Archive for November, 2009

Mady asked:


Wait until they were born to name them? I don’t mean have a few names picked and see which one fits better. I mean do not even think of one name and when you see the child, you name the child the first name that comes to mind. I am attempting this with my son. I have had 3 children before, but never have done this. My 3 other kids are named:

Brody James: born 20 years ago, and passed at 17 mos. from SBS (shaken baby syndrome) caused by his father, who had left me for the nanny (the SBS was diagnosed a year after his death)

Valentino Brody: Born sleeping 19 years ago on Valentines day. We had the named Vincent chosen, but Valentino was perfect.

Julia Valentine: Born 17 years ago. I raised her until she was 16 and she left to live with her father. I have not seen her since she left, it will be 2 years ago she left on my baby’s due dae.

I have had many losses, and I realized you are not to expect things from life but to take them as they come, and that is why I am doing this with my son’s name. How did you come up with your child’s name?

I admit I love Supernanny but?

ĀŢĿĄŜ↔ĴŮŅĶĬĒ asked:


…whenever I watch it I see the British flag flashed several times while one (or a few) British nannies watch a tape of a family with ridiculously ill-behaved, bratty children, shaking their heads and rolling their eyes in disapproval the whole time. Then, you see the nanny come in to the home to save the day. I enjoy the show and I have learned many discipline techniques I may choose to try with my own daughter when she is a bit older, however the fact that the show portrays Americans as bad parents and we need the British nanny to come in and save the day. Does that turn anyone else off at all? Why couldn’t they have a few American nannies?

To Americans -
Do you think that since all the nannies are British, it makes it look like we American’s can’t control our own children? That’s one thing that always bugged me about the show. What do you think?

To people around the world –
Do you feel like American’s are worse parents than the parents in other countries? Do you think shows like the Supernanny propagate those thoughts? – Please feel free to be very honest. We are online so no one knows who you are :P

Thanks everyone!
Heather – Thanks! You’re right, I did have the 2 shows confused. BTW, I’m not offended by any part of it. I like the show – or both shows, LOL!
I was just wondering if anyone else ever thought that the concept of having British nannies come in and fix messed up US families made other’s think US parents can’t control their kids. That’s all.
Shawn – Where are you from? I don’t think southerners are the most strict American parents. Maybe some but for instance, many redneck families have little to no discipline. I know. I lived in GA for 3 years while I was in the Army.



The current life wants us to be more mobile and work hard. No wonder, its pretty much hard to assign time for our babies. Once, we arrive at a conclusion that we need to hire professional nannies or professional babysitters for kids. But it can be much more difficult as expected.

The key is to find the right babysitter who can take care of your child while you are working. You’ll have to be prepared for a long search as finding a good and professional caregiver is your primary importance. Do not forget that this person will be responsible for your child’s safety, happiness, behavior, activities, interaction and sometimes, for his/her life. So, how to find the aupair who your family needs? In our quick guide you can find some useful tips about how and where to search the aupair. Nannies always become a part of our family. That’s why the choosing process is so important.

Compose the nanny’s full list of your needs and requirements.

Specify as many characteristics as possible. Start with applicant’s experience, education, age, length of service, salary etc. Contact local nanny agencies. Ask your friends, family, neighborhoods or colleagues if they can help. Ask around among your contacts as comments from someone you know may be the most truthworthy. Be patience and resourceful. Search through your local parenting resource centers, school newsletters, day childcare centers, nursery schools, associations of childcare providers, nanny training courses etc. Many babysitter agencies are responsible for their candidates . They verify candidate’s work experience, education and check for any infringements of the law. They also take a health checkup, test for goodness of fit, and require blood tests. Babysitters firms are deserve your attention, but their work is not cheap.

Web sites which provides babysitting services are less expensive. These firms are very instructive, have extensive databases where you can find the babysitter which could satisfy your demands. Schedule in-person interviews.

Be very specific about what you are looking for. Prepare a list with all possible habits which would disqualify certain candidate. Discuss any concerns you have.

Observe how each sitter interacts with your kids and how your kid responds to her. Your kids should have a positive feedback.

Good caregivers should have the testimonials from former employers. Call them and discuss all your concerns and worries. Ask them what methods caregiver had used, how she worked in any different situations.

Finding a perfect babysitter is very difficult and responsible process and it also might be impossible at the first push. But the main thing you should remember when employing a babysitter – your child needs parent’s love, care and attention.

By: Antwan F Boyd

About the Author:
If you liked by post please visit my blog Professional nannies.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me! Thanks.



Bee ~Brit Mum~ asked:


I have a friend, well less than a friend more than an acquaintance if you know what I mean, (we both live in Britain) with a baby around the same age as mine (who is 9 months old). Our parenting styles couldn’t be more different, we do everything differently. There are certain things she does, or doesn’t do, that I inwardly disapprove of but I keep it to myself as I know opinions vary and unless she is being harmful or neglectful she has every right to parent her child how she wants. But she is the kind of person who will go to any measures to take the pressure of parenthood off her. It’s annoying, she’s almost 10 years older than me, married and has a live in nanny even though she only works 12 hours a week, and chose to try for a baby, I’m 20, single, doing a full time home study degree and take care of my baby 24/7 and my pregnancy was unplanned, and yet I pay my baby so much more attention than she does, and give him so much more time. Anyway sorry digressing into a bit of a rant there! But as I say, I keep my opinions of her ‘ways’ to myself, live and let live is my motto!! However lately she has been getting on my back, criticising me for being a ‘pushover’ and doing ‘too much’ for my baby. The main thing she goes on about is night feeds. From day one she was doing anything and everything to get her son sleeping through, things I wouldn’t dream of doing, and a lot of the time she’d ignore him if he woke (and he was always good, from day 1 he only woke up every 4 hrs on the dot then went straight back off!)… my baby had awful colic for first 3 months then started sleeping 12 hours straight, and last couple of months has now just been waking up for 1 night feed and 1 early morning feed most nights, and then goes back to sleep straight after. Personally, I have no problem with this, it’s what babies do and he isn’t hurting me or himself, I always try and get him back off with just a cuddle but he usually holds out for the bottle. Well she is constantly going on and on about how I’m doing it all wrong and how I should just let him cry – personally I just can’t do this, I’ll let him whinge for 5 minutes tops if a whinge is all it is, but I can’t listen to him cry, I have no problem with people who do but I don’t agree that a baby should be left to cry indefinitely – if her baby wakes up at midnight for a feed she leaves him crying alone in his room until 6am, that is her ‘rule’. One of these days she’ll wake up and find her baby has an illness and she’ll have missed due to her sheer laziness. I just don’t understand why someone would choose to have kids if they are that set on having 8 hours of sleep a night!! But whatever, my problem is when she has the cheek to criticise me when all this time I’ve been silent about her selfish and often unsanitary ways of raising her son.

Sorry this question is a huge rant, just needed to get that off my chest! My question is, honestly, is she right about me?! Should I just let my son cry all night? (Even if people say yes I know I won’t but I just wouldn’t mind the opinion of a third party!) And is she right to criticise me, and in my shoes would you in return give her a piece of your mind about all her parenting skills you don’t respect??

your views on childcare?

paying some bills asked:


im doing some research, for an english project.
im trying to find out if people would prefer to stay at home with their kids or put them in day care (up untill the age of 5 when they start school) i have 12 (short) questions, can you please reply with your answers. all information gathered is PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL. if you choose not to answer a question just type X

i thank you in advance for answering my questions

1. do you have children? yes/no
2.gender? male/female
3. age?
4. what is the highest level of education you have completed? (high school, degree, phd etc)
5. employment status? (full time, part time, student etc)
6.marital status? (married, divorced, single etc)
7.ethnicity?
8. total household income? (approx)
9.have any of your children been in daycare previously or are they currently in daycare?
10. do you or have you cared for your child at home, instead of going to work (without the help of a nanny or childminder)
11.do you belive the best place for a child to be raised is at home with their parents/guardian(s)?
12. Can you please give the ages your children were doing the following activities:

A. potty trained
B.speaking recognised words
C.Reading
D.Writing (even if its just their name)

marce asked:


i’m advertising my services as a nanny/babysitter/child caretaker on craigslist, and i was wonder what category y’all thought i should advertise it under?
i was thinking service offered rather than job offered.. ??
under service offered there are the following categories to post in:

Please choose a category:

* automotive services

* beauty services

* computer services

* creative services

* event services

* farm garden services

* financial services

* household services

* labor moving

* legal services

* lessons tutoring

* pet services

* real estate services

* skilled trade services

* small biz ads

* therapeutic services (non-erotic)

* travel/vacation services

* writing/editing/translation

obvious i wouldn’t advertise in like say automotive or something haha, but of the related categories, which do you think would be best?

thanksssss :D

guitarman asked:


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080829/ap_on_fe_st/odd_help_wanted_nanny

This employer is basically stating the truth in the ad. It is exactly like saying, Don’t expect a good employment situation at all because I part of the problem is me. Who would want to work for such a jerk? Why does the employer consciously decide she will be a jerk in the first place? She has decided that she will be a jerk and won’t even consider working on her attitude. She doesn’t have to be a jerk. She chooses to be one. That’s the crazy part.

paying some bills asked:


im doing some research, for an english project.
im trying to find out if people would prefer to stay at home with their kids or put them in day care (up untill the age of 5 when they start school) i have 12 (short) questions, can you please reply with your answers. all information gathered is PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL. if you choose not to answer a question just type X

i thank you in advance for answering my questions

1. do you have children? yes/no
2.gender? male/female
3. age?
4. what is the highest level of education you have completed? (high school, degree, phd etc)
5. employment status? (full time, part time, student etc)
6.marital status? (married, divorced, single etc)
7.ethnicity?
8. total household income? (approx)
9.have any of your children been in daycare previously or are they currently in daycare?
10. do you or have you cared for your child at home, instead of going to work (without the help of a nanny or childminder)
11.do you belive the best place for a child to be raised is at home with their parents/guardian(s)?
12. Can you please give the ages your children were doing the following activities:

A. potty trained
B.speaking recognised words
C.Reading
D.Writing (even if its just their name)

BlueViolet asked:


My lord… I’m watching Nanny 911 and this family has 5 kids. The mom is a SAHM while her husband has to work two jobs. And their kids… her kids are total demons! I would be soooo embarrassed if my kids acted like that! I know all kids are bad sometimes, but these kids are just… beyond words. The nanny asked what the consequences for their actions are and the mom was like, There are no consequences. Then she finally did put one of her kids in a time oout chair and he kept getting up, throwing the chair, getting an attitude, and running away from her. And she’s all upset b/c she can’t control her kids… whatever happened to spankings?? I wonder if this show makes people not want to have kids? Man… show it in a high school *** ed class lol. Why do people have kids an then turn around and let them completely run a muck?

In college, I majored in elementary ed and during my first practicum (week long, all day observance of an elementary school class), some of the kids (1st grade) were sooooo bad. They were spoiled and mean to the other kids and I asked the teacher about it and she got embarrassed and said that according to the school policies, the only punishment the kids can get for ANYTHING is a note sent home. Parents raise cane if little Johnny had to sit in time out even if little Johnny was taking things from other kids or being a complete brat. I changed my major b/c I knew I couldn’t handle all that day in and day out…

But (some) parents have demon spawn, choose not to discipline them, send them to a school where the teachers *can’t* discipline them, and then get all upset when they act out??

So if some of these parents
It’s on CMT lol!
Vara: Are you saying children are incapable of making good choices? Parents don’t force their children to be brats… Some parents don’t train them to behave well, but some of the responsibility has to fall back on the kids, too.



Background record checks are becoming more popular nowadays. When evaluating the babysitter, you should keep an open but rational mindset. More and more people are searching for jobs as babysitters and nannies in today’s failing economy. Most of these people don’t have experience to handle your child. While hiring a babysitter, few things you have to be considered.

How to check

1. Use a good reputed babysitter agency to ensure that sitters have some experience and can handle with emergency situations. Avoid craigslist, newspaper and online ads because screening is minimal in these cases.

2. Emphasize the things that you would not compromise and clearly state the minimum qualification required. Explain what is your expectation of the babysitter and the responsibility of the position.

3. After choosing a better candidate, don’t forget to go for babysitter background check. Use a formal way, so that it is possible for you to obtain all relevant information of that person such as name, address, past experience, family background details etc.

4. Don’t fully relay on the private investigators or agencies, you should try to do the background check yourself. This can be done by using the background check websites. All you need is the person’s first and last name, in order to obtain his/her criminal records. They maintain millions of public and police information on databases to provide instant reports.

5. After the background check is completed (no arrests, DUI, sex offence, felonies, driver’s license suspension etc) put the selected candidate under a trial period. Learn each and everything about the person you will allow in your home.

Criminal record trace

Ask your babysitter for her/his address, date of birth and security number details. You may now hire a firm to conduct the background check. They can provide a security trace which will list the previous and the current addresses for you to cross check.

By: John P Henderson

About the Author:
A Criminal Background Check can be performed on anyone who you are suspicious of. You can use this service for personal reasons to help you keep your family safe. Doing Background Checks on current and future employees within your business is an important part of workplace safety.