each month we showcase one nanny and her share her story. This month we are sharing what nanny Tessa has to say!

January Spotlight: Nanny Tessa

Hello, Hello! Look at us surviving 2015 like a boss! Happy 2016, and  I hope this year will bring you everything you need and desire.

One of my goals with The Funny Nanny is to create a place where we, childcare providers, can be ourselves. Highlighting every day nannies, extraordinary ones and those who made mistakes as well, is my way of showing to all of us that we should respect and support each other. Therefore, my nanny of the month January is Tessa Barone.

She chose to share few details about herself with you all and I’m glad she did. Check out what she wants you to know about her!

 

SPOTLIGHT NANNY: TESSA

Six years ago, I started working for the eldest son of one of our country’s wealthiest families: humble by nature and wanderers by heart. They have three children: two from a previous marriage and one in the current. They brought me around the world. They taught me to navigate being a nanny while also being a member of their family, a constant life-line, all while unpacking and packing for one vacation to the next. Three years in, I called a friend on the phone and cried, “I don’t know what to do anymore. This is all I am.” I didn’t know how to stop over-committing to these people that I loved, to these people who had done as much for me as I had done for them, to these people I didn’t want to let down—to these people that had become more of my family than my own.

 

What I know now is that these people gave me more independence than I recognized having grown into. It’s like looking back through a looking glass, seeing myself as the giver and taker of all hugs, a best friend, open ears with an open heart, and a little sister to a mom that wasn’t mine.

I slowly detached and started teaching middle school. Too little money and a whole lot of red tape. At least for now. I returned to nannying, and I wear yoga pants everyday. Hallelujah. Amen.

Point being, people who aren’t nannies don’t understand. Your job, the giving of your heart, is harder to explain than the term ‘nanny’ is perceived. So, when you tell people that you’re a nanny, you really want to rattle off that whole list of “bad ass, multitasking queen-b, parent substitute.”  

 

I grew up while helping raise other people’s children. I am honest: I make mistakes. I am happy to out myself. There are learning moments in every scenario. I’ve learned to laugh at myself. Namaste.

Let’s talk about a few of my many self-inflicted moments of nanny panic:

I threw up on someone’s rug when I smelled their child’s diaper. It was probably worse than the diaper. Tequila or prunes? Probably Pinot. Don’t pretend you haven’t been there.

 

A mom called to tell me that her daughter cried when she said I was watching her that night. She had me over anyway. Now, years later, if you ask her why she cried, she’ll tell you because I put her in her place.

 

I lost a kid. One of my children ran away after a joke went awry. He may have been called something along the lines of a “white whale.” This was only after we discovered a ridiculous number of Shark Bite wrappers hidden in his sheets. We can laugh about it now, but his siblings and I did have to drive around shouting his name only to find him hiding under the deck later. Thing to remember: most kids are afraid to leave the driveway when they “run away.”

 

I briefly dated a man who owns a funeral home. He came on a trip with one of the families I worked for, and upon his arrival they all lay on the floor resembling dead corpses. Two high fives for each of you. I dated a mortician. It died out. Cue the drums: ba-dum-ching.

 

Once, another nanny and I backed a trailer into a ditch. It was late at night along a one lane road. We made a u-turn. S.O.S. Neither of us really knew how to back up a trailer at the time. I still don’t.

 

I started blogging as a creative outlet to share my stories with parents and other nannies— what I’ve learned between watching hermaphrodites and finding sex toys in someone’s bedroom. And I may not always write with political correctness, but being politically correct would not have gotten Chelsea Handler to where she is today. Netflix. Pick and choose your battles.

 

Remember, on days when you’re at your wits end, be glad ‘this is all you are.’ Give your next hug a tighter squeeze. You can’t find this type of fulfillment behind any desk.

You are so much more. 

Check out what nanny Tessa has to say about her nanny life

Tessa Barone

Tessa Barone is a writer, blogger, certified educator, infant care specialist, reading specialist, nanny, and Beautycounter sales rep… in no particular order. Her guilty pleasures are LuluLemon and pizza Lunchables. She’s the big spoon to her cockapoo. Check out her blog (at) fullsentences.com or on insta @tessabarone. 

fullsentences@gmail.com

fullsentences.com/blog

 

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