RIGHTS for the first time ever!

Woohoo!!!

New York State has gone and done it. Been the first to make the mark in the domestic worker sphere. I know people love to complain about Obama and how much he's not doing (guys, he's NOT a god, just a man. sometimes if you want change, you need to motivate yourself. but anyway...) but what is being dubbed 'The Nanny Bill' could not have happened in a Bush Era. So hugs all around to the Obama Camp and all its compatriots for recognizing domestic workers as people who deserve rights that many other workers have the privilege to take for granted.

The New York State Domestic Workers Bill of Rights (A1470B/S2311E) contains these first ever tidbits of freedom:

OVERTIME.

I know, breath all you nannies out there. Can you believe it? Time and a half for live outs over 40 hours/wk and for live ins over 44 hrs/wk. For all of us working 50 and 60-plus hours/wk, imagine the difference in our pockets.

ACTUAL PROTECTION.

Sounds like the mafia, right? But I'm talking legal protection on the up and up. From now on in New York State, if our bosses get weird (aka bigoted and discriminatory) with us in reference to race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, marital status, and domestic violence victim status, we can actually take them to court and sue them.

Yeah yeah!

I know most of you aren't really interested in taking anyone to court, but the fact is, if we haven't experienced a crappy situation ourselves, we've all heard of a nanny who has. In NY State, if a boss goes over the top, they are actually BREAKING A LAW. For those of us poor suckers residing in the other 49 states that don't have a 'Nanny Bill', if our bosses treat us badly, we are forced to try and find obscure laws to hold them accountable cause we don't have any federal workplace protection. So a serious 'holla' to this anti-discrimination legislation.

TEMPORARY DISABILITY PAYMENTS

Whoa there. So when we get hurt or sick, they can't just fire us and move on like many of them have been doing for eons. We might actually have time to rest up and get well and enjoy a paycheck while we do it.

PAID VACATION DAYS

Really? Awesome!

This one is a win/short term lose in my eyes. What NY State domestics get is 3 paid vacation days after a year of employment. We all know that's a slap in the face, cause we deserve more (like the 2 weeks everyone else seems to get). But I think it shows how much some lawmakers (AKA nanny employers. Yup. I said it) are opposed to giving us actual rights. All in all, I take it as a win, cause I've def had nanny jobs where paid vacation was never even an option. so having something set in stone now starts the conversation. And who knows, five years from now, I imagine nannies and other domestics in NY State will work to amend this legislation and fight to add more days to our state recognized vacation.

I'm feeling good, peoples. This is big stuff. Come on other 49 states, let's get it together!

Nannies and the media.

Check this:
Here we are in the media yet again!
This article is so ridiculous I'm laughing.
The whole premise?

Employing a nanny to look after your baby son could turn him into a serial womaniser, claims psychiatrist Dr Dennis Friedman.

Seriously? What will they think of next? Looking at a nanny will give you alzheimers? How much money did they spend to fund this research...cause I'm sure in this economy of frozen nanny wages WE woulda appreciated and put that research money to better use as our grocery fund.

Yes, this article can be construed in many ways--it obviously continues to give us nannies NO credit for the work that we do and bad media coverage as usual--but most likely the real point is to scare moms to stay at home. And it's a valid point for a family that doesn't need two people to work to ask the question of why are two people working? But to terrorize mothers and throw nannies under the bus to get that point across? Come on.

The telegraph article says that having a nanny "introduces him [the baby boy] to the concept of The Other Woman." Hmmmm.....nannies out there....i know what you're thinking so i'll just say it: having a nanny, for some children, is the only introduction to any woman--or person for that matter--some of these kids are ever gonna get. and science wants to mess with that?

The reality for many young people who have nannies is grim. Not for all-- cause there are cool parents out there who really love their kids. But it's more common than it should be that without us nannies, there are definitely kids who would NEVER get a hug when they are sad, a bedtime story read to them, or a lunch packed for school. Growing up in the context of this permeating first world culture where everyone is completely isolated from other human beings and glued to their fave screen, it's definitely not the end of the world for a young person to have someone around who has committed to taking them outside to play, helps them foster peer relationships, and chills with them at the library from an early age to get them acquainted to the life of reading and books.

It's sad--and a societal problem--that there are people out there who think it's ok to have another person raise their child when they have the money and resources to do it themselves. For some people, they are not employing a nanny but instead buying themselves a back door out of the responsibilities of parenting. In that familial context where the parents cannot get it together to be available to their child for any of their needs, we nannies are the saving grace of the situation and oftentimes the only way the young person can tell they are human and loved.

Science, please. Next time, get it right.

Maybe we're not so bad after all.

Alright guys.

1st post and here we go. Point number 1:

Nannies aren’t stupid.

Hard to hear through the many layers of unaware assumptions piled high about us that you've acquired through societal contagion, so I’ll say it again. NANNIES AREN’T STUPID.

This is a hard fact for many people to comprehend which–if you think about it too long, and believe me when I say I have–really says some messed up things about our society.

Why do we believe that people who choose to be around young people in a private home setting are mentally challenged? Why isn’t nanny work considered ‘real’ work? Why are we often expected to follow idiosyncratic rules at work, complete an impossible daily schedule (put the twins to bed at the same time as you tutor the oldest in fractions and do four loads of leftover weekend laundry), and 'pester' our bosses about wanting our paycheck ON TIME this week, all with a smile on our face? Then we tell people outside our sector that we work as nannies and the only thing we often get asked is when we are going to get ourselves a real job. This is a problem.

Though I like my particular nanny job–a lot–there are so many fundamental things that are wrong with a place of work that doesn’t give you a lunch break, that has no human resources department, no overtime, and no applicable federal labor laws. And there are even more things wrong with a society that doesn't honor and positively acknowledge those that work in my profession.

How are we nannies portrayed in the mainstream media and society at large? Well, we are in movies like Mary Poppins–which I’ll get into on another post but I'll give you a quick taste and just say in Mary Poppins, our sole purpose in life is to show rich people how to be human and then go off on our merry way, asking nothing emotional in return (what about the two-way street my mother was always telling me about?). Other places where we get some face time in society? The news, where we always, invariably, shake babies.

Yes, I said it. It seems that nannies shake babies more than anyone else on the planet. We also sleep with our bosses, tell all the family secrets, and–the absolute worst of all—KIDNAP THE CHILDREN!!!!!! Just like this Jan. 20, 2010 Texas article says, ONE angry San Antonio nanny ran off with the kids after she got fired. And now the whole world is privy to our insane, unstable psyche where our small minds burst when we lose our jobs. The message is clear: even though you have to go to work and let us take care of your kids, never, ever REALLY trust us or our minds to pull off anything that slightly resembles intelligence.

I’m not saying that there aren’t some people out there who shouldn’t be nannies. That’s in every job sector. But the bulk of the nannies working in the U.S. are amazing, hardworking women from all over the world. We need to strengthen our voice--the voice that isn’t about placating our bosses or trying to help our sector save face by acting passive and polite. Cause the truth is we deserve to have and assert our opinions into the cyber abyss like every other person on the planet.

So, welcome to me.