Who is bringing up your child? (certkare.com)

I am currently a contributor on certkare.com

We are trying to build the first child care platform in Nigeria. 

We want to inspire a fun, creative, safe and loving, atmosphere for all children and families.

This is an exciting duty, it has enabled me bring out the caring part of me. A huge shout out to the certkare.com team!

A nanny is supposed to be a care giver or a custodian, a nanny is not a substitute-mother for a child. It’s rather unfortunate that many parents have sub-contracted the duty of parenting to a nanny. A nanny takes care of your child for the money you pay. All the nanny wants is the money. Like most employees, the nanny just wants your money.

Permit me to say this, with due respect to all Nannies out there, in this part of the world, most nannies are indirectly forced to become nannies due to the economic hardship being faced by most Nigerians. If they had a better option, they wouldn’t have rather chosen to be a nanny. They are not in the job for the passion, they probably don’t have a flair for it too. They are only doing it as a means of survival. You are not sure they have raised their own children well, yet you leave the upbringing of your child to them.

I am not out to demonize the nannies. They are wonderful people who are rendering a great service to several homes. It is a respectable choice of occupation, and they deserve so much respect. The nannies are not the problems here, the problem here is the careless parent.

When you leave for work in the morning and leave your child in the care of the nanny, for several hours, all that the child has is the nanny. From experience, I have been an uncle for almost all my life. My nieces and nephews are always quick to come over to spend the holidays with their grandparents who are my parents. I have watched about ten children grow up. One constant thing I have noticed is that they pick up the things adult do subconsciously, and most times, these little things just get stuck with them. Seemingly little things such as abusive languages, acts of violence, various habits, talking patterns, walking posture, and so on.  If you have a nanny with an accent, your child will definitely pick up the accent. If your nanny uses abusive words, your child will definitely use the same abusive words. If your nanny is always quick to get physical, believe me, she might be gradually turning your child into a ‘street fighter’.

What does your nanny watch? Whatever your nanny watches, your child also watches. When your nanny watches mediocre movies, automatically, your child is exposed to a mediocre way of thinking. If that is it, then you could still count yourself lucky because it will be more dangerous if your nanny had been watching violent movies or pornography.

Parents, your child deserves to grow up deliberately, not accidentally by the mistakes of the nanny. You need to take more responsibility. Even the bible says in the book of Proverbs: [Point your kids in the right direction-- when they're old they won't be lost. (Pro 22:6 MSG)].It is up to you to consciously point out your kids to the right direction, do not leave it to the actions of the nanny. You don’t need to tell a child the way to go per se, they are designed to follow what they see. Won’t we all rather have our child see us and follow our actions? None of us will prefer to have our child following the actions of the nanny? Then why are we giving room for the nannies to raise our children?

Parents, you have to go to work, and you may have little time to spend with your child, so what do you do? It is simple, make the most of whatever time you have with your child. Use this moment to make them happy and point them in the right direction. Don’t miss the weekends with your child. It is better to be a responsible parent than being a socialist.

Above all, don’t be too desperate to engage the services of a nanny. Screen them properly. Look for any harmful traits in them. Be sure of their religious and moral beliefs. Ask them about their family and their children. Be convinced that you are picking the best for your child. Your child deserves the best of everything, including the best of nannies. Nannies have an impact in the upbringing of a child, please guard against the negative impacts.