Emphatically, yes!
The titles are only related in that they are forms of childcare
performed for a private family.
A
babysitter is generally someone who takes care of a child on a very part-time
basis, with no special training and, generally, low expectations and few
responsibilities. Babysitting is
definitely not considered a career.
Au pairs
are generally a form of babysitter working part-time under a student visa. They are not trained nannies and, in many
cases, are under the age in which they would legally be allowed to care for
children in their home countries.
Despite these drawbacks, au pairs may provide older children with
insight on life in foreign countries and a playmate for them. The best utilization may be as a “mother’s
helper” in a household where one parent is usually home. Again, these students do not usually plan to
make a career out of caring for children.
In
contrast, a family investing in a nanny often has high expectations of them. A
family puts a great responsibility into their hands. Experience with children and training are
often critical as children often spend the majority of their waking hours with
nannies who are largely unsupervised. The very minimum amount of training would be
certification in CPR and first aid, but really even a daycare center requires
more than that!
The nanny’s role in a family is multifaceted. The nanny becomes the predominant role model
for a young child. They are the source
of chatter that is critical to early speech development. They are choosing the majority of their young
charges, meals. They become a parent’s trusted
ally for character development and a resource for information and advice on
nutrition, child behavior, discipline, early education, and socialization.
A well-qualified
nanny performs a great variety of tasks and functions. Nannies may ease a newborn onto their first
schedule. They will most likely talk
constantly to them knowing that each word is feeding into a baby’s language
development. As the babies grow into
toddlerhood their nannies are helping parents add in things like new foods to
the diet, maintaining an eye for nutrition, health, possible reactions or an
understanding of appropriate behavior.
A nanny’s knowledge of CPR and first aid is barely the tip of the
iceberg.
Nannies are
often important partners in helping the parents they work with “potty train”
their toddlers. They may be the ones to
spot the initial signs of readiness.
They may be the ones to provide preschool learning experiences,
assisting parents in providing optimal learning environments at home. They are part teacher and part
caretaker. Nannies continue to learn and
grow on the job adapting to the needs of the children and families through the
development of a unique, caring relationship, while bringing with them the
knowledge and experience of previous training and childcare work.
With all the duties and expectations it may sound as if a nanny is a hired stay-at-home parent, however, nannies are
not ever a replacement for either parent. To the contrary, a good nanny seeks to foster
loving, healthy relationships between parents and children. They seek to ease the stress of daily
transitions, ease a parent’s mind about going to work, strengthen parental resolve in setting firm limits, and help parents cope
with the sometimes challenging stages their children are going through. Because of this, I know of at least one nanny who has been
compared to Mary Poppins.
Truly, the magic of the mythical nanny of the movies happens not in the
waving of a wand but in the loving relationship between parents and their
children her “mission” accomplishes.
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