Nannies, Sex and Drugs in Atlanta

Personal electronic toys. Adult videos. Cannabis accessories. Not the kinds of things one might expect to find on the job, but for many, it is just another day at work. The tireless employees subjected to this sex and drug paraphernalia are not strippers, escorts, adult video stars, or Playboy models. They are nannies.

Nannies from all over the Atlanta area have endured exposure to the sexual and otherwise immoral/illegal world of their employers, and while not enjoyable, it usually makes for a great story to tell later. One anonymous nanny noted that while she was babysitting for a family who was having a company picnic, the drunken parents began making out in front of the whole crowd. They then retired to the basement for a half an hour with two other couples.

According to the nanny, "I don't know what went on down there and I swear I don't want to." Caring for children is an important task, and not one that nannies take lightly. However, even in the most professional of circumstances, nannies' and employers' lives are, by their nature, intertwined.

A child, referring to a sex toy found in the couch cushions: "That's Mommy and Daddy's toy." A small girl, in the middle of a grocery store: "My ga-gina itches!" A nanny, referring to a father's "marijuana holder" found by his little girl: "Gee, honey, it looks sort of like a bird feeder, doesn't it?"

Certainly not all nannies open a hamper and discover a vibrating massage agent, but at one time or another, most of them encounter something they wish they had never seen. In most cases, nannies care for children in the child's home, and because many of them become very close to the family, they are allowed almost everywhere in the house. The Tylenol is usually kept in the parents' bathroom, right behind the mother's menopause medicine. The "Sensual Chocolate Body Sauce" is kept in the fridge next to the baby food (stealthily shoved in a corner behind a head of lettuce-brilliant). When the nanny is on the computer during the kid's naps, she types in "google.com" and notices "grade-a-sex-machines.com" in the link bar. The tissues she uses to wipe the baby's nose are next to the same computer that is littered with gross links.

What is a nanny to do when she finds such things? There are only so many options, really: discuss it with the parent, laugh it off or ignore it completely. Most professional nannies understand that it is not their business to get involved with a parent's personal life or any weird habits/fetishes he or she may have.

Most people who care for children in someone else's home understand the risk of possibly finding things that are not, perhaps, fully kosher. Handling the discovery is the business of each individual nanny.

"(I had discovered a) DVD entitled 'Cherry Bombs 2' while dusting one day," confessed a nanny. "I picked it up, dusted it off, and was putting it back when the mom walked in and saw me holding it. She looked it over, handed it back and said, 'Well, I guess some things are better than having him wake me up at 2 a.m. when he's feeling frisky.' She walked out of the room. We never spoke of it again."

This is an instance of avoiding a compromising situation. As for the young women who discovered the sex toy and the drug supplies? The former was returned to its rightful place among the couch cushions and the children were ushered to another room. The latter was put back where it was found after the nanny convinced the girl that no, they should not put birdseed in it because it appeared to be too "fragile."

Ultimately, the lesson here is that everyone has strange things about their lives that, if one has a nanny, could easily be exposed. It is a nanny's job, however, not only to care lovingly and tenderly for the children, but to do her best to ignore any bags of "spices" and objects made to be inserted into orifices that she may find in the nooks and crannies of her employers' houses. Then, of course, have a hell of a weird story to laugh about later.