Yahoo Lifestyle 19 Nannies Who Work For Ridiculously Wealthy Families Are Opening Up About The Shocking Realities Of Their Jobs
We asked members of the BuzzFeed Community who have ever babysat or nannied for mega-rich families to tell us about their experiences. We also consulted a Reddit thread started by u/Noonin on the same topic. Here are the stories people shared:
1."I nannied full-time for a billionaire family. The children did not have a maid and treated me like I was one. One night, the youngest child ordered me upstairs to her bedroom. She demanded I sort her dolls by height, tallest to shortest. Mind you, there were 27 dolls to sort. When I finished about 30 minutes later, the little girl started screaming, saying that she didn't like it, and yelled at me to get out. When I left her room, the oldest child walked out of his room and said that his TV was dusty, and I handed him a feather duster. Long story short: That TV is still dusty, and I have not seen that family since."
2."I work at a private school and get many nannying/babysitting jobs through my job. Most families I work for try to teach their children to appreciate what they have. Still, the most striking thing I've witnessed in some families is such a short-lived excitement that the kids get from receiving gifts, gadgets, outings, or money, and it is because they get these things EVERY DAY! To them, it's normal and expected. It's hard to reward these kids for good behavior when the rewards aren't rewarding!"
3."In 1991, I worked for a family in New York that owned a major newspaper. The dad was very nice, and I loved the kids, but the mother was not a joy to work for. She once led me to one of the kid's rooms and pointed out that several leaves had fallen off a plant onto the windowsill. She said it was my job to keep the home looking perfect at all times, and I clearly hadn't wiped down the windowsill that day. I had to change all the beds daily, including the parents' bed, and I was taught for an entire week exactly how to lay the decorative throw on the bed so it 'had the right movement.' I lasted around six months between things like that and the briefings on what to do if the kids were kidnapped. Money makes people insufferable."
4."The father would give me unbelievable amounts of money for basic things and refuse to take change back. Need to renew the kids' library cards? Take a $100 bill. I felt so bad for the librarian who had to get bills to break that. There was $85 leftover that he wouldn't take back."
—Anonymous
5."The family I nannied for weren't billionaires (pretty sure), but they were able to buy a house in San Francisco, have two nannies, send their kids to a private school, have multiple luxury cars, and only one parent worked, SO they were better off than me — that's for sure. The mom would get package after package from Neiman Marcus, Saks, and other high-end stores DAILY. The baby had a Burberry swimsuit. The older kids basically only had 'hip' designer clothes."
"It was insufferable work knowing I was doing everything the parents could do but just chose not to. The dad worked most of the day, but the mom spent time in her room or at coffee shops. It never sat right with me. It didn't help that the kids were total spoiled brats. One time, I took the baby for a walk in their stroller, and five crisp hundred-dollar bills were wadded in a zipped compartment, not being missed. I am 100% sure they never looked, or cared to look, for that money since it was chump change. I quit very soon after that."
—Anonymous
6."The kids all had several maids waiting on them hand and foot. I was instructed by the parents to...[CLICK TO CONTINUE READING]
