A nanny who seemed promising on Mommy Bites spent a good 40 minutes on the phone with me the other day. I wasn’t quite sure if I liked her or not, but thought she was competent enough to at least do a trial with. She also had extensive baby nurse background with her training and previous work, which to me sounded like a huge plus. What we were finding with nannies we were talking to and trialing is that most are rusty or just totally out of practice with babies specifically. She had a few red flags, though: she asked way too many questions about paid vacation vs. unpaid time off given Chris and I do not have our families nearby. She complained about families who decided out of the blue that the mom wanted to stay at home full time, or families who switched to daycare after just 6-8 months of having her as a full-time nanny (what, families aren’t allowed to change their minds…?!). She said she only had one reference she wanted me to call (I always ask for three and call all three). I’ve asked all nanny candidates to show me a copy of their COVID-19 vaccination card, and all have complied… until this one. When she said she wasn’t comfortable sharing it other than in person, I asked if she could show me her Excelsior pass since she’s a stranger, and I have to protect my family. This was her response:

“Hi yvonne I understand that you’re asking me for the code if I’m not quite understand but it’s all sound the same thing as asking for me to send a copy of the card, like I said in my text last night we can meet in person then you can see the copy of my vaccination card until then I do not give out my vaccination card to anyone unless I’m being hired . We decide to move forward I can say it when we meet in person . I know that you said that all the babysitters have done that and some of them do not know the right in a America.”

If you want to lecture me about your rights in America over text, I not only do not want to employ you; I want nothing to do with you at all, period.