癲狂院 Vixen Owl Cigar..。o○

Diary of a Mad Nanny...


Slick New York Nanny Spoke My Language...
The authors, former nannies themselves, have a disclaimer at the front of the book stating that the characters written are completely ficticious and not based on any particular past employer.
This must be why the main character's name is simply "Nanny ", and her employers are "Mr. and Mrs. X ".
Nanny has just been hired by the wealthy Xes to look after their son Grayer.
She is to replace the old nanny, who had the audacity to request a week off to visit her sick sister in Australia.

Nanny is just looking to keep her rent money coming in while completing her senior year at NYC , but soon finds that she is drawn to poor little Grayer, who at times can be a pill, but for the most part is just a poor little rich kid who wants his parents to notice him.
Mrs. X spends most of her time shopping, planning dinner parties (in the hopes that her absentee/workaholic husband just might spend time with them ), and volunteering on several committees.

Nanny is used to the explicit demands Mrs. X requests for Grayer, and is not surprised when Mrs. X constantly asks her to do extra chores she wasn't hired for (like picking up Mrs. X's dry cleaning, picking up about 12 different items for a 30 people dinner party, or even escorting Grayer and the Xes to a fancy executive Halloween bash dressed as a giant Teletubby- one of the funniest passages in the book ).
Or, she'll show up 2 hours past the time she told Nanny she'd be home, leaving Nanny little more than 15 minutes to get to a school to give a speech that will determine whether she passes or fails.
Nanny feels it's worth it, though, when the envelope of cash comes at the end of the week ("most nannies are paid under the table", she tells us ).

Even so, Nanny gets more than she bargained for when, at the Halloween bash, she and Grayer walk in on Mr. X and his Chicago executive (whom the book simply calls "Ms. Chicago" )making out. Mr. X acts as if mothing is amiss, and Nanny is left to question whether or not she should report this infidelity to his wife.
Slowly, Mrs. X begins to get her own suspicions, and Grayer begins to fall apart under the obvious cloud of neglect and dread that his father has stirred up.

Nanny wants to run, but feels obligated to navigate these treacherous adult waters for Grayer, hoping things will calm down on their own.
Meanwhile, she's also fallen for a Harvard student that lives in the Xes building, leaving Mrs. X to treat her badly and hurl rude comments at her because she is jealous of the happiness Nanny is finding with a guy.....

Hhhmph !!!!
How can Nanny tread through these tumultuous waters and still graduate from NYC???
You'll have to find out for yourself.
I read this book in less than 48 hours because I couldn't wait to find out what outrageous thing Mrs. X would come up with next.
After listening to my sis-in-law's horror stories, I found that I wasn't surprised about the Xes shannanigans.

【Emma McLaughlin】The Nanny Diaries【Nicola Kraus】
Skewering of the Park Avenue Pampered

"The Nanny Diaries " is one of those books where after you finish it, you just sit there for awhile staring into space thinking about it.
It is also one of those rare books that makes me think about it weeks later.
Whereas other books I read, I forget the entire plot a day after I read it.
The ending had an affect on me.
I was sad , but also touched and happy.
I that it made me feel conflicting emotions at the same time.

I heard a lot of buzz on this book as soon as it came out.
I was sure that I would like "The Nanny Diaries ", but never guessed how much.
Nanny is a college student trying to pay her way through NYU and afford life in the big apple as well.
This is no small feat, from what I understand.
An experienced nanny, she takes a job with the X family.
It didn't take long from there to understand that this family was nothing like anything I've ever experienced.

The way Mrs. X neglects her child in favor of her social life, the outrageous demands she places on her child care provider, and the way she hires "consultants " to deal with every everyday stressful events are unbelieveable.

What a sad existence!
What would she think of my life!!!
Even so, I loved taking a peek at this life style.
I felt awful for the children and the nannies, but I couldn't stop reading.
The situations Nanny endured were hilarious!
I loved the notes Mrs. X would leave for her.
TO balance out the insanity, the authors included snippets of life outside of the X household.
Her relationship with the X's hot neighbor helped to show that maybe not everyone who lives this lifestyle lives it like the X's.
Her relationship with her roommate, grandmother and parents helped to anchor the story in reality....

All in all, a very interesting look into the frustrating world of raising someone elses children under extreme conditions.
As obvious as this conflict might seem, Nanny Diaries brought it up to the surface for me.
The book made me very conscious of the balancing act we must play, and has made me look critically at the choices I make and the prioirities I keep as a child and an individual.
This is a wonderful book to read when passing the time.
Why, I started to read it, and before I knew it, hours that I should have spent studying had passed.
The book is delightful and you should purchase it ASAP


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