Nanny Diaries: The Ugly Truth

So from mid October to the begginning of February I worked as a nanny in Munich.

If you go and talk to English-speaking girls in their late teens/early twenties, you would find that about 95% of them are nannies or au pairs.

Why? Because it's the easiest way to get a visa to stay in germany and one of the easiest jobs to come by as an english speakers.

But to be honest, about 90-95% of these girls hate their jobs, or at least put up with things they shouldn't.

I'm not quite sure if this problem is particular to Germany or not, since I've only heard of good nanny experiences in the u.s. There is a chance that part of the problem that occurs in Germany may not occur in the U.S., since Germany is a much more class-oriented society, something that became evident to me because of their highly-tracked schooling system.

The stereotypical family is a such:

Kids: varies between absolute dolls and spoiled demon children

Dad: rarely present

Mom: almost always a complete and utter psycho. Typically unstable, tyrannical,demanding, and snobbish.

I think a major problem that most people don't realize is how much your experience as a nanny depends on how the mother treats you. She has all the control, because she is a boss without anyone to be responsible to. For example, if you worked for a normal company, there is usually someone who keeps them in line ie. stops them from being a lieing psycho.

Not true in the nanny business. And most often nannies are too scared to complain.

This results often in many annoying things.

First off, often times more duties or hours are added to the jobs then are originally agreed upon. Examples include aupairs having to be defacto working whenever they are in the house, last minute requests for babysitting, or adding on of cleaning/house maid duties such as cleaning the childrens shoes by hand, changing the bed sheets, etc.


Also, the smallest things will cause an uproar. I have heard many many stories of moms screaming at their nannies or aupairs for things tiny tiny things...and this could never happen in a normal job situation. What's worse is not only do they want you do to do all the millions things they tell you but they also want you to anticipate all the things they don't tell you. Leading to a catch 22 situation where if you don't anticipate you are fucked, but also if you anticipate incorrectly you are also fucked.

Plus a lot of mom's think they can treat you like dirt. They think they are better and smarter than you, although oftentimes they are so used to be waited on hand and foot their whole lives that they wouldn't know how to run their own households if they tried.

To be fair, I have also heard a few horror stories about terrible aupairs and such, but for the most part it goes the other way I think.

In my case, I liked the kids a lot but wasn't happy with my employer and how she treated me---nor could I really take the stress of having to do everything exactly perfect.

Being a nanny can be a great job(espcially since the pay and the hours are usually good) but I think you really need to find the right family, otherwise you might end up in a hellish situation. As for me, I am now working as a ticketsellers for a tour company and working in an afterschool program and loving it!