Another walk down the street, another sighting. This time a wonderful interaction! I’ll post more about nannies and nanny relationships later, but the nanny I saw today was clearly a special one.
Initially, the child (between 2 and 3) was in the stroller hysterically crying. I always try my best not to frown along with the child. Sometimes children’s tears are unavoidable and the last thing I want to do is add guilt or stress to a parent or caregiver. But I lingered a bit and here’s what I gathered and saw. The child must have just been dismissed from nursery school and was expecting her Mommy to pick her up. Rather than quickly shushing her, dismissing her, or continuing to walk, this terrific nanny did something different. The nanny parked her stroller at the corner of a building and took the little girl out. She sat down on the sidewalk, put the child in her lap and hugged and rocked her. All the while this wonderful nanny said to her “I know you didnt expect to see me, you’re sad and disappointed. I’m sorry.” Once the child was calmer, and as she continued to hug her, the nanny went over the plan for the rest of the day and reminded the little girl of when she would see her Mommy. Fantastic!!