Hot Trend Alert - The Tibetan Nanny

What’s the new trendy accessory for metropolitan moms? Not the $800 stroller, not the Gucci diaper bag, it’s the nanny…the Tibetan nanny that is. Continue reading »

New Book Offers a Peek at the Nanny’s Life

I have never been a “real” nanny–one who works full or even part-time over the long haul of a family’s life with small children.  I have never employed such a nanny either.  But having both been a semi-regular baby sitter and having employed several of same since I started working part-time when my first child was about a year old, I am just connected enough to the industry to appreciate the stories of real nannies in Tasha Blaine’s revealing profile of the job, Continue reading »

Taking a Nanny on Vacation: Smart or Tacky?

I have never taken a nanny on vacation. To my knowledge, my friends have never taken a nanny on vacation. But I have heard stories — rumors? urban myths? — about people who do this. Part of me has to admit it’s a pretty brilliant idea. But the other part thinks it’s one of the most pretentious, self-involved things a parent can do.

The genius of the nannycation is pretty obvious. Someone is there, 24/7, to deal with your kids when they’re fighting over where to go mini-golfing, insisting on splashing everyone within a 10-mile radius of the hotel swimming pool or begging for something to eat when you just want to bury yourself in “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.” If you and your spouse or significant other want to have a nice dinner alone one night? Done. If you want someone else to con the little buggers into brushing their teeth and going to bed while you enjoy peace, quite and  a glass of wine? All set.

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Canadian Province’s Finance Minister Fuels the Mommy Wars

Lest we think it’s just here in the US that we tear each other to shreds over social policy, in Canada there’s been a huge controversy over Iris Evans, finance minister of the Canadian province of Alberta, making remarks that were critical of two-career families.

While answering questions after a speech to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto, Evans said she believes good parenting means that one parent stays at home with the children while they are young, as her own children have done.

According to the CBC website, she said this: “They’ve understood perfectly well that when you’re raising children, you don’t both go off to work and leave them for somebody else to raise. This is not a statement against daycare. It’s a statement about their belief in the importance of raising children properly.”
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