I don’t know if I am alone in this but some of the funniest and weirdest moments of being a nanny have been would-be suitors and boyfriend’s reactions to what I do for a living. One told me I must be great with kids because I have “beautiful childbearing hips” (yep, he was dismissed). Another time while on a date with a banker he blurted out “You probably want to put a pillow over the mother’s face while she’s sleeping so you could take her place!”. So I’ve had a mixed bag of reactions, some cute, some not so cute, and some downright rude.

For me this is a pretty standard boy-meets-nanny scenario: I meet a great guy, things are going well- we’re talking up a storm and he asks, “So what do you do for living? Where do you work?”  I answer, “I’m a full-time nanny for a little girl”. The guy sorta starts wiggling, looks away from me, and kinda nervously chuckles, “oh that’s great, so you like kids…so uh, what exactly do you do?”

WHAT DOES HE MEAN what do I do?  I JUST told him!! It’s almost as if when I make the statement, “I’m a full time nanny for a little girl” they hear this:

“—–crickets chirping——-more chirping—–still chirping—-”

I don’t know if they think being a nanny isn’t a real job, or they are so uncomfortable they don’t know what to say, but this happens all the time.

The worst is when I’m dating someone and he asks about my day.  Now, if I take care of children for 50 hours a week, OF COURSE I’m going to start talking about kids and OF COURSE I’m going to talk about little B’s green snotty nose, or how Sarah had the flu and projectile vomited on me all day or the cutest thing that Olivia said.  Because my day is filled with crazy wonderful moments like that, which is standard procedure in childcare. But the guy usually complains at some point that all I talk about is kids. Maybe he’s a little weirded out that I sound like the would-be mother of his future children. So, here’s a thought for all the men dating nannies…don’t ask and they won’t tell you of their snotty, pukey, diaper filled day.

Then there are those times when I wish I had a shirt on that read: “Don’t worry, this is not MY child!” Like I’m in my car, I feel someone looking at me and he’s totally cute and gives me a big smile…so big that I can watch it fade in slow motion as his eyes inevitably scan over to the carseat in the back with the little hand waving at him. And I drive a Volvo too, which just drives the nail in that coffin.

But being a nanny does occasionally come in handy in the dating world, especially when that annoying guy won’t leave you alone. I usually whip out my cell phone and begin looking at all the pictures of the babies.  When he asks, “Which one is yours?”  I say, ”All of them.”