10 Nannies Whose Dedication Went Beyond Daily Tasks

Taking care of a child isn’t always an easy task, whether you’re a parent or a babysitter. Regardless of their age, kids always find ways to surprise us — sometimes making our hair stand on end, other times warming our hearts. However, when we’re working as nannies, it’s usually the adults who cause the most trouble.

• I had to change the kid’s cloth diaper every two hours on the dot. He was six. I assumed it was because of some kind of disability or something — but no. His parents just didn’t want to potty train him, and the kid was perfectly content with being babied. I remember making him put on his own diaper and encouraging him to use the bathroom if he needed to. I never went back. © Drsweet*** / Reddit
  

• Hippie family. The two-year-old had no bedtime and no rules. “She can eat what she wants, no bedtime, and if she falls asleep, just leave her wherever she crashes.” The parents came home at 2:30 a.m. to find their toddler eating chocolate cake on the couch, watching her favorite show, American Pickers. Apparently, that was fine. Six months later, the mom—now very pregnant—asked if I could watch the toddler while she gave birth in a bathtub at home. The two-year-old was supposed to be in the room, watching, while I explained what was happening. That evening, when the parents came home (toddler holding fried chicken, Keeping Up with the Kardashians on TV), I decided I was done. As a 20-year-old, I was not prepared to witness someone else’s home birth chaos! © CannedTornado / Reddit

• I was asked to babysit my goddaughter while her parents went to meet-the-teacher night for her older brother’s kindergarten class. She was about a year old at the time.
  It was the first time I babysat, and she screamed the entire time. As soon as the door closed, she started freaking out. Since then, I’ve declined requests to babysit. © Chefbexter / Reddit

• The mom had me put her kids in their car seats and sit in the driveway with all the car doors open while she just hung out inside the house. 5 hours of me standing in the driveway watching them sit inside their car. Never returned. © ***ing*** / Reddit

• There was a mom who would only allow her kids to do art on Tuesdays. I never learned why it was only one day or why it was Tuesday. But she totally flipped out one day when we did it on the wrong day. © chickaboomba / Reddit

• I once babysat three children: two boys and a girl. The girl was the youngest and was supposed to go to bed an hour before the boys. I specifically asked the parents if that was going to be a problem, and they told me that is how it always is, and she’d be fine.
  When bedtime came, the girl protested, so I tried all kinds of things like telling her I’d tell her a great story or trying to make it into a game. Nothing was working, and she started crying. The two older boys completely turned on me, and all three of them became united against me. They told their sister that she didn’t have to go to bed.
  All three of them started running around the house and chanting, “Worst babysitter ever!” I don’t remember how the evening ended, but I do remember avoiding that family’s calls a bunch. © coughdrop01 / Reddit

• They asked me to spoon-feed their 3-year-old. He was perfectly capable of eating by himself, yet they fed him like that until he was 5. © justmede123 / Reddit

• I babysat for this family for the first time ever, and the mother was walking me around the house, giving me instructions and showing me around. Then she stopped at the fridge and explained to me that when I sent her son to bed, I was to give him one hot dog out of the fridge.
  No heating it, no bun, just a cold soggy hot dog for her son to munch on in bed. Apparently, he ate one every night. © groceryenthusiast / Reddit

• I was babysitting for a single mom. The house was always messy, but I never complained. I knew the mom was doing her best.
  One day, I overheard her talking on the phone. I felt sick when she said, “This nanny is perfect. Once I report her for theft, we can sue. I’ve already planted the receipt in her bag.” I stood frozen, not sure what to do.
  I quietly grabbed my bag, checked it—and sure enough, there was a folded receipt from a local jewelry store. The one I’d never even been to. I snapped a photo of it and left immediately.
  Later that night, I messaged her saying I wouldn’t be returning, and that I knew what she’d planned. She never responded. The next day, she blocked me.

• The parents were bodybuilders and had one daughter. I don’t even know what her name actually was because I heard them call her so many different things.
  Anyway, this kid would lose her mind unless I played cartoons on TV and consistently fed her cheese. I would usually try and distract her with any other snack, but she would only eat cheese. The parents encouraged me to give her all the cheese she wants. “She’s going through that stage where she only eats cheese,” they said.
  I was seriously concerned for this kid’s health. For 2 years, I only ever saw her eat cheese. She was constipated almost every time I babysat. One time I ended up feeding her an entire block of cheese in 2 hours and refused to babysit for them after that. © norberthp / Reddit

Sometimes we’re having a day that seems completely ordinary, but with a twist worthy of a movie script, everything changes — and we end up with a story to tell for the rest of our lives.