A friend of mine told me that I must beware of anyone who had dedicated their whole professional career to being a nanny and ONLY a nanny. Meaning they went to nanny school and took nanny courses and have been nannying since they were in their teens and have no interests or hobbies and have never been anything else in their whole entire life but a nanny. I am going to tell you now, that through experience, I know she is 100% right.

I just got off the phone with a woman listed as a reference for a “Nanny” nanny I was thinking of employing. This candidate “loves children more than anything” “has never wanted to do anything else” she said to me “I have a nanny uniform if you like” and yes, I still continued with the interview. Well, needless to say she turned out to be an unreliable emotional wreck who doesn’t have the sense to not list the employers that fired her as references!

The best nannies I have seen have not always wanted to be a nanny nothing else their whole life. They have had their own businesses, they have traveled and lived around the world, they have worked as many different things before finding nannying. Maybe they are only nannies for now and won’t be for the rest of their lives. I don’t know, I feel like if I’m going to pay a professional nanny an arm and a leg the least I expect them to be knowledgeable and worldly. I mean when I found out a nanny I once had didn’t know where China or Australia were on a globe I should have seen that as a huge sign that something is off.

Thank God for references! ALWAYS take references, and if the first one is good get two more just to make sure!