A Nanny’s Patience: Taking Care of Your Kids

nanny holding child's hand

Patience is a virtue. Especially when you’re a nanny, patience paves the way to connecting with children. While taking care of the needs of other family’s kids, there are certain boundaries established to nurture an appropriate relationship with the whole family. These lines also mean that it takes that extra time to settle into their household as a contributing member. Even though a salary is involved, these are still important relationships being built, particularly important for the kid. You and other adults who are consistent in their lives are the role models they look up to. They’ll learn many things from you, whether you’re teaching them or not.

What Is Expected Of A Nanny?

As far as the job description suggests, a nanny’s duty mainly consists of taking care of a child’s welfare. This covers not only the child’s basic needs of getting fed, dressed, and washed up as needed but also helping out during their formative years in terms of moral development, experience, and discovery. They ought to guide the kid as they rationalize, show respect, practice honesty, and stay creative. The job has a wide scope and going into specifics will only bore you with a long list and an even longer article. Generally, the nanny becomes a third parent to a child for whenever their parents or guardians are not around. No two nannies have the same job, each cater to their assigned household. Not to mention the different types of nannies, from the ones you call in on an hourly basis to in home child care nannies, and all of us have our specialties.

What Are The Occupational Hazards That May Arise In Being One? 

Putting modesty aside, us nannies is there for the rough days, the unplanned outings, the emergencies of watching your kid. You guide your kids through conceptualization, discipline, and academics. Then we step in when it’s time to wash up, kitchen, living room, toilets clean up. The nanny runs after the kid at play, picking up the pieces thrown around. We’re always on the lookout to stop your kid from eating inedible things and guides them into proper feeding which may take long hours. That becomes our task until bedtime. Yes, kids are bundles of joy that are so much fun to be around, you may think we have the dream job, and we sure do. But looking more closely, our passion for our work and your family also means long hours of meticulous care for your child and your home.

When it comes to caring for others, it’s sometimes easy to forget our place and overstep on the guardians’ or parents’ way of disciplining. Many wouldn’t give the privilege to a nanny of the same intimate discipline strategies as a birth parent would have. So as a nanny, when we have to deal with tantrums, stubbornness, awkwardness, laziness, and anything concerning disobedience, embarrassment, talking back, and resistance, patience is the ultimate test. 

So How Do We Do it?

As nannies, stepping up our game of taking care of the kid to the best of their ability is a different challenge everyday. From negotiating the division of mothering labour, to getting credit where it’s due, to wage, hours and silly tantrums and tensions within the family. Ironically, you can’t be too nice all the time, as parents can forget how much you do for the family, and kids being mischievous creatures by nature, love stirring up trouble.

boy wearing orange shirt making a wish with a dandelion

Kids are naturally energetic, forever curious, and play is the only language they pay attention to. Us nannies are aware of this and know how to approach your child on the days they’re in the mood to focus, listen and learn. Then there are some days they would feel too tired to participate in any activity. But good nannies know how to read the situation and steer kids in the right direction without being too pushy.

On top of all that, a good nanny is accepting of a kids’ individualism. While there are many things a kid could be in terms of attitude, a good nanny knows how their kid likes their pancakes done, what their favourite toy is, and what helps them feel secure to ease into sleep.

Where Do We Nannies Get The Power To Sustain It?

Patience roots in being understanding of what it is to be human. When you gauge a kid, know that they’re dedicated to pleasing those they respect and showing patience is a sure way of receiving their trust. Their trust in us is built on solid ground, not with slacking on bedtimes and snack allowances. Once you understand how great the responsibilities of an experienced nanny are, you’ll be grilled of patience on top of understanding the real meaning of being tired. 

And when after a long time, the child sleeps on you, holds on to you for comfort, and you hear them calling out your name in their sleep, it’s more rewarding than the paycheck you receive every month. Because, you know, you have touched that child’s life and that you are in that child’s heart tattooed forever.

Feel free to leave a comment of your nanny experiences, parent or nanny, we want to start an open discussion on better care taking.