Busted on the Nanny Cam
 

So we hired this new nanny to care for our twins. Middle aged lady from Peru, great references, did great during the day when we were watching her. She told us she believes in good meals, doesn't believe in letting the kids watch TV yada, yada, yada, BS.

Took me 3 days to get the nanny cam up and guess what, she is getting fired in the morning after seeing what went on today. The video shows our 20 month old boys standing unattended on the kitchen table while she is raiding the fridge. Shows her bagging 6 cokes, frozen dinners, toilet paper rolls, and even rolling off half of a roll of paper towels folding them up and stuffing them in her purse. Her purse gets so full that about an hour before we get home she grabs a trash bag and pulls the haul from her purse, bags it, then takes it out to her minivan. The good meals she spoke of consisted of 3 hot dogs today.

I am tempted to post the videos up on youtube.

I cannot believe how hard it is to find decent childcare!

Record her firing on the nanny cam! Id love to see what her reaction is as she watches the tapes of herself. Put links on her webpage if she has one, as "reference" links. Sucks that it happened to you but at least you were smart and got nanny cams. Good luck finding a quality nanny!

OMG!

So was she was feeding your kids hotdogs, and then stealing the frozen dinners as if that's what she fed your kids?

Deport her

That sucks, but on the flip side, I guess good that you found out and found out soon....

Best of luck in your search. I am convinced that there are far more good people, than bad, in this World....sometimes it sure doesn't feel like it though.

How about you have her arrested for theft and have her stealing ass sent back to her homeland.
That's what I would do. I'm intolerant to theaving bastages.

Tell her you are going to the store and pull up to the INS office.

DANG!!!!!! I agree with Andy Z!

I have 4 kids all young. I can't beleive this. POST THAT VIDEO.....she needs to be out there so she NEVER gets another JOB!!

Oh boy - (shaking head). Mikeski, you and I have talked about this before man. I'm glad you got the nanny cam.

As the father of twin boys myself, I can relate big time. Having been through the $2,000 a month nanny situation my self (still in it) I can offer everyone some advice on finding people.

There are a lot of people looking for work right now. You have to put yourself out there so they can find you. If you goto a church, start there. If you belong to any of the local groups that relate to multiples go there. Ask your friends who they know. Often times its a friend that knows a friend that has had or does have a nanny and they can connect you. Ultimately, you have to network in areas that your not used to being in... but trust me, those people are there. And getting first hand information about the ups and downs of a potential candidate gives you insider information.

It's to bad I'm not close to ya, because my nanny is crushed that after two years we are letting her go. She taught our kids Spanish, cleaned our home, and took care of our kids like they where her own. We dont want to see her go, but my boys need to goto a preschool before they tear our home apart.... It's situations like this that you need to jump on. I'm sure you can find something happening close to you.

Don't post that video, it'll just piss me off when I see someone abusing you like that. Hang in there. It really does get better...

As a side note: my boys note, my boys got a taste of a hogline of boats tied up at an event this year. Took them about twenty minutes to located the keys to a supra, insert, turn and fire up the engine. You should have seen the people jump. And after taking a cruise in a black Malibu, my one little bugger screams BU every time he see's one. Remarkably, he can tell the difference....Crazy for a 2.5 year old kido. Next years gonna be fun!

-Brian

Wow! I thought this was going to be some random story or video on Youtube. Crazy to see a story like this hit closer to home.

I'm mixed on the nanny cam thing. I think that even if you have a great nanny, there's always going to be something you didn't needs (or want) to see on the video. Even if your kids are cared for, and your assets are safe, sometimes people do things in private, and that privacy should be respected.

Still, making sure your kids are in good hands is number one. If I ever have to go the nanny route, I'll probably have a system installed. In your case, it certainly paid off.

I'd be interested to hear how you confront her and what happens.

I have 2 little ones also. 3 & 5 yrs old. My nanny is from Guatemala. Now you have me wondering.....What really goes on? Was your Nanny cam hidden like Meet the Parents? Post the video!

That's it... When we have kids I'm quitting my job.

My wife did. We tried it for awhile, since my wife had just gotten a promotion, but when we got to the daycare and found our kid dirty, not to mention getting sick all the time, we made the decision. That was a long time ago and I wouldn't change a thing, but it was a costly financial decision. (It may be why I (my family) are 3rds... :) )

Glad you caught the nanny in action before she could do some real damage. You may want to share the video with her references.

is she legal?

it is all about doing research when it comes to daycare. sure, your kid might get sick now and again, but what do you think happens when they go to school? we have our daughter in daycare five days a week for a half day. since I am currently on hiatus from work, I am home with my 6 month old son all the time. my daughter loves her "school", and would be devastated if we took her out. it is all about doing research on whomever is watching your kids.

Update: as I said I would do I fired her when she arrived this morning expecting to go to work. I simply told her that after reviewing the video footage from my security system I discovered several things that I could not allow to continue to take place in my home. But, before I did I asked her to produce her legal identification. Normally this would have taken place the first day but she conveniently forgot her wallet on the first day. The only thing she could produce was a letter from the Peruvian consulate stating that she had applied for legal identification. She had told us that she was legal and that she paid her taxes (important because it has a significant tax ramification on my part). Based on what I now know I am 99% sure she has never paid a dime in taxes to the US and is as undocumented as they come.

The nanny-cam... It is a hidden camera, nobody would know that it is a camera. I really hated the idea of the camera and was losing sleep over having it since it just feels wrong to tape somebody without them knowing about it. I even considered telling her before that she might be video taped. Bottom line, it's legal to do this. Now in hindsight it's one of the best things I ever did. I am sure that raiding the fridge was just the beginning. I would not be surprised if the action would have moved from the fridge to the jewelry box and toolbox as time passed. The body language displayed in the video really tells the story that she knows that she is doing something very wrong and hoping that she doesn't get caught (lots of looking over her shoulder, kind of hiding the stuff from the windows, etc.). The lack of attention given to my boys was what bothered me most about the videos.

One more thing about the nanny-cam. I recorded myself for an afternoon while I was in charge of the boys. When I watched the tape I was very very surprised to see how much time lapsed while I was not completely attentive to my boys. It's a great parenting tool. For other parents with young children I suggest you record yourself and critique yourself.

If I ever find the time I might do a little edit to some of the video and post it up on youtube just for fun. Now that it's behind me, some of it is pretty funny, to see how lame people can be. Seriously, stealing toilet paper... That is just sad.

Mikeski, check out http://www.sittercity.com

I have found a number of really good candidates and sitters for my daughter here. This might help you going forward.

Kevin, That's where I found her! I've been a member there since my boys were 2 months old.

I 100percent disagree with this statement. Have you looked for your wife...or in the mirror? There is someone there that is perfect for taking care of your kids...Your Kids Parents!

^^^^Wow, you must have a great job that supports everybody in your family and everything you own. Must be nice, but in most peoples lives that is not the case, and many times bolth parents have to work and child care is the only option.

of course you do...your situation is 100 percent different. but those that are in the same situation agree with it 100 percent.

"I 100percent disagree with this statement. Have you looked for your wife...or in the mirror? There is someone there that is perfect for taking care of your kids...Your Kids Parents!"

What a dumbass comment. Everyone's situation is different.

Nah - you guys are funny. I used to make like 50k and I could still afford to support my wife and kids(and that was in Santa barbara/Ventura area)...but I didn't have my boat back then either.

As far as the name calling - who disagrees that the parents are the best choice:confused:

I never said that single parents, or those that are truly desperate, shouldn't have childcare...just that the parents are the best choice...

I do, some parents should not be allowed to have kids, but they do cause sex feels good. Go to wallmart and look arround.

So only single parents or those that are truly desperate should be able to work and the rest of us should stay home? I don't know how long ago you lived in Santa Barbara on 50K, but that wouldn't get you much these days or the ability to have your wife stay home.

I guess I should consider myself a horrible mother because I am gainfully employed BY CHOICE! But I guess the fact that my son loves and thrives at his preschool should be beside the point, right? Or that my daughter loves both of her daycare providers because I should give up all of the hard work I put in to my studies because you can't have a career and be a parent?

Actually, you could probably live in Santa Barbara easier now, since I could buy the same house that I sold there for less than I paid for it originally.

As far as being a horrible mother, I would never say that. But my wife got her degree in early child education and spent a lot of years working childcare. After seeing it in that light there was no way she would ever put our kids in that environment.

When I look back I hardly remember the months that we barely scraped by...but my wife always tells me stories of her and the kids doing this or that or the kids first this or that. I guess you could call the day care center and get those stories though.

I am impressed with the level of disgust regarding me saying that parents would be my first choice of childcare, though, and nobody mentioning the nice comments of deportation, or having her arrested and sent to her homeland

Just for the record, Mikeski - I meant my original statement as a compliment to you and your wife as parents, not as a snub to parents using daycare.

Tim, your comparing yourself and your wife to sombody you don't even know. Apples to oranges imo. It's not disgust that you saying parents would be your first choice of childcare, but that you are saying any other way is the wrong way. With out saying that. Your words are depicting you and your wifes actions of how you did it and what you believe is the best way to do it. I believe if I was paying for child care I would be paying sombody to teach them things I could not do. Such as spanish or skills I do not have. What is so wrong with that? I went to child care when I was little and boy I learned alot and I do not resent my parents one bit for putting me there. Yes I see your point about not getting to see your kids grow up because they are in child care but if they are excelling in life because of it why not. I also feel that by bolth of them working gave me a better life in general, hence the boat they provided, the nice place to live, etc. Now as an adult I would do the same because it made me the responsible adult that I am. Goods and Bads about bolth, but not wrong either way.

I have twins...