Nannies spend summer working for East Coast families
Fishers Island is known to those on the East Coast as a summer getaway location for the wealthy, but to a handful of girls it is recognized as the ideal place to earn a decent paycheck as a nanny. Two of these girls are students at USU, who spent last summer on the opposite end of the country making $400 per week in a 14-bedroom mansion called Rocky Ledge.
AshLee McKay, junior in art history, helped a stay-at-home mom with her two girls while Misty Woodbury, sophomore and nursing major, assisted a year-round nanny with three little boys. McKay said the girls she nannied were cousins to the boys Woodbury nannied and therefore the two spent a large amount of their two months on Fishers Island together.
Both McKay and Woodbury were referred to the family by nannies who were previously hired, but those without connections can find families searching for a nanny via online agencies. McKay said the downside of nanny agencies is that there is a lot of paperwork involved. Mckay was qualified for her position as a nanny because of her experience as a lifeguard, her CPR license and her experience babysitting her siblings, she said.
The parents had high-paying jobs as a lawyer, bank owner and a company executive, McKay and Woodbury said. Even though the parents would be on Fishers Island a fraction of the time, they were rarely around because they would party with their friends, Woodbury said.
“Seeing that lifestyle, it seemed like the parents didn’t really care much for their children,” she said. “The children didn’t respect their parents because they were never there.”
Woodbury said this job made her appreciate her family more for the way they raised her. She said she found herself asking, “How do I want to treat my kids?” She said when the parents were around, they let the kids get away with a lot more.
McKay said she worked Monday through Saturday and there was a routine. At 8 a.m. she ate breakfast, then tidied the girls’ rooms and made their beds. While their mother went on a walk, McKay would watch the girls in the playroom, sometimes making forts.
After playing, the girls would have reading time, math time and then lunch right at noon. McKay said they would then get ready for the country club.
McKay said they would swim in the ocean, boogie board and catch starfish. She said dinner was at 5 p.m. and then bath time proceeded some down time in the playroom. Once the girls were in bed at 8 p.m., McKay said she would hang out with Woodbury in the nanny room. This is where she and Woodbury would watch the movies they rented from the library on the plasma TV.
“I ate sick amounts of Klondike Bars,” McKay said.
Though being a nanny has its perks, there is no dodging the conflicts that accompany it, McKay said. Woodbury agreed and said she had to always stay on top of things.
“They loved to hit each other and run around naked,” Woodbury said.
Woodbury also said the 9 year old really struggled to do his homework. McKay said the oldest girl she nannied would never put her shoes away. When the girl finally agreed to put her shoes away, she took off the shoes she was wearing, and left them in the place of the shoes she put away. She said the sisters soon realized that she would have none of their funny business, McKay said.
McKay and Woodbury were given Sundays off. They went to church and spent time with the other nannies on the island, McKay said.
McKay said this job fell right into her lap and she is very grateful for the oppurtunity she had to get out of Utah and clear her head.
“This is a gift that had been handed to me on a silver platter,” McKay said.
–catherine.meidell@aggiemail.usu.edu