The Nuisance Nanny

Most families in Bangkok have a Nanny and they generally are amazing, however it is important, when it comes to raising your children, to make sure that they uphold the same standards and routines as you do. If they don’t it can be much more damaging than you would think.

Feeding- Make sure that your nanny or carer is following the same eating regime as you are. You want to make sure that your child isn’t getting more snacks than they would normally do with you. Talk to your nanny about what you allow and don’t allow and make sure they follow through.

Mollycoddling- A common mistake that nannies make is that they feel their job is to take care of your child in every way. Often this can make them pushovers as they can’t distinguish between what your child can and can’t do by themselves. You want your nanny to teach your child independence. Too often I see nannies spoon feeding the children in their care.

Helping with homework- Of course it is important that whoever is taking care of your child is supportive and can help with things like homework, but make sure that they understand ‘helping’ does not mean ‘doing’. Learning is not accomplished by knowing facts but rather by finding the solution to problems independently. It is also important that the same system for teaching is being adopted at home as it is in school. For example if the school uses phonics, don’t teach ABC and if the school is teaching addition through partitioning, don’t teach the column method.

These basic mistakes can affect children emotionally, physically and educationally and they can put them on a difficult path to return from. If you feel that your nanny does any of these, it might be a good time to have a quiet chat.