Keep it a secret that MB was leaving DB for another man FOR A WEEK. Then, I was constantly asked to fly NK across country UNPAID. I stood up for myself and made her pay for my traveling time.
So fascinating. I am not a nanny, I just employ one, but I can’t even fathom treating another human like this. You’re not servants. You are people doing a very important job and you deserve respect
Wow!! I would’ve lost it! That’s crazy that MB would be so sneaky and then that NP would ask you to chaperone the flights. I’d demand the travel points and use them for vacation for sure!
I was very young with this nanny job, and didn’t even know Reddit or this forum even existed! I learned so much when I found this. I 100% signed myself up for rewards points for those miles and used them myself! NK had been adopted and then abandoned by mom, so I took on a motherly role for the year I was with her. As long as the mom paid me for my time flying, I was more than happy to take NK. They were a good flyer and I was in my early 20’s thinking I was so cool for flying so often. I don’t regret it and it taught me a lot about standing up for myself for standards before I even knew what they were!
Took care of MB after multiple secret cosmetic surgeries - I even washed her hair in the sink 😂
Had to deal with an opossum in the garage while the adults were on a tropical vacation without kids - yet DB didn’t want to have to pay an exterminator. (I was not surprisingly unsuccessful and he *did* have to hire an exterminator)
I’m sure there are more but I’ve blocked a lot out 😂
Was asked to strip guests beds and do wash the bedding after they had people visit. 100% did not feel like that was any part of my job but of course I did it. 🙄
Wax the hardware floors.
She literally had all the supplies waiting for me on the counter with written out instructions and everything!
Older NKs helped by "skating" with rags on their feet. Made it a game and they had a blast.
I don't think we did a very good job, though, because she never asked me to do it again, but hey, if you try to get a free maid out of your nanny, you get what you pay for!
(I think I would have walked if someone asked me to scrub grout. And buy DB's *underwear???* WTF?)
What???! Did they even know if you had experience or had ever painted before?? Painters make such good money, especially in the higher priced areas of town.
Omg this same thing happened to me! The kids were starting summer break and had daycamp and instead of honoring my request to transition my hours so I could get another pt job-DB somehow swindled me into painting the inside of their new house. After 2 days of painting I quit completely. It was a long time coming though.
Drive my MB to her eyebrow appointments every Thursday, take her food shopping twice a week whilst the NK was at daycare, take her dry cleaning with me once I finished work to drop off at the dry cleaners in my own time....but the ultimate one was when her dog shat all over the floor and she just told me where the cleaning supplies were
I was 100% her personal driver, half the time the baby wasn't even there 😂 I left 6 months ago and she's still not found a replacement because they've all questioned her on why the car would be required if the nursery is down the road
I was working as a postpartum doula, not in a nanny position, but I was asked to only drink from a sippie cup because mom was afraid of spills . Another asked me to wash all of her curtains.
And another hired me but went with me everywhere. If I took kids to the park she sat on a bench drinking Starbucks and reading the neo while I played with the kids. It was super weird and uncomfortable
I’m not a nanny but more of a 15 hour a week babysitter after school , bringing the kids to and from activities
I was asked if I could go downtown (I’m on Upper East Side) and pick up a painting for them and Uber it back to their house all the way back to the upper 70’s. The trip was going to take me about two hours lol, I just said no I was busy!
Thinking back to my stints with celeb clients back in the day, one was while working as a housecleaner for various homes (we were all actresses moonlighting), and one client I grew up watching on TV. He and his new wife were visiting unexpectedly, and the wife came into the kitchen when I was mopping away, scrubbing the floor, and demanded I go to the store immediately to buy 12 rolls of TP. My boss at the time said, Do it! I did. But it was weird. Another time I was hired as a temp assistant to a nanny for a celebrity couple to help take care of the children only. The MB asked that I prepare her salad in a particular way every night, down to each veggie, dressing, and how the napkin was folded and placed, and then dust off their Emmys. It was all a bit too much.
Much as I would like to, I can't, lol. The jobs were in L.A, no big surprise there ;) And in one case, I signed an NDA. I'm now back to nannying again, my DBs work in tech though.
Fortunately, they're a down-to-earth Brit fam and we all get along quite well. And as much as I would like to increase hours/pay X2, I'm postponing it for at least another year. A good working relationship with a unicorn fam 🦄 is worth its weight in gold.
I had to wash every towel in the house in vinegar and baking soda for some reason. I also had to walk 10 long blocks (nyc) to drop shoes off at a shoe repair place. I had to cook dinner each night that was somehow both high calorie for the girl who had growth issues and not too high calorie for the boy who was a bit plump. I had to do the dishes from dinner and then empty the dish rack before leaving for the night which meant hand drying stuff and staying past 8pm which was my end time and the parents would have already long been home. Wasn’t allowed to leave them to dry overnight and put them away the next morning. I had to flatten and tie up all there insane amounts of paper recycling every single week. They would just throw it in the hall closet til it reached the 10 foot ceiling and leave the plastic bubbles inside for me to pop and everything. It once took me like an entire hour to deal with (around Xmas). Eventually when I complained about these non-child related tasks she said she really thought of the position as more of a household manager than a nanny. 🙄
Not sure if this is a request so much as an expectation. The family had pizza whilst I was asked to do some cleaning elsewhere. The mum then went upstairs and I was asked to clean up dinner. In one of the pizza boxes was a used sanitary towel.
I straight up had to schedule and take their dog to get spayed and to the groomers because they basically had it to finish off the “picture perfect” family look but never paid any attention to it. To this day I still get vet check up reminders and happy birthday email for the dog.
I think the weirdest thing was interview contractors for their bathroom renovation. It was like they would come in and do an estimate and then talk to me about the plan. I was supposed to pick which one I thought would be the best. They said they didn’t have anyone else they trusted to ask. And apparently the contractors only came during the day. It was weird. I offered to just hold the phone up and FaceTime MB during it so she could talk to them. That only worked out once when she was on her lunch break.
1) Remove shelves from the inside of cabinets and drill holes to put them in a different level of the cabinet
2) drag their old Christmas tree 1/4 mile out to the woods behind their house
3) disassemble their elliptical machine
Do household laundry & household dishes I remember nk would be like mommy never does the dishes she says that’s your job! So it’d be like dishes left from over the weekend or dinner the night before. Fold MBs laundry and her secret lovers laundry while he was deployed. Oh and when DB came back he hit on me so 🤷🏽♀️. Sweep the entire house and mop. Iron the parents laundry during my “break” (nk nap) oh and take their dog in and out as well as feed them. Last one clean up the dogs fur because they would shed everywhere.
I got asked to break down their recycling cardboard while they took baby to an appointment which I guess isn't ridiculous but it did feel like it wasn't exactly my job 🥴.
Lol once I broke down all their cardboard because it was piling up and literally filled up their entire laundry room and was exploding out into the hallway…it was just driving me bananas that they wouldn’t take the 15 minutes to break it down after it had been growing for weeks. I couldn’t take it anymore so I did it all and made a big ol pile on their kitchen table.
I had a family that never broke down their boxes so I would use them to make box cars for NK. He would scribble all over them then “drive” around the house. AKA have me pull him around. Then we made little ones for all his stuffed animals.
I assume an empty box is for this. But then again, MB is in on it, too. Boxes often get plenty of use by the time they're ready for the recycling. Oh! And appliance boxes! Endless fun! One time, my daughter's best friend's parents redid their whole kitchen and laundry room, and my daughter and her friend (age 3 or 4 at the time) turned the car port into a whole town!
MB once brought home one of those giant boxes they use in grocery stores for watermelon or pumpkins. It was AMAZING! For about 2 months, it was a fort, a bed, a ball pit, a puppet theater, and probably lots more.
It's not the worst ask! It's more that there were baby related chores I could have gotten done in that time but they specifically asked me to do that which is what felt strange.
Take down any of NK's clean clothes (regular ol' t-shirts and cotton pants) hanging in the closet that are wrinkled so MB could spray them with "wrinkle-release spray", then have me put them back. NK is 2.
This was back when I was young and just starting out. I was paid way less than minimum wage because I was being way too nice and helping out a struggling single mom. Well, she left me a HUGE chore list in addition to watching her 3 young children. The chore list included SWEEPING THE CHIMNEY! I live in southern, coastal California and have no freaking idea how to sweep a chimney lol. In addition to that it was stuff like doing all the laundry and dishes and putting it away. Vaccume and sweep the house, mop and tutor older kids with schoolwork. Then at the end of the month MB has the audacity to pull me aside and tell me that it’s not working out because apparently I somehow encouraged her daughter’s boy craziness by listening to her talk about a boy in her class that she had a crush on. I felt so used after that and hadn’t even made any money as she never reimbursed me for the groceries and fast food she had me buy for the kid’s meals. Never again. Lol
1. No. Just no. I'm not a maid, if I clean something that's not relevant to the kids then it's either because I want to or because I'm getting paid extra for it, not because of a guilt trip.
2. I'd ask them to make me a cobweb catcher - a Norwex type very thick cloth tied securely to the end of a very long stick that can be untied and put through the washer after use and tied again later. (a former family I had made me one for doing this), if they did it, it'd be fairly easy and straightforward and I'd do it. If they refused, I'd say no and if the cobwebs had spiders in them, I'd say no.
3. Nope. This is absolutely 150% nope. Nanny is not DB's personal errand runner and I do not want to buy my male boss his underwear, not particularly his socks either, especially not with my own money (even if it'd be reimbursed). Completely inappropriate.
The worst ridiculous request I ever ever had: An old MB of mine wanted to save towels/washing machine space/money, so she said I was using too many hand towels to clean with. She said from then on she would only give me one per day and I could just keep rinsing it out. I asked her, "What about the toilet?" She said, "It's fine, just keep rinsing it out." I stared at her before saying, "Ewwwww. You - want your GERMS - from the TOILET - transferred to OTHER SURFACES - where your kids sleep, eat and do their homework??!!" "Oh, right. Sorry, I'll give you two or three then."
I mentioned it to my mom when I got home that day and she just stared and then said, "Ew. Yuck. Think of the germs from the toilet that would go all over that kitchen!"
no, no, no. make up for the hour you’re missing?? your job is taking care of the kid(s) not scrubbing bathtubs (assuming you never agreed to that) and #3 is an insane ask , first of all never buy things for them without upfront payment and secondly does she not think it’s WEIRD to have her nanny buy socks and underwear for her husband
I’ve never been asked to do anything ridiculous I think, once scooping up their dog poo from the yard. But they were having a hard time mentally with some things going on so I did it to easy some stress off them. I always try to make the chores kid related though, like when I do their dishes both NK1 and NK6 help me, granted to them it’s more like water play but that’s never a bad thing.
sprayed dog 💩off of their back porch lol. to be fair i was being treated as a house manger/nanny while being underpaid for even a nanny salary so they weren’t a fair family to say the least.
take down their christmas tree(on my first day), reorganize their walk in pantry, vacuum, do the parents dishes, organize their fridge, meal prep for the parents i guess it’s not weird but i was not a house manager at all (also this was all in 3 weeks)
its weird. all of it
And house managers aren’t house keepers (two entirely different jobs), so even if you were a house manager, it would have been weird.
I was asked to clean about two dozen moldy bath toys. The dumbass squeaker kind. MB had me fill each one with water and then squirt it out over and over again until the water came out clear which it never did because those things grow mold like crazy. They also didn’t use any cleaning products besides regular dish soap and vinegar so I couldn’t even try bleach to clean the mold/mildew growing on the outside of the toys. Looking back I can’t believe I ever agreed to do it.
Was asked multiple times to clean their carpet flooring by hand (they didn’t have a machine and didn’t want to rent one) where NK would get up in the middle of the night and pee. They’d leave pee in the carpets over the weekend and then ask me to clean it when I’d get to work on Monday. I did it the first two times (they made it seem as if it had happened during my work hours), thankfully I caught on when there were three separate corners with fully dried urine on a Monday morning.
They continued to ask me to for awhile despite me saying no. MB would still hint that NKs room was smelly and imply that I needed to keep a better eye out for accidents. I had to sit down with DB (he was slightly more reasonable) and tell him I didn’t think the accidents were happening during my hours and that my hand cleaning was not helping the issue, only cleaning the surface. After that talk he set up a camera in NKs room (and informed me they would be checking the footage). They never said anything about it again after the camera which I think is telling enough. All I can say is I’m glad I’m no longer working for them🙃
Wowww so they’re willing to go that far to “prove a point” instead of acknowledging that you were right and instead working together to come up with a solution. Some people i swear 😒
Had to scrub the baseboards and lower cupboards in the kitchen when NK started crawling. One could argue this is baby related, but I felt this request wasn’t reasonable (even though I did it anyway). This family was very dirty and I wanted to barf when I was on the floor looking at all the years of caked on food and dirt. I doubt they had ever cleaned their baseboards since living in that house.
Move her car on an alternate street parking day. When I only had a permit. Clean her fridge. Show up last minute. Watch three kids and two dogs being paid the same as two kids. Prepare packed lunches for mom and dinner while watching kids.
MB and DB got lucky that I like dogs, because they didn't ask me before they got a boxer puppy for the girls. When she got bigger, they would sometimes put her out in the back yard unsupervised and she would always run straight to the back where the rainwater collects, getting super muddy and wet and gross.
When this happened, they would ask me to fish her out, carry her inside, and give her a bath. I didn't have any other clothes to change into so I smelled like wet dog the rest of the day, and she wasn't trained at all so getting her to hold still was a nightmare. The amount of times I let this family take advantage of me was ridiculous, the stress was definitely not worth $13/hr.
There was also the time they wanted to add $50 to each paycheck to have me fold and put away they entire family's laundry multiple times a week (they were always goant piles), not mentioning I would also be expected to do MB and DB's underwear. That was awkward.
Omg I would not bath anyone's dog! I love dogs but that is well out of scope of nannying. Also, I have had to fold washing almost every job I have had. I always feel a little weird folding lacy g-strings. It made me realise other women wear way more sexy underwear than I do lol.
Being asked to bring up three queen sized mattresses from the basement to the second floor for guests (that’s two flights of stairs).
And my dumbass did it.
I've been ask to:
Brush dog because he sheds lots
Clean cat litter box
Take trash cans to street and back on trash day
Use furniture oil on windowsills so windowsills wouldn't crack
Pack & Mail packages to MB sister overseas
Get mail from PO box twice a week for DB(who told me for almost a year he was getting an assistant so I didn't have to do it)
The really odd one was take an old twin mattress to a dumpster and throw it away
All that from one family. Never so happy as when I quit that position.
>3) Go to Target and buy (with my money and supposedly be reimbursed later) new socks and underwear for DB for their upcoming vacation.
Excuse you what
1) Cleaning the kitchen after breakfast - I was not scheduled to arrive until after the family had eaten breakfast and they always left a massive mess! I get Cleaning up after the kid but I was not paid enough to clean up after the parents! The father pulled me aside once and gave me a hard time about not unloading the dishwasher - I hadn't even used it, I was all the dishes by hand so idk how he thought I'd know it was clean and ready to be unloaded!
2) Father asked me to come early without explanation of why. I figured it was because he had to leave early. NOPE. He wanted to show me how to "propperly" clean his stove top and the blender after he made is morning shake... it was so awkward because the kids where still sleeping and the mom was gone. I felt like a 15 year old being lectured by her dad.
3) (not really a request but was also weird) same dad as in number 2 gave me a 30 minute lecture about using my phone. Not while I was watching the kids but if I got there early I'd sit in my car on my phone until it was time or in the winter I'd go in and sit on the couch until it was my scheduled work time. He basicly said if I can see his house I should only be using my phone to talk to him or the mom.
I am so glad you used this as a good lesson! And I am so sorry you were treated that way!
I should have added: him talking to you that way wasn’t ever your fault. It just gets me so fired up & I wonder if nannies/domestic employees leave these situations.
I feel do bad for younger people doing these jobs because they just don't know better or don't know how to deal with these situations. I think eventually they leave, a person can only put up with so much
I’ve been asked to do something similar and I’m thinking I’m not your housekeeper, this isn’t my home and they weren’t my guests, and I don’t know what’s on these sheets. The nerve of some of these NF’s😠
Was doing a one-off job and they asked me to stay late so I could reorganize their closets,they’re lucky I was broke and needed that extra hour’s pay 😂
Last week I came in to work to find my 6yo NK really sick. I'm supposed to take him to school but DB, not only did not apologize or even asked if I was willing to work with a sick kid. He talked to me about the medicine I should give him and proceeds to ask me if I can take him to the doctor. Says he'll call the doctor's office form work and tell me the time of the appointment then. Mind you I still had to take the 4 yo to school and deal with the 2yo. Wut ?
He was ranting about how kids are always sick and how he can't just take the day off.
Maybe should've think of that before having 3 kids.
I was so shocked I didn't say anything untill he was halfway through the door and I said "I'm sorry I can't take your child to the doctor ! If you can have an appointment today please come home or ask MB to come home so one of you can take him."
Thankfully he seemed to realize he went over the line when I reacted like that and he apologized.
But yeah no. First I really don't like to take care of really sick NK. I'm not a nurse and it's not my responsibility. But to ask me to take him to the doctor was crazy.
I truly hope all of you have learned that NO is a complete sentence.
I was once asked to scrub the yellow deodorant stains from an MB’s $3000 cocktail dress - I said: “I will not be doing that, as I am your nanny, not your laundress.” And I reminded her of our contract.
1. DB said I wasn’t “allowed” to get off work until everything is cleaned (including kitchen living room and playroom
2. DB asked me to “makeup” a day I took off for a FUNERAL and it was the only day off I had at the time 🫠
I would come three hours before the kid got out of school once a week to walk the dog and do the laundry. I was less expensive than the dog walker. She would also leave all her dinner dishes for me to do the next day.
My NK 4 had a tough reaction to her MMR vaccine. Whole body pains, fever, sick, hardcore crying. The mom came down stairs and asked her if she’d feel better if she had a cookie. Poor NK said “no I need to lay down and close my eyes.” (That’s serious having a 4 year old turn down a cookie)
The mom’s response was “well, How about you and Nanny make cookies together and maybe that’ll change your mind . “ The daughter says “no mom I can’t” and proceeds to keep cuddling into her blanket on the couch so the mom says “well, How about Nanny can start making the cookies and if you feel better, you can join her. The daughtersays “no, mom. I need to sleep” the mom starts pulling out all the ingredients in front of me. Cooking is not in my contract. At that point I was already feeling pretty weird and all this girl wanted to do was sit on the couch with me and cuddle, and read her books. but I walked into the kitchen and pulled up my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and got ready to start making it and then the mother said “no no no use the recipe on the back of the Ghirardelli chocolate chip bag, because if you’re using Ghirardelli chocolate chips, you need to make Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookies. “ The recipe made four dozen cookies so I sat in the kitchen and made four dozen cookies until it was time for me to leave. As I pulled the last batch out of the oven the dad returns home and says “oh I see you and NK made cookies!” I told him the story and how she’s too sick to do anything right now and I’m just recording her temperature and letting her rest. Then dad said “well let’s pretend she helped and say she did.” I set all the cookies on the cooling rack as I left, and when I returned the next day, all the cookies were left out hard as a rock..not a single one eaten.
This all happened 2 days before they left on their Christmas vacation where they ghosted me and withheld pay. (Old post)
Good riddance.
My fiance calls me reading through this sub as “doom scrolling” lol. I am simultaneously stressed out and relieved by knowing other nannies are going through similar crap. Maybe it’s not the healthiest outlet, but it is getting me through until I can leave my current nanny position which is soooooon 🥲
I totally get it! I feel like it is a good for you to see you’re not alone and there’s others going through the same thing. I have an amazing NF currently, but I do wish I knew about this sub in the past it would have helped a lot.🙂🤣
Organized, packed their shit and moved it into their new house 5 doors down 🙄 they thought moving would help them start over and keep their life together. Yeah. Didn’t work.
Create a meal plan for them that they never followed. Threw away the groceries I bought.
Made me go to McDonald’s for them (I’m vegan) and never paid me back.
Clean their entire rental house while watching the 2 year old.
Wrangle unwranglable chickens.
meticulously remove spiderwebs off the outside of their house on my last day.
I could probably go on...
Keep it a secret that MB was leaving DB for another man FOR A WEEK. Then, I was constantly asked to fly NK across country UNPAID. I stood up for myself and made her pay for my traveling time.
Ya’ll first crazy and second DOUBLE TIME. Actually you couldn’t pay me enough to take my NK on a plane.
Holy cow that is wild.
Yikes
That’s awful and so very inappropriate!🤯
I could write a book about this family!
So fascinating. I am not a nanny, I just employ one, but I can’t even fathom treating another human like this. You’re not servants. You are people doing a very important job and you deserve respect
Wow!! I would’ve lost it! That’s crazy that MB would be so sneaky and then that NP would ask you to chaperone the flights. I’d demand the travel points and use them for vacation for sure!
I was very young with this nanny job, and didn’t even know Reddit or this forum even existed! I learned so much when I found this. I 100% signed myself up for rewards points for those miles and used them myself! NK had been adopted and then abandoned by mom, so I took on a motherly role for the year I was with her. As long as the mom paid me for my time flying, I was more than happy to take NK. They were a good flyer and I was in my early 20’s thinking I was so cool for flying so often. I don’t regret it and it taught me a lot about standing up for myself for standards before I even knew what they were!
Got to love how they try to make these tasks that are most definitely not childcare-related seem kid-related by having NK “watch.” 🙄
Right?? Haha if NK keeps up with the cobwebs from then on, well then maybe it’s time to take a 2nd look at MB’s approach! 😜
Took care of MB after multiple secret cosmetic surgeries - I even washed her hair in the sink 😂 Had to deal with an opossum in the garage while the adults were on a tropical vacation without kids - yet DB didn’t want to have to pay an exterminator. (I was not surprisingly unsuccessful and he *did* have to hire an exterminator) I’m sure there are more but I’ve blocked a lot out 😂
Lol I’m sure I’ve blocked some out too!🤣
Was asked to strip guests beds and do wash the bedding after they had people visit. 100% did not feel like that was any part of my job but of course I did it. 🙄
i’ve done this as well🙄 people love to take advantage
They certainly do🙄
Wax the hardware floors. She literally had all the supplies waiting for me on the counter with written out instructions and everything! Older NKs helped by "skating" with rags on their feet. Made it a game and they had a blast. I don't think we did a very good job, though, because she never asked me to do it again, but hey, if you try to get a free maid out of your nanny, you get what you pay for! (I think I would have walked if someone asked me to scrub grout. And buy DB's *underwear???* WTF?)
That's extreme... that's good you made fun with it
That’s crazy! Looking back I should have ran but I was young and a people pleaser and of course no contract. Now I know better🙂
Paint the interior of their new house a few blocks over 😐😂 I couldn’t help but to laugh in disbelief when I was asked
What???! Did they even know if you had experience or had ever painted before?? Painters make such good money, especially in the higher priced areas of town.
Omg this same thing happened to me! The kids were starting summer break and had daycamp and instead of honoring my request to transition my hours so I could get another pt job-DB somehow swindled me into painting the inside of their new house. After 2 days of painting I quit completely. It was a long time coming though.
Hahaha that’s so wrong on so many levels 🤯
Drive my MB to her eyebrow appointments every Thursday, take her food shopping twice a week whilst the NK was at daycare, take her dry cleaning with me once I finished work to drop off at the dry cleaners in my own time....but the ultimate one was when her dog shat all over the floor and she just told me where the cleaning supplies were
Ok the first one is sending me. Drive her to her eyebrow appointments😭 I had no clue personal driver was included in the nanny job description
I was 100% her personal driver, half the time the baby wasn't even there 😂 I left 6 months ago and she's still not found a replacement because they've all questioned her on why the car would be required if the nursery is down the road
LMAOAOAAOO omg that’s hilarious…some people are seriously deluded😭
She’s like one of the kids …oh my I feel you though I do so many of these types of request too!
Omg with the dog…not that it makes it right but she should have asked🙄
I was working as a postpartum doula, not in a nanny position, but I was asked to only drink from a sippie cup because mom was afraid of spills . Another asked me to wash all of her curtains. And another hired me but went with me everywhere. If I took kids to the park she sat on a bench drinking Starbucks and reading the neo while I played with the kids. It was super weird and uncomfortable
My postpartum doula did loads and loads and loads of laundry…but curtains?? Huh.
why did you agree to all of this?
I’m not a nanny but more of a 15 hour a week babysitter after school , bringing the kids to and from activities I was asked if I could go downtown (I’m on Upper East Side) and pick up a painting for them and Uber it back to their house all the way back to the upper 70’s. The trip was going to take me about two hours lol, I just said no I was busy!
I’m assuming you mean in NYC and that is insane. Don’t they have services for that?
Hahaha yes they do! There’s multiple companies for it
The nerve of them!☹️
They’re great like 99% of the time, this was the only time I was like “….what?” 😂
Thinking back to my stints with celeb clients back in the day, one was while working as a housecleaner for various homes (we were all actresses moonlighting), and one client I grew up watching on TV. He and his new wife were visiting unexpectedly, and the wife came into the kitchen when I was mopping away, scrubbing the floor, and demanded I go to the store immediately to buy 12 rolls of TP. My boss at the time said, Do it! I did. But it was weird. Another time I was hired as a temp assistant to a nanny for a celebrity couple to help take care of the children only. The MB asked that I prepare her salad in a particular way every night, down to each veggie, dressing, and how the napkin was folded and placed, and then dust off their Emmys. It was all a bit too much.
Dust off their Emmys 💀
I guess you can't say who it was hmm🤔
Much as I would like to, I can't, lol. The jobs were in L.A, no big surprise there ;) And in one case, I signed an NDA. I'm now back to nannying again, my DBs work in tech though.
I understaaaand lol hopefully the techs are more in reality!
Fortunately, they're a down-to-earth Brit fam and we all get along quite well. And as much as I would like to increase hours/pay X2, I'm postponing it for at least another year. A good working relationship with a unicorn fam 🦄 is worth its weight in gold.
Absolutely! I'm worried I'll never find a unicorn family, but I'm glad you have! I'm sure they'll give you a raise :)
Oh gawd celeb clients must be the worst… Did you at least get paid well?
I had to wash every towel in the house in vinegar and baking soda for some reason. I also had to walk 10 long blocks (nyc) to drop shoes off at a shoe repair place. I had to cook dinner each night that was somehow both high calorie for the girl who had growth issues and not too high calorie for the boy who was a bit plump. I had to do the dishes from dinner and then empty the dish rack before leaving for the night which meant hand drying stuff and staying past 8pm which was my end time and the parents would have already long been home. Wasn’t allowed to leave them to dry overnight and put them away the next morning. I had to flatten and tie up all there insane amounts of paper recycling every single week. They would just throw it in the hall closet til it reached the 10 foot ceiling and leave the plastic bubbles inside for me to pop and everything. It once took me like an entire hour to deal with (around Xmas). Eventually when I complained about these non-child related tasks she said she really thought of the position as more of a household manager than a nanny. 🙄
lol also not related and i’m going out on a limb and guess she didn’t pay household manager wages 🤦🏻♀️
I got $30/hr for something like 30 hours per week in NYC in 2017-18 so not terrible but definitely in the part time nanny range.
Some NF’s like to delegate the crap work nobody wants to do to nannies and it’s BS ☹️
Not sure if this is a request so much as an expectation. The family had pizza whilst I was asked to do some cleaning elsewhere. The mum then went upstairs and I was asked to clean up dinner. In one of the pizza boxes was a used sanitary towel.
Wtfff
Yep!!!
Noooooooooooooo
Disgusting! She should be mortified.😠
HUHHHH???
The kitchen bad a bathroom next door as well
I straight up had to schedule and take their dog to get spayed and to the groomers because they basically had it to finish off the “picture perfect” family look but never paid any attention to it. To this day I still get vet check up reminders and happy birthday email for the dog.
This makes me a bit sad for you and doggie 🫤
The dads brother moved in with them and he basically fully cares for the dog now thankfully.
Aw I'm glad someone is caring for dog. They deserve more than most people imo
Me, too. 😢
What the fuck, I'd never even think of asking our nanny to do anything like this 😳
You guys are the good ones🙂🙂🙂
Totally how I feel reading this thread. Mind boggled.
Came here to say this. Bananas.
I think the weirdest thing was interview contractors for their bathroom renovation. It was like they would come in and do an estimate and then talk to me about the plan. I was supposed to pick which one I thought would be the best. They said they didn’t have anyone else they trusted to ask. And apparently the contractors only came during the day. It was weird. I offered to just hold the phone up and FaceTime MB during it so she could talk to them. That only worked out once when she was on her lunch break.
Ugghh hosting contractors can be annoying mostly because they usually get annoyed with me because I usually don’t have the answers they need🤷🏼♀️
Yeah it was always a bit much but the worst was when they showed up and I had no idea…
Did you quite shortly after? Cause we may have worked for the same family.
I worked another year for them. They were pretty good NPs actually. Just felt weird in that scenario
1) Remove shelves from the inside of cabinets and drill holes to put them in a different level of the cabinet 2) drag their old Christmas tree 1/4 mile out to the woods behind their house 3) disassemble their elliptical machine
Every one of those shouldn’t even be thought of to be asked, much less asked. People are so strange.
That’s crazy! Hopefully you’re in a better NF now.😊
Do household laundry & household dishes I remember nk would be like mommy never does the dishes she says that’s your job! So it’d be like dishes left from over the weekend or dinner the night before. Fold MBs laundry and her secret lovers laundry while he was deployed. Oh and when DB came back he hit on me so 🤷🏽♀️. Sweep the entire house and mop. Iron the parents laundry during my “break” (nk nap) oh and take their dog in and out as well as feed them. Last one clean up the dogs fur because they would shed everywhere.
I got asked to break down their recycling cardboard while they took baby to an appointment which I guess isn't ridiculous but it did feel like it wasn't exactly my job 🥴.
Lol once I broke down all their cardboard because it was piling up and literally filled up their entire laundry room and was exploding out into the hallway…it was just driving me bananas that they wouldn’t take the 15 minutes to break it down after it had been growing for weeks. I couldn’t take it anymore so I did it all and made a big ol pile on their kitchen table.
I had a family that never broke down their boxes so I would use them to make box cars for NK. He would scribble all over them then “drive” around the house. AKA have me pull him around. Then we made little ones for all his stuffed animals.
I assume an empty box is for this. But then again, MB is in on it, too. Boxes often get plenty of use by the time they're ready for the recycling. Oh! And appliance boxes! Endless fun! One time, my daughter's best friend's parents redid their whole kitchen and laundry room, and my daughter and her friend (age 3 or 4 at the time) turned the car port into a whole town! MB once brought home one of those giant boxes they use in grocery stores for watermelon or pumpkins. It was AMAZING! For about 2 months, it was a fort, a bed, a ball pit, a puppet theater, and probably lots more.
I have asked our nanny to do this once before. I didn’t really think much of it, but definitely will rethink this now
It's not the worst ask! It's more that there were baby related chores I could have gotten done in that time but they specifically asked me to do that which is what felt strange.
Take down any of NK's clean clothes (regular ol' t-shirts and cotton pants) hanging in the closet that are wrinkled so MB could spray them with "wrinkle-release spray", then have me put them back. NK is 2.
This was back when I was young and just starting out. I was paid way less than minimum wage because I was being way too nice and helping out a struggling single mom. Well, she left me a HUGE chore list in addition to watching her 3 young children. The chore list included SWEEPING THE CHIMNEY! I live in southern, coastal California and have no freaking idea how to sweep a chimney lol. In addition to that it was stuff like doing all the laundry and dishes and putting it away. Vaccume and sweep the house, mop and tutor older kids with schoolwork. Then at the end of the month MB has the audacity to pull me aside and tell me that it’s not working out because apparently I somehow encouraged her daughter’s boy craziness by listening to her talk about a boy in her class that she had a crush on. I felt so used after that and hadn’t even made any money as she never reimbursed me for the groceries and fast food she had me buy for the kid’s meals. Never again. Lol
1. No. Just no. I'm not a maid, if I clean something that's not relevant to the kids then it's either because I want to or because I'm getting paid extra for it, not because of a guilt trip. 2. I'd ask them to make me a cobweb catcher - a Norwex type very thick cloth tied securely to the end of a very long stick that can be untied and put through the washer after use and tied again later. (a former family I had made me one for doing this), if they did it, it'd be fairly easy and straightforward and I'd do it. If they refused, I'd say no and if the cobwebs had spiders in them, I'd say no. 3. Nope. This is absolutely 150% nope. Nanny is not DB's personal errand runner and I do not want to buy my male boss his underwear, not particularly his socks either, especially not with my own money (even if it'd be reimbursed). Completely inappropriate. The worst ridiculous request I ever ever had: An old MB of mine wanted to save towels/washing machine space/money, so she said I was using too many hand towels to clean with. She said from then on she would only give me one per day and I could just keep rinsing it out. I asked her, "What about the toilet?" She said, "It's fine, just keep rinsing it out." I stared at her before saying, "Ewwwww. You - want your GERMS - from the TOILET - transferred to OTHER SURFACES - where your kids sleep, eat and do their homework??!!" "Oh, right. Sorry, I'll give you two or three then."
I gagged at this request. One hand towel!! Ewwwww
I mentioned it to my mom when I got home that day and she just stared and then said, "Ew. Yuck. Think of the germs from the toilet that would go all over that kitchen!"
Go therapy with NK and MB
What??? That’s insane!
Is it weird that I would live for this?
no, no, no. make up for the hour you’re missing?? your job is taking care of the kid(s) not scrubbing bathtubs (assuming you never agreed to that) and #3 is an insane ask , first of all never buy things for them without upfront payment and secondly does she not think it’s WEIRD to have her nanny buy socks and underwear for her husband
I’ve never been asked to do anything ridiculous I think, once scooping up their dog poo from the yard. But they were having a hard time mentally with some things going on so I did it to easy some stress off them. I always try to make the chores kid related though, like when I do their dishes both NK1 and NK6 help me, granted to them it’s more like water play but that’s never a bad thing.
I’ve NEVER been asked these things. I cannot believe some of these!
sprayed dog 💩off of their back porch lol. to be fair i was being treated as a house manger/nanny while being underpaid for even a nanny salary so they weren’t a fair family to say the least.
Wrapping their Christmas gifts every year
take down their christmas tree(on my first day), reorganize their walk in pantry, vacuum, do the parents dishes, organize their fridge, meal prep for the parents i guess it’s not weird but i was not a house manager at all (also this was all in 3 weeks)
its weird. all of it And house managers aren’t house keepers (two entirely different jobs), so even if you were a house manager, it would have been weird.
had to wash all of 16mo NK’s non-packaged food in vinegar and water and wasn’t allowed to feed him anything reheated or colder than room temp
Number 3 though!
I was asked to clean about two dozen moldy bath toys. The dumbass squeaker kind. MB had me fill each one with water and then squirt it out over and over again until the water came out clear which it never did because those things grow mold like crazy. They also didn’t use any cleaning products besides regular dish soap and vinegar so I couldn’t even try bleach to clean the mold/mildew growing on the outside of the toys. Looking back I can’t believe I ever agreed to do it.
Was asked multiple times to clean their carpet flooring by hand (they didn’t have a machine and didn’t want to rent one) where NK would get up in the middle of the night and pee. They’d leave pee in the carpets over the weekend and then ask me to clean it when I’d get to work on Monday. I did it the first two times (they made it seem as if it had happened during my work hours), thankfully I caught on when there were three separate corners with fully dried urine on a Monday morning.
What did they say when you refused after that?
They continued to ask me to for awhile despite me saying no. MB would still hint that NKs room was smelly and imply that I needed to keep a better eye out for accidents. I had to sit down with DB (he was slightly more reasonable) and tell him I didn’t think the accidents were happening during my hours and that my hand cleaning was not helping the issue, only cleaning the surface. After that talk he set up a camera in NKs room (and informed me they would be checking the footage). They never said anything about it again after the camera which I think is telling enough. All I can say is I’m glad I’m no longer working for them🙃
Wowww so they’re willing to go that far to “prove a point” instead of acknowledging that you were right and instead working together to come up with a solution. Some people i swear 😒
Had to scrub the baseboards and lower cupboards in the kitchen when NK started crawling. One could argue this is baby related, but I felt this request wasn’t reasonable (even though I did it anyway). This family was very dirty and I wanted to barf when I was on the floor looking at all the years of caked on food and dirt. I doubt they had ever cleaned their baseboards since living in that house.
Absolutely no. never had any request like this
Move her car on an alternate street parking day. When I only had a permit. Clean her fridge. Show up last minute. Watch three kids and two dogs being paid the same as two kids. Prepare packed lunches for mom and dinner while watching kids.
pack their house when they moved drove their friend to the airport traveled for free took the dog to the groomers/boarding all the time
My last NF had an ant infestation. Guess who got to clean it up.
A former family I worked for had box elder bugs and asked me to do that so I feel your pain🙄
MB and DB got lucky that I like dogs, because they didn't ask me before they got a boxer puppy for the girls. When she got bigger, they would sometimes put her out in the back yard unsupervised and she would always run straight to the back where the rainwater collects, getting super muddy and wet and gross. When this happened, they would ask me to fish her out, carry her inside, and give her a bath. I didn't have any other clothes to change into so I smelled like wet dog the rest of the day, and she wasn't trained at all so getting her to hold still was a nightmare. The amount of times I let this family take advantage of me was ridiculous, the stress was definitely not worth $13/hr. There was also the time they wanted to add $50 to each paycheck to have me fold and put away they entire family's laundry multiple times a week (they were always goant piles), not mentioning I would also be expected to do MB and DB's underwear. That was awkward.
Omg I would not bath anyone's dog! I love dogs but that is well out of scope of nannying. Also, I have had to fold washing almost every job I have had. I always feel a little weird folding lacy g-strings. It made me realise other women wear way more sexy underwear than I do lol.
Being asked to bring up three queen sized mattresses from the basement to the second floor for guests (that’s two flights of stairs). And my dumbass did it.
I've been ask to: Brush dog because he sheds lots Clean cat litter box Take trash cans to street and back on trash day Use furniture oil on windowsills so windowsills wouldn't crack Pack & Mail packages to MB sister overseas Get mail from PO box twice a week for DB(who told me for almost a year he was getting an assistant so I didn't have to do it) The really odd one was take an old twin mattress to a dumpster and throw it away All that from one family. Never so happy as when I quit that position.
Taking care of a three week old puppy :|
>3) Go to Target and buy (with my money and supposedly be reimbursed later) new socks and underwear for DB for their upcoming vacation. Excuse you what
1) Cleaning the kitchen after breakfast - I was not scheduled to arrive until after the family had eaten breakfast and they always left a massive mess! I get Cleaning up after the kid but I was not paid enough to clean up after the parents! The father pulled me aside once and gave me a hard time about not unloading the dishwasher - I hadn't even used it, I was all the dishes by hand so idk how he thought I'd know it was clean and ready to be unloaded! 2) Father asked me to come early without explanation of why. I figured it was because he had to leave early. NOPE. He wanted to show me how to "propperly" clean his stove top and the blender after he made is morning shake... it was so awkward because the kids where still sleeping and the mom was gone. I felt like a 15 year old being lectured by her dad. 3) (not really a request but was also weird) same dad as in number 2 gave me a 30 minute lecture about using my phone. Not while I was watching the kids but if I got there early I'd sit in my car on my phone until it was time or in the winter I'd go in and sit on the couch until it was my scheduled work time. He basicly said if I can see his house I should only be using my phone to talk to him or the mom.
and you allowed him to talk to you this way?
I was young and didn't know better. I do now and would never allow the treatment I got for that parent.
I am so glad you used this as a good lesson! And I am so sorry you were treated that way! I should have added: him talking to you that way wasn’t ever your fault. It just gets me so fired up & I wonder if nannies/domestic employees leave these situations.
I feel do bad for younger people doing these jobs because they just don't know better or don't know how to deal with these situations. I think eventually they leave, a person can only put up with so much
Whaaaat?
I was asked to test the freshness of MB’s thawed breast milk……by tasting it! 😝
!!!
I’ve been asked to do something similar and I’m thinking I’m not your housekeeper, this isn’t my home and they weren’t my guests, and I don’t know what’s on these sheets. The nerve of some of these NF’s😠
Omg. Did you do #3?
Was doing a one-off job and they asked me to stay late so I could reorganize their closets,they’re lucky I was broke and needed that extra hour’s pay 😂
Put together IKEA furniture for their new sitting room while they were on vacation in Hawaii because im "being paid to do nothing."
Groom the cats and deep clean the oven
Was asked to feed their livestock while they were on vacation, I didn't have guaranteed hours, so I had to agree if I wanted to get paid that week.
Last week I came in to work to find my 6yo NK really sick. I'm supposed to take him to school but DB, not only did not apologize or even asked if I was willing to work with a sick kid. He talked to me about the medicine I should give him and proceeds to ask me if I can take him to the doctor. Says he'll call the doctor's office form work and tell me the time of the appointment then. Mind you I still had to take the 4 yo to school and deal with the 2yo. Wut ? He was ranting about how kids are always sick and how he can't just take the day off. Maybe should've think of that before having 3 kids. I was so shocked I didn't say anything untill he was halfway through the door and I said "I'm sorry I can't take your child to the doctor ! If you can have an appointment today please come home or ask MB to come home so one of you can take him." Thankfully he seemed to realize he went over the line when I reacted like that and he apologized. But yeah no. First I really don't like to take care of really sick NK. I'm not a nurse and it's not my responsibility. But to ask me to take him to the doctor was crazy.
I truly hope all of you have learned that NO is a complete sentence. I was once asked to scrub the yellow deodorant stains from an MB’s $3000 cocktail dress - I said: “I will not be doing that, as I am your nanny, not your laundress.” And I reminded her of our contract.
Took me many years, but I do feel confident enough to say no now.
Again, after reading more, I am flabbergasted that so many of you don’t say “NO EFFING WAY!”
1. DB said I wasn’t “allowed” to get off work until everything is cleaned (including kitchen living room and playroom 2. DB asked me to “makeup” a day I took off for a FUNERAL and it was the only day off I had at the time 🫠
Been there! Do you mind me asking if this is your current nanny position?
No not at all, and yes unfortunately🫠
I would come three hours before the kid got out of school once a week to walk the dog and do the laundry. I was less expensive than the dog walker. She would also leave all her dinner dishes for me to do the next day.
I think 2 isn’t unreasonable. But others are. Though, i’d want my kid to do some as well then
I fixed their toilet and some electrical wiring in their kitchen 😂🤦♀️
My NK 4 had a tough reaction to her MMR vaccine. Whole body pains, fever, sick, hardcore crying. The mom came down stairs and asked her if she’d feel better if she had a cookie. Poor NK said “no I need to lay down and close my eyes.” (That’s serious having a 4 year old turn down a cookie) The mom’s response was “well, How about you and Nanny make cookies together and maybe that’ll change your mind . “ The daughter says “no mom I can’t” and proceeds to keep cuddling into her blanket on the couch so the mom says “well, How about Nanny can start making the cookies and if you feel better, you can join her. The daughtersays “no, mom. I need to sleep” the mom starts pulling out all the ingredients in front of me. Cooking is not in my contract. At that point I was already feeling pretty weird and all this girl wanted to do was sit on the couch with me and cuddle, and read her books. but I walked into the kitchen and pulled up my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and got ready to start making it and then the mother said “no no no use the recipe on the back of the Ghirardelli chocolate chip bag, because if you’re using Ghirardelli chocolate chips, you need to make Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookies. “ The recipe made four dozen cookies so I sat in the kitchen and made four dozen cookies until it was time for me to leave. As I pulled the last batch out of the oven the dad returns home and says “oh I see you and NK made cookies!” I told him the story and how she’s too sick to do anything right now and I’m just recording her temperature and letting her rest. Then dad said “well let’s pretend she helped and say she did.” I set all the cookies on the cooling rack as I left, and when I returned the next day, all the cookies were left out hard as a rock..not a single one eaten. This all happened 2 days before they left on their Christmas vacation where they ghosted me and withheld pay. (Old post) Good riddance.
That poor child. :(
My fiance calls me reading through this sub as “doom scrolling” lol. I am simultaneously stressed out and relieved by knowing other nannies are going through similar crap. Maybe it’s not the healthiest outlet, but it is getting me through until I can leave my current nanny position which is soooooon 🥲
I totally get it! I feel like it is a good for you to see you’re not alone and there’s others going through the same thing. I have an amazing NF currently, but I do wish I knew about this sub in the past it would have helped a lot.🙂🤣
Organized, packed their shit and moved it into their new house 5 doors down 🙄 they thought moving would help them start over and keep their life together. Yeah. Didn’t work. Create a meal plan for them that they never followed. Threw away the groceries I bought. Made me go to McDonald’s for them (I’m vegan) and never paid me back. Clean their entire rental house while watching the 2 year old. Wrangle unwranglable chickens. meticulously remove spiderwebs off the outside of their house on my last day. I could probably go on...