For the past two summers, I have been working as a Nanny. "Oh, so you're a babysitter?" No, I am a nanny. A nanny is basically a replacement parent for when the real mommy and daddy are away at work. Everything they do in their home with their children as the parents, I do while they are gone. I cook I clean, I drive from here to there, I do it all. Nannying has given me a true dose of what being a mother will be like one day. At the end of the day, I am so happy that I do not have to take these children home with me.

Originally I became a nanny so I could add experience with children to my resume for the future. Although I am not pursuing to have a teacher career anymore, I kept the job for money reasons. Once people find out how much money I make, they say, "oh my gosh I need to do what you do". I stop them right there and say, no, you do not want to do what I do. And of course I get strange looks instantly and am asked what I mean by that.

Almost every paycheck I received this summer was shorted of what I was actually owed, for some reason. Both families I work for are about the most disorganized people I've ever met. How hard is it to write out my schedule with days and times that I am needed? Apparently it's a rocket science challenge. Sometimes I would be needed an hour before, and had no way to say no. These people completely depended on me, and I was expected to always have my schedule clear for their needs. I understand it was my job, but my social life has been smaller than ever this summer. I can also count on about 57 hands how many times I was taken advantage of.

I needed to write about this because I have about a week of work left. It will be my last week ever of nannying. Because one of the mothers I work for just told me that she feels I wasted her kids' summer. I was appalled by this comment, and so furious. I do everything these parents ask of me, and more. I have dealt with endless days of whining children, being disrespected and not listened to, and being ran ragged. Just the other day, upon the mother's request, I took her children to a state park for the day to go fishing. It was 106 degrees outside with the humidity. We all could've ended up with a heat stroke or something worse, yet I still did what was asked of me and gave her kids a great day.

Without hiring me this summer, they would've not had a summer. No summer camp, because who would've dropped them off and picked them up? No trips to the park, or the lake, or out to lunch. No one to feed them, or watch them when they wanted to swim in the pool. No one to take care of their animals while they were away for the weekend. No one to clean up after their kids' mess, because kids don't clean up. No one to do all of these things, because they would've never hired me as their Nanny.

Not every experience with every family will be like this. There are days where I would completely discourage to take a job like this. However, just know what this job really entails before agreeing to it. My friends just don't understand what I have to do to get paid. This is the smallest glimmer of insight I could give you. The stories I have are unreal and shocking.