Nursery World - Green-eyed mum

Just when you think that your nanny job is running smoothly, and you are pleased because your charge's mother really trusts you to care for her child and to provide a stimulating programme of activities for him, she makes a snide comment that rocks your confidence. Perhaps it is an implied criticism of the way you dressed the child that morning. Or maybe there's just a hint that you are too protective of him. Don't bristle with indignation, however. There's every likelihood that this sort of negative remark is prompted by her jealousy of you, and is not about anything you have done wrong.

Perhaps it is an implied criticism of the way you dressed the child that morning. Or maybe there's just a hint that you are too protective of him. Don't bristle with indignation, however. There's every likelihood that this sort of negative remark is prompted by her jealousy of you, and is not about anything you have done wrong.

When you think about the situation from your female employer's perspective, it's hardly surprising that she occasionally resents you. Here are some reasons why she may sometimes feel that way:

Parental guilt. The fact that your employer has taken on a nanny for her child so that she can resume her own career doesn't mean that she's entirely happy with that decision. She may feel guilty about leaving him in the care of someone else, no matter what qualifications and experience that carer has, and perhaps she feels that as the child's mother she should be the one at home looking after him. This guilt at leaving her growing child temporarily each day makes her jealous of you.

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