Moving On Up

I've officially moved on over to my own url. You can officially now find me at NannyInNewYork.com or NannyInNYC.com. (Why both? Well, I'm not the most decisive person, sometimes.)

If you have me bookmarked or link to me on your own site, please update my url. Also, I welcome any comments on the new site.

Thanks for your continued readership!

PostSecret

A great site to check out every once and a while is PostSecret, an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.

They are sometimes funny, sometimes frightening, but always entertaining. This one, I think, is a good example of all three of those qualities:



I found this one there today and thought, in keeping with my breastfeeding themed rants, I'd include it for all of you:



I've never lactated in my life (thank god, really, it would be very inexplicable and rather inconvenient!) but I feel I understand the sentiment perfectly.



Technorati Tags: Breastfeeding, PostSecret, Secrets

Poor Spelling Has It's Advantages

I am the number one search result for the term "Muchkins." It really confused me until I realized what I'm sure is painfully obvious to the rest of you.

CNN is Officially On Notice!

I've decided to take a page from Stephen Colbert's book and start an On Notice list. And fittingly, today, CNN has managed to slide perfectly into the top slot. They reported today that "A baby sitter bungled her first day on the job" when she mistakenly picked up the wrong 5-year-old child from his elementary school in Long Beach, CA. The babysitter bungled her first day???? What about the parents who didn't think it important that the person responsible for their child actually know what said child looks like?

A police sergeant assigned to the case made the following statement:

"There's a lesson here, . . . What an opportunity to tell parents to talk to their kids, and communicate with their caregivers. This young child was full of trust, and he sees an older, caring adult and just walked off with that person."

And while I don't disagree that what he says is in fact a valuable lesson for parents and caregivers alike, the actual lesson here is INTRODUCE YOUR BABYSITTER TO YOUR CHILD. It might only take once, but facial recognition is a rather important element to this job.



Technorati Tags: CNN, Irresponsible Journalism, Parental Neglect

Wednesday Goodie Report

I regret that I don't get to spend enough time on the Lower East Side. There really are so many cool streets to explore, but my flight path through the city just doesn't usually include this area. But, I was lucky enough to need to pick up Jill at her friend's house yesterday, so Luke, Drew and I went early so that we could wander around a bit. (Ok, the boys weren't so keen on the idea of "wandering around a bit", but I made it worth their while.)



At the corner of Broome and Orchard there is a sweet little cafe called 88 Orchard. It's directly across the street from The Tenement Museum and the coffee is excellent.



They do in fact have cozy seating downstairs, and it's a good thing too, because now every time I head into a coffee shop I'm afraid the I Saw Your Nanny crew is watching me sip a caffeinated beverage while my charges scrape paint chips off the wall and eat them. I got my much needed caffeine fix and the boys got oatmeal cookies, which made them quite happy (take that ISYN!), and downstairs they could run around and not bother anyone, which was nice for all involved.



If you aren't a coffee fan, they have a great selection of tea as well. I love the little tea display at the counter. I'm a sucker for tiny labels.





Technorati Tags: New York City, Coffee Shops, Lower East Side

Favorite Place #1

I snapped a few pictures this weekend of a house that I'm absolutely in love with. It's on Tenth Street, and it simply couldn't be cuter. I now think there is nothing better than getting a Vespa to match your shutters (or vica versa).





Technorati Tags: New York City, Architecture, Vespa, Greenwich Village

Much Anticipated (by me) Changes

This weekend my new website has begun to take shape. Please go and check it out at Nanny in New York.

The official switch to the new blog should happen later on this week. Of course I'll keep this one up for a while to redirect visitors. If you have me bookmarked or you link to me on your own blog, I'd love it if you would switch my address as well.

I welcome any feedback you might have on my new site. It was designed by Peggy at Ciao! My Bella! Custom Website & Blog Design. If you're in the market for design services, I highly recomment them.

I Saw Your Nanny

Last week I stopped to get coffee before Luke's music class. Next to the register in the little shop we frequent there is a display of Slim Jims which I don't believe I've ever given much thought at all. Luke, on the other hand, has apparently been giving them some thought, or at least decided to that day, because he looked up at me, pointed clearly at the Slim Jims and said, "Lukey like dat!". To which I immediately replied, "No you don't, you've never had one," and I proceeded to purchase my coffee--as if that was the end of the conversation.

But, of course, Luke was not so easily persuaded. He stood up in the stroller and began chanting "Lukey want dat! Lukey like dose!" He went to that critical point of shrill hysteria almost immediately. I stood there in the store thinking. I knew he had to be making it up. There was no way his parents had ever bought him a Slim Jim. Truckers eat Slim Jims, not proper little boys. But, after tears and a near tantrum, I gave in! I felt defeated and like a terrible nanny, but I just couldn't handle the tirade that day.

As we left the store, with Luke sucking happily on a chemical treated stick made from god knows what animal byproducts, I was terribly frightened that someone would see me. Who wants to be that nanny? The meat byproduct nanny? Not me, that's for sure!

And now, thanks to a recent article in the New York Times about conflicts between nannies and parents over the feeding of children, I am too well aware that Big Brother is watching. In my case, Big Brother is the website I Saw Your Nanny. On it you will find people reporting every imaginable nanny offense, but the majority go something like this one:

White, brunette nanny with very bothered disposition who took two children about 2 & 4 into starbucks so she could get a coffee at a kind of busy time. Nanny also selected some sort of bread type pastry and waited for a seat. The children had nothing, not even water. The nanny sat and had her coffee and pastry and kept correcting the children who were not content to sit still in a coffee shop on a busy Saturday morning. (Why were they even asked to?). The boy was blonde (and needed a haircut unless he is trying out to play a younger brother on The Suite life) and his name was Daniel. He called the nanny "Em" ( I think). I wanted to tell the nanny to take the kids to the park and plop her butt on a bench so that the kids could at least run around! It is a beautiful day outside. And no, taking a break at Starbucks is not a bad thing, but it seemed rather obnoxious for the children to sit there with nothing!

Without going to the archives I counted 7 postings that all involved the, apparently shocking, offense of drinking while caring for children, and yes, that's drinking coffee!!

I can't really work myself up to be outraged over the site, though. Reading all the various posts was good fun, and the comments seem to be frequently written by people who are sane and realize that frequently caffeine is a large part of enthusiastically caring for children. Plus, I will admit that I've seen behavior (by nannies and mothers) in the parks that is abhorrent to me. Perhaps I'll become a contributor . . .


Technorati Tags: Nanny, Parenting, Whistle Blowers, Slim Jims

Because I Haven't Mentioned Breasts in a While

This month Toys R Us employees at the Times Square flagship store made a big mistake. They allegedly harassed a mother who had stepped into an "out of the way" place in the store to breastfeed her 7-month-old son. Unfortunately for them, Chelsi Meyerson, the mother, is the daughter of a "'high-ranking official' in La Leche League". It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

Meanwhile . . .

Here are a few of my most favorite pieces of public art. Notice a theme?



This is a sculpture by Louise Bourgeois on the lawn in Wagner Park. It's entitled "Eyes" but, I must say, I see something entirely different, especially since I've never known a pair of eyes to have raised pupils. Also, in researching her work I found this passage:

Deeply symbolic, her work uses her relationship with her parents and the role sexuality played in her early family life as a vocabulary in which to understand and remake that history. The anthropomorphic shapes her pieces take--—the female and male bodies are continually referenced and remade--are charged with sexuality and innocence and the interplay between the two.

which makes me quite believe that my interpretation of her art holds some authority.



I snapped this photo during one of Luke and my jaunts to DUMBO. I haven't yet discovered the artist's name, but I love that it's pink and so wonderfully proportioned as to make me feel that my waistline isn't quite so much in need of slimming as I often fear it is.

And finally . . .



As my friend DJ says, "If one glass of red wine is good for you, well, then a bottle must be even better!", so if one set of breasts is good, then a set of 8 must be very useful indeed. This statue would come in handy for nex year's Nurse-In.


Technorati Tags: Breast Feeding, Breasts, Public Art, La Leche League, Toys R Us