and] hardly ever set expectations or explain how to accomplish the tasks they have set out for them to do. Families have no idea that they prefer their clothes folded a certain way or that they prefer one brand of paper towel over another — that's real — but every family is particular. Very particular. 'If you want a nanny to do something, you need to show them. If you want a nanny to buy something, you need to tell them what brand, what store and which aisle. Years of experience means a nanny is capable of learning how to work with a family, but it doesn't mean they know how to do everything the way you like it.' — Rosenthal.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SAG-AFTRA prez Fran Drescher wants Trump to trade tariffs for tax breaks
It's the 'Nanny' plan. In May Donald Trump famously announced plans to impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made movies in an attempt to prevent the 'very fast death' of Hollywood. Now SAG-AFTRA president and 'The Nanny' star Fran Drescher says that tax breaks would be a better way to make Tinseltown competitive than tariffs. 'I'm trying to work right now on the tax abatements with President Trump to make sure our industry gets the tax abatement that we need to compete with other countries,' she revealed in an interview at The New York Women's Foundation Celebrating Women Breakfast, where she was honored this week. 'Our president is a businessman. He undersands the bottom line. And, it's very difficult to discourage business from going outside of our borders if it's not economically affordable,' she said. On May 4, President Trump announced he wanted to meet with Hollywood insiders to discuss implementing the levy on foreign-made films to help boost the US industry, which is still recovering from the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strike. 'Hollywood doesn't do very much of that business. They have the nice sign, and everything's good, but they don't do very much,' Trump told reporters gatherred at the Oval Office at the time. He wrote on his Truth Social app that, 'The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated.' Drescher, however, believes, 'If we get the tax abatement, that will solve the problem,' she said. 'We won't need tariffs…. So, let's get those tax abatements to create an environment in the United States that makes it as appealing as it is in some other nations to produce, and then the problem will be solved,' she said. A SAG-AFTRA spokesperson told us, 'A coalition of industry unions, of which SAG-AFTRA is one, along with MPA and the Hollywood Ambassadors are working on this issue.'
Buzz Feed
17-05-2025
- Business
- Buzz Feed
Former Nanny Reveals 9 Things She'll Never Do Again
There are 2.2 million domestic workers in the U.S., and a lot of them are nannies. Nannies have busy, demanding jobs with tasks that can completely vary from family to family. They may be responsible for driving children to school, making meals or live-in caregiving. Nannies work in private homes, often putting them outside of public view, so their critical roles in families and society can be undervalued and exploited. Misunderstandings can happen between what parents think they want in a nanny and the reality of what it's actually like to employ or be one. That's why HuffPost reached out to nannies for what they think about working for families and the biggest 'won'ts' they have learned. These are their hard-earned lessons. Responses have been edited for clarity and length. 1. I won't accept money under the table. 'I've been in the industry for over 25 years now. And I remember when I first started, that was the big thing: People paying you under the table and not paying their taxes. 'I remember even working for a family and they were lawyers, so they figured out how to get around it. I was like, 'I can't buy a car because I don't have any proof of income,' because I got paid in cash. ... It was really weird. At the time, I was young and I did not understand the whole business of it. It definitely was done and it's still done even though it's illegal. People still try to pay you under the table. 'On a bigger scale, when COVID happened, so many nannies who were getting paid under the table couldn't file for unemployment. It's a big 'no' for me.' — Kimberly C. Brown, the CEO of the Nanny Kim on the Go consulting agency in Jersey City, New Jersey. 2. I won't be paid less than a livable wage. 'About 10 years ago, I took a nanny job that paid $200 a week, so a lot of the stuff that I post [on TikTok] is based on real experiences that I have gone through within the last 10 years. 'A lot of people undermine our education and our professionalism because they assume it's a little girls job. I am a professional and I have tons of education, and it is not comparable to being a teenager [babysitting].' — Coco in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Coco's last name has been withheld for privacy reasons.) 3. I won't forbid a nanny from answering a phone or leaving the house. 'I would never tell the nanny they can't take the child outside or can't answer their phones at work. People have to realize that nannies work during the day when most calls come in. 'A lot of people, they feel like nannies need to be 'on' all the time. That could be exhausting and wear your nanny out really quick. [I would never] assume that they don't have emergency calls that may come in. 'I've definitely had that at work or at a job where they're just like 'Oh, I don't want you to answer the phone for anybody but us' or 'I don't want you to have your phone on at all.' 'I've worked with families where they won't give me a key to the house, because they don't want me to go in and out. They don't want me to take the kid to the park. I just sit in the house all day with them until they come back. And that's just not normal.' — Brown. 4. I won't assume a nanny is a housekeeper. 'I am more than happy to help out and I understand that managing their home is part of my position, but it's not my job to scrub your baseboards. It's not my job to wash your windows. It's not my job to clean out your pantry and your fridge. I've even been asked to take the dog to the vet or come over if I have a day off, let's say, and they say something along the lines of 'We don't need you today, but we just need you to stop by and water the plants.' Something like that, to me, is inappropriate. I live an hour away, and I'm not going to drive an hour to water your plants. 'This job is very weird because you can be family with your bosses. It's strange. You don't want to be treated like any 'regular-degular' employee, because if I wanted to do that I would work at a day care.' — Coco. 5. I won't contradict a family's decisions. 'As a nanny, I won't contradict my employers, even in the smallest ways. Parents deserve to be respected in their absence, and my role is to be a supportive team member. 'I may offer advice or information, but ultimately will defer to the parents' judgment. As long as the children are safe, I follow the guidance and preferences of my bosses when making decisions in their household.' — Amber Sembly in Atlanta. 6. I will not work without guaranteed hours in my contract. 'An issue that I've seen happen to other nannies and even to myself as well a couple times is a family will hire you, they'll say whatever hours they need, say it's Monday through Friday, 8 to 5. Those are the set hours you're going to base your life around, you're going to keep your schedule open. But then every once in a while, the parent might get home early. But that affects your pay at the end of the day. So those guaranteed hours just keep you safe in case they do send you home early. 'Vacations — that's a big one as well, especially with spring break coming up right now. [The family I work for is] going out of town with the kids for spring break, but I'm still getting paid for that week because of my guaranteed hours in my contract.' — Maiya Mosley in St. Louis. 7. I will not hire a nanny without meeting them. 'If I were to hire child care, whether it's short-term or long-term, I would definitely make sure my kids are comfortable with them and do a trial, even a few hours or so. Luckily for me, I've never had any issues. But I always think it's crazy when people are like 'OK, come over tomorrow night and watch them.' And I'm like: 'OK, you haven't even met me yet. Are you sure?' 'Calling references, too — you want to do your due diligence. Luckily I have very good references and kids really like me, but I would never message someone on an app and be like, 'You sound great, come over tomorrow.'' — Teniya Renee in Boston. 8. I will not arrive home late. 'I wouldn't come home late. Obviously, it happens, but I would definitely let the nanny know 'Hey, I'm running behind,' because nannies also have things to do after work. Being a nanny can often seem like, to a family, that you're beholden to them. That's a big one that comes up for nannies.' — Danny Rosenthal, the owner of United Nanny Agency in Chicago. 9. I will not assume a nanny knows what I need. 'Most families don't realize that hiring a nanny means opening a small business in their home. Families have a huge learning curve ... [and] hardly ever set expectations or explain how to accomplish the tasks they have set out for them to do. Families have no idea that they prefer their clothes folded a certain way or that they prefer one brand of paper towel over another — that's real — but every family is particular. Very particular. 'If you want a nanny to do something, you need to show them. If you want a nanny to buy something, you need to tell them what brand, what store and which aisle. Years of experience means a nanny is capable of learning how to work with a family, but it doesn't mean they know how to do everything the way you like it.' — Rosenthal. This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Spectator
15-05-2025
- Spectator
Which European country has the largest nanny state?
Across Europe, Nanny's influence is growing: there has been a steady erosion of liberty for those of us who like to eat, drink, vape or smoke. Leading the pack in the 2025 Nanny State Index is Turkey where the state's penchant for control borders on fetishistic, banning vapes outright and taxing alcohol off the scale. Its only saving grace is that so many of its little prohibitions are poorly enforced. Hot on its heels is Lithuania, where the war on fun is fought with puritanical zeal. Alcohol is a particular target, with the drinking age raised to 20 a few years ago and all advertising banned. E-cigarettes are not outlawed entirely but are saddled with such a ludicrously high tax – €6.30 (£5.30) per bottle – that they might as well be. Finland, Hungary and Ireland make up the rest of the top five. In Ireland, cigarettes are priced as if they were Fabergé eggs and the state deems its citizens too feeble-minded to navigate a supermarket without state-issued blinkers.
CBC
04-05-2025
- General
- CBC
I had a loving family. My life changed at 46 when my birth sister revealed I was adopted
My parents hid my adoption. But somehow, the truth brought us closer As a child, I used to love looking at our family photos. They sat in a drawer under the large TV console in the family room. Among them was a small white album with a red spine. Inside were 10 square black and white photos of me when I was a toddler in the 1960s — in a bathtub or happily posing in a restaurant booth among others. At some point, that album disappeared. No matter how often I looked for it, I couldn't find it. My parents provided no answers to my questions about where it might be. It remained a disappointing mystery. Several decades later, I received a disturbing message on Facebook Messenger. "You don't know me and I don't mean to upset you, but I have reason to believe you might be my sister." Confused, I shared this message with my equally shocked brother. My first thought was: "Who are these people and what do they want with me?" And yet, there were clues in my life that suggested something was amiss. My birth certificate said I was born in Halifax although I always thought I was born in Digby, N.S., where my family lived when I was a baby. And I remembered this mysterious girl who was always at a friend of my family's house when we went to visit. Clearly there was more to this story. I eventually determined it wasn't a hoax and the woman on the other side was indeed my sister. I had been adopted and was never told. I was in my mid-40s with children of my own. I never felt like anything was missing in my life. So, I had to ask myself: Was it worth disrupting my life and my family relationships to engage with this biological family? After some soul-searching, I decided the answer was yes. I went to meet my birth father, who was living in Yarmouth, N.S., and my younger half-sister who was also living in Nova Scotia. Then I flew to Alberta to meet my older sister. We had an instant connection — almost as if the 40 years of separation had never happened. From these relatives, I learned my birth mother had disappeared when my sister was three and I was a baby. Our birth father took us to live with his parents in Digby. At the time, the couple who adopted me lived nearby. They were newly married and having fertility challenges. When they were asked if they could help out with my sister and me, they readily said yes. Although they wanted to adopt us both, my sister was inconsolable and stayed with our birth family. Nanny Hanson wanted me to know her as my grandmother, so there were frequent visits between our families, including with my sister — until Nanny died when I was about six. After that, the families drifted apart. When I confronted my father a few weeks after being contacted, he said three things that have stuck with me. The first, after a long pause, was: "That is another long story." The second was: "If you want to change your name…." A generous offer and yet the two times I married, I did not change my name. My last name, Jourdain, was and is part of my identity. The third thing he said was: "It was love at first sight." Image | Kathy's family photo and album Caption: On the left, Jourdain, centre, with her adoptive parents, Hector and Mary Jourdain. On the right, the photo album that disappeared for several years. (Submitted by Kathy Jourdain) Open Image in New Tab It's true, my dad and I had a soul connection. As our family began to cope with my mother's dementia, I became dad's go-to person for everything. While our relationship had been rocky at times, I knew without a doubt his love for me was deep. On the eve of my mother moving into long-term care in June 2008, months after our conversation about me being adopted, Dad handed me the "lost" photo album. It had been hidden because my mother was afraid of how I would react if I found out the truth. Those pictures of me as a toddler? My sister is in seven of 10 of them — something I had never realized as a child. Image | Jourdain and Nanny Hanson Caption: Jourdain, right, with her Nanny Hanson and sister, Deb. Jourdain's parents hid this photo and others like it to keep her adoption a secret. (Submitted by Kathy Jourdain) Open Image in New Tab Someone asked me: "Wasn't I angry that my parents had lied to me my whole life?" It was an interesting question. I never thought about it in that way. I was rocked to discover there was a whole part of myself I had no idea existed, but I knew my parents loved me and would not act out of malice. They wanted to wait to tell me until I was old enough to understand. But as the years went by, it was harder and harder for them to speak up about our family secret. Learning the truth has helped me make sense of some parts of my life — why my birth certificate didn't match what I had been told and the missing photo album. Other things also clicked into place. For example, my parents and most of their friends were married forever. But I had been married twice — just like my birth father and my sister. In some ways, this made me feel more "normal," or at least not like some outlier in my family. This isn't just a story about reconnecting with my birth family. It is also a story about how I made peace with my family's secret and with all of who I am. Dad and I became each other's strength because of my mom's illness, but she and I had never talked about my adoption or biological family because of the extent of her dementia by the time I learned the truth. One day, out of the blue, my mother surprised me by asking me how my sister was. Did she know at some subconscious level that we had reconnected? I can't think of any other explanation for such a seemingly random question. It was such a brief moment. I was both disappointed that it could not become a full conversation and in awe at how deeply we may be connected at levels we cannot see. My parents have both passed since then, and I'm still learning more about my biological family and myself. I'm learning to embrace and flow with all that life throws my way.
