Teaching children to respect themselves and others is one of a nanny's most important responsibilities.Respect defines everything we do in life. When we control ourselves and use good table manners we show respect towards others. We say "please," "thank you," and "excuse me" to show we appreciate others. We treat children kindly and with respect to help children develop high self-esteem. During an economic recession is the perfect time to teach children to respect money and material possessions.
We asked nannies if they are dealing with issues of respect in caring for children. Their issues will be discussed this week.
We will talk to Michelle D. from Fort Lauderdale, FL who is trying to help a child to respect herself and stand up to bullies. Michelle explains, "One of the girls I care for is very heavy and is being bullied at camp this summer. She is so timid and insecure and won't swim now because she is embarrassed to wear a bathing suit. "
Ariel T., a nanny working in Charleston, SC admits the boy she cares for speaks to her disrespectfully. Ariel says, "The eight-year old boy I care for barks orders at me. His parents speak to me kindly when asking me to do things. But, I feel like the eight-year old orders me around."
Marilyn C., a nanny working in New Hope, PA says, "The child I care for simply has no respect for her valuable possessions because any material possession she wants is given to her. The child has learned that if she asks often enough, she will always receive."
Maria F., a nanny in Staten Island, NY has issues with nannies that are disrespectful towards children. Maria says, "I see nannies yelling at their charges when we go to the playground. It angers me. Not only are they hurting the child's feelings by yelling at them, they are embarrassing the child by scolding them in public too."
Erin S. of Englewood, CO also has issues with disrespectful caregivers. Erin says, "It irks me when nannies gossip negatively about the parents that hire them. I feel like if the parents are paying them and trusting them to care for their children and home they nanny should respect her employers and keep intimate information private."
Finally, Anna P., a nanny from Bethesda, MD cares for a teen-aged girl that hurts herself. She explains, "I work for a blended family and one of the teen daughters is anorexic and cuts herself. Nothing is more important than helping children develop self-worth and self-respect."
Stop by tomorrow when we will begin discussing these issue of respect.
The reasons nannies "gossip" is that they don't have a human resources dept to go to. We are human like everyone else and have issues with our jobs too. I don't think it's right for nannies to gossip about every little pet-peeve, but we need to ask advice sometimes. Not all talk about employers is disrespectful.
ReplyDeleteI put a great deal of time and energy into organizing and over the weekend all the organization is undone. I feel the family is disrespectful when they don't keep up what I do. They know I iron their shirt yet the folded shirts get rumpled and wrinkled when the children reach for another shirt they want. When they leave dirty dishes in the sink for me to do overnight or even clean pots on the counter for me to put away in the morning it's disrespectful. But, it's not enough to complain openly about or change jobs over. Everyone has pet-peeves and although at times I get very annoyed about leaving me with housework that I feel the parents should have done while I am not working, they probably have no clue that I feel they are being disrespectful in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI find the children today that I have been caring for talk to me as they are equals and not children. They negotiate any time I try to discipline them. It is difficult because when they are an adult perhaps negotiating with others is a good skill. But, right now as little kids, I feel they should show respect towards adults. They do not treat me with respect they boss me around.
ReplyDeleteKaitlyn, Madison WI
RE; fist comment above: It does not matter if you have a human resources dept or not. A lot of people work in jobs without a HR dept. If you speak poorly of your boss or people you work with at any job you might get caught. We all don't love our jobs every minute of every day nor or bosses everyday, but being a professional means learning to be mature enough to not gossip about your employer.
ReplyDeleteBrenda P.
Austin TX
Thank you for addressing multiple facets of the respect issue. Usually people only talk about one, mostly commonly regarding children or employers who aren't respectful of nannies. But in addition to bringing that up, you also talked about issues where children don't respect themselves, where nannies don't respect their employers, etc. As I've interacted with nannies in Inglewood CO I've realized that respect comes in many forms, and all are important.
ReplyDeleteI think this relationship is very important for a child! http://puressay.com/blog/respect-essay-do-really-we-need-respect-and-self-respect will answer do we really need respect and self-respect!
ReplyDelete