I am reading as many books written by nannies or about nannies as I can this summer. Stephanie Kiser is a former nanny who worked for affluent families on Manhattan’s Upper East Side who wrote the memoir, “Wanted: Toddler’s Personal Assistant. How Nannying For the 1% Taught Me About the Myths of Equality, Motherhood, and […]
Review of “Wanted: Toddler’s Personal Assistant: How Nannying For the 1% Taught Me About the Myths of Equality, Motherhood, and Upward Mobility in America” by Stephanie Kiser
June 28, 2025 Leave a Comment
Why Nannies Should Read to Kids Each Day
March 11, 2014 Leave a Comment
Nanny Confessions: We Must Teach Kids to Love Books I confess, it is sometimes hard for me to make time to read to kids everyday. But, no matter how busy the day gets, it’s vital to read aloud to children to help them learn to love reading. You don’t have to like reading yourself. You […]
The Price of Privilege by Madeline Levine
November 2, 2013 1 Comment
A Sense of Lovability is the Core of All Healthy Self-Development In Order to Learn How to Cope with Normal Frustrations, We First Have to Experience Them Nannies often see the parents they work for as down-to-earth, hard working, appreciative, respectful, and loving parents yet worry that they see the children in their care growing […]
Searching for Mary Poppins
January 19, 2013 Leave a Comment
Weekly Trip to the Library By Whitney Tang, Author of Wednesdays with Whitney and The Naptime Nook Searching for Mary Poppins by Susan Davis and Gina Hyams is exactly that: a book about various mothers’ searches for Mary Poppins (aka the perfect nanny). But it goes much further than that. This book, which is made up of […]
Nannies and Au Pairs are "Shadow Mothers"
September 3, 2011 5 Comments
Weekly Trip to the Library for Nannies and Au Pairs Shadow Mothers: Nannies, Au Pairs, and the Micropolitics of Mothering by sociologist Cameron Lynne Macdonald examines the complicated personal relationships between working mothers and the nannies and au pairs that work in their homes. The author examines what it means to both mothers and childcare workers […]
Invisible Nannies Hiding in Plain Sight
June 26, 2011 1 Comment
Book Review of The True Nanny DiariesOver the past two-weeks have been discussing the pros and cons of the California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights (CDWBR). As we discuss nanny rights there is no better time to look inside the lives of many immigrant domestic workers. I highly recommend adding The True Nanny Diaries by […]
Weekly Trip to the Library for Au Pairs and Nannies
May 15, 2010 3 Comments
Review of The Sleepeasy Solution For many weeks we have been reviewing infant sleep training books. Just type the word “sleep” to search our blog for previous reviews by Dr. Harvey Karp, Dr. Richard Ferber, Elizabeth Pantley, William Sears, Gary Ezzo, Gina Ford, and Kim West. The next book in the series is The Sleepeasy […]
The Contented Little Baby Book by Gina Ford
May 8, 2010 13 Comments
Weekly Trip to the Library I work as a nanny and the parents I currently work for are using The New Contented Little Baby Book by Gina Ford to develop routines and a sleep schedule with their infant. I am a Dr. Karp The Happiest Baby on the Block enthusiast. I love his gentle methods of […]
The Sleep Lady Shuffle
May 1, 2010 7 Comments
Review of the Good Night, Sleep Tight Book and Workbook In April we began reviewing books that discuss infant sleep methods. There are firm methods like Ferberizing (and Gina Ford disussed in the April 2010 issue of Be the Best Nanny Newsletter) and gentle methods like Attachment Parenting with a whole lot of methods in […]
Review of The Babywise Method
April 24, 2010 32 Comments
Weekly Trip to the Library The Babywise Method On Becoming Baby Side: The Classic Sleep Reference By Gary Ezzo This book has become very controversial with a concern among pediatricians that this method outlines an infant feeding program that has been associated with failure to thrive (FTT), poor weight gain, dehydration, breast milk supply failure, […]
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