i've practically hit bankrupcy trying to maintain a non 9-5 workday. i, by chance, came across this website for 'high end' nannies - i.e. needs to be american, have license, have a college degree... for 'high end' families, if you can imagine that. the pay is amazing - anywhere from $700-$1000 a week plus room and board and health insurance. i'm thinking of selling my soul and working for a rich family for a year. imagine, no expenses. i could request a family in ny and live right in the city...for free. plus, most have a requirement of 'willing to travel'. cool. travel in style. so, how far would you go to save some money? how wary do you think i should be of these EXTREMELY rich people? seriously, i'd be selling my soul! but interesting, too.
Funny how "high end" people are only seen as being American, eh? Kinda sick. Anyway, on to your post.....it would really suck to work for rich people, in my opinion anyway. Just from the way that I know a lot of them treat people, from my own experience anyway. BUT, their kids are usually included in that rude treatment (very sadily). A lot of the time, those kid's nannies are the only people who the kids have. My sister's old best friend has had a nanny since she was 4 (she's 17 now) while her parents held down very demanding jobs. That nanny is one of her best friends. There's also my mom's cousin who runs a multi-million dollar buisiness. She has 3 daughters and a nanny who goes everywhere with them. The mom really doesn't know her kids, but that nanny apparently is a total saviour for them. Of course, the mom gets jealous when her kids express appreciation for her, but then trots off to go on a cruise. Maybe you wouldn't be selling your soul so much. You might meet some great kids, and have some awsome experiences. I'd see it as soul growth rather than loss, as long as you keep your ideals in check.
I saw a WifeSwap one time where the one family had a daughter and the parents were at work all the time and they had a nanny and basically it seemed almost like all the parents did was conceive and deliver the girl. That nanny did EVERYTHING for that girl and was her only person to go to. I think that if you did go for something like that... make sure you guys establish almost a 'trial run' kind of thing. Like establish that after the first like 3 months you can leave if need be no questions asked or something... The reason I say that is if you find out within a month or so that you can't handle it or if they treat you horribly that you can get out of it. I don't know how that works so most people probably do that anyway. k now I'm rambling......But I agree it could be a wonderful experience for you. And hey.. maybe one day you could be the nanny for some famous persons kids!!
I did it for 5 years and it sucks. Sign your life away basically. You have no life your life becomes catering to their life. Ya vacations, nice digs not all it's cracked up t be and super bratty kids to boot. Don't reccomend it.
I would work for them. I'd mess everything up like Nicole Richie does on Simple Life (They're being housewives this season ) on purpose just because. I'd probably lose the job, but I'd just want a 'taste' of the other side of life.
i'd try it. its just a year, and if its that horrible you could quit. i worked for a very well-off family, for 3 years, but they were different. they cared very much about thier children, but both had demanding jobs....i developed a beatuiful relationship w/the kids (and still see them occasionally) and am actually friends with the parents, mostly mom. we email, and chat several times a week. dont get me wrong they had the huge house, pool membership, one of the best towns in nj~but on the flip side it seemed like they had a very healthy balance of what was truly important. no crazy expensive cars, or clothing~~and a lot of focus on family, when they werent working. they treated my husband and i like family...always invited over, gifts on holidays, ect... the families it sounds like you might work for sound more over the top~but i guess lots of money doesnt always equal a disaster. let me know what you decide, and could you send me this website? i have a family of my own now, but am curious... ps~ever read The Nanny Diaries? i couldnt put it down.
ANY job, unless you are only doing some type of proBono work, or working for the Welfare Department, Is "Working for Rich People." Working at WalMart is "Working for Rich People" So is working at Fields, or Sears, or doing telemarkenting or about anything else, which makes someone ELSE a profit. I've done nannying and I've worked as a post partum doula, and I work as a Lactation Consultant. I have MUCH less of a problem taking the money of rich people, than the money of middle class (poor people get a sliding scale.)
Good point maggie...guess people don't think of it that way since they don't see those 'rich people' right in front of them. I think what the whole 'rich person' thing was refering to the fact that there is a majority of them are quite obnoxious. Taking money from rich people...yeah...I wouldn't have a problem with it too, lol!!!
Yep, they are all holed up in their mansions and on their yachts, while the rest of us do their work...... Ug, we went through Marin County while we were in California, and my dh stopped so "You can shop, Maggie, you like to shop." OMG, as soon as I realized where we were, I was OUTTA there. Marin-freakin-County? What was that man thinking. All I had to do was to pick up a little shift in one of the shops, hand it to him, and say, "Here, I'll take this, and we'll get my sister one, too, OK?" The tiny one ply dress was $500.00. LOL! (OK, that's OT, but I DID FIND THE RICH PEOPLE, They are in Marin County California. )
Wow. Just wow. Alot of generalizations. I have alot of relatives that would be considered "very wealthy". My great-aunt lives in Malibu, she's married to an International Investment Banking Lawyer(say that 5 times fast). They have homes in Malibu, Hawaii, London, Vail, and Tokyo. They are very nice people. My cousins are very nice people. 2 of them attend Cornell and their sister attends an exlusive all-girls prep school. They aren't spoiled brats, they are normal kids/young adults. They liked to play, get dirty, and do all the other stuff kids like to do. My aunt also was 100% involved in the raising of the children. I have an uncle and aunt who also live in Antioch, California. They are considered wealthy and are great people. I have relatives that live in Manhatten, Chicago, and over in Europe with a ton of money. One of my second cousins is the VP of Mercury Records in Nashville. Not all rich people are jerks. Many of them grew up in very humble backgrounds and never lost that mentality even when they worked hard and aquired a wealthy lifestyle. Yes, there are some rich asshats that should be beaten with their Manolo Blahniks but to act as if all of them and their offspring are evil just because they have money is silly.
As someone who hopes to be one of the rich people with a nanny (but solely for foreign language purposes) and being from a family with several "rich" relatives who have had nannys, it's definitely hit or miss. My child protigy cousin had a nanny who was from France and spoke to him only in French and taught him to play piano from a very young age. His current nanny is Philipino and he's picked up some Tagalog- making it his 4th language. I've met both nannies and seen them interact with my cousin's parents and grandmother (my great grandmother), and in both cases, the women were more like family than the hired help. My Spanish teacher's best friend from college managed a billionaire in Spain and now has a penthouse in Madrid, a villa in Malaga, and several apartments and summer homes scattered around Europe. Every summer, she hires a high school au pair from the US to spend the summer with her kids, helping them with their English during the day and then traveling around Europe with them on weekends and during the parent's vacations. It is more for the au pair's benefit than the kids. But then again, there are always the stereotypical rude, neglecting parents. But the way I see it, anything is better than daycare and sometimes it just can't be helped.
No, I don't think anyone is making this generalization, Otter. I think the thing comes in when those who have SO much (like, say, the WalMart family) pays their employees squat. The state of California actually loses money on letting WalMarts do business there, as almost all their employees have to supplement with WIC, food stamps, and CalMed. That being said, I just said I have NO PROBLEM earning money from people who have a hell of a lot more than I do, when I work directly for them. In fact, although I charge less than many of the LCs in my area, I am always releived when I pull up at a client's house, and it is a McMansion. I can then take her money (to do the good work I do, hard work at that) with absolutely no difficulty. Helll, I'd like to BE rich. Reallly. I'd share a lot. But, it be nice to not have to worry about the bottom line ALL the time, have to go into mortal debt just so my kids can go to college, and have to drive a decade old shit box car, and have to often say No to Organic food, because I have a large family to feed, and sometimes the stuff at the store is so expensive. It is an established fact that the middle class and the poor, as groups, give higher percentages of their worth and income to charities ect. No, not all rich people are jerks, but almost all the ones I know have little or NO understanding of those who have less than than do.
I'm a nanny in FL now....for what I would consider a rich family. Just started but they seem really nice so far. The child is only 10 months old.
