I am so lucky to be working for an awesome family but after watching the “Nanny Diaries” I am a little freaked out. I work for a family where there is a stay-at-home mom but she is VERY involved with her children’s lives. This movie reminded me why I should not just search out families living in rich neighborhoods because this will certainly lead me down a path of long hours, terrible pay and an all-round terrible mental state. I know that this movie came out a year ago but it took me till today to sit down and watch it. I can see why. This movie has basically every horror story beat. There are the rich mothers who only care about their physical appearance. Then the “hard-working” fathers who only care about staying late at the office to finish “work” (wink, wink). And then the children who you (the nanny) feel sorry for because you are the closest thing they have to a parent and you are only 23 years old. I can see the positives to watching this movie– there aren’t many. This is a good way to know what you are getting into if you are a nanny for an upper-class family. This doesn’t have to be in NYC… this can be anywhere. I interviewed for a job in my local town recently and the parents were asking that I was a live-out nanny that works m-f 7-7 and occasional weekends. Yeah, I don’t think. The biggest redflag was when I was in the interview and the mother was telling me why their current nanny was leaving and she said it was for graduate school. Now, me being the person that likes to get to know people asked a simple question— What is she going to graduate school for? The woman looked at me with an empty stare and said, “oh, I don’t know”. Umm… this nanny worked for this family for a year and a half. It is a bit alarming to know that there is basically no contact with the parents and you are raising their children. This is a big red flag for me on interviews. I did find a normal family (upper-middle class) with two children that I will be working for. All I can say is take your time when you are looking to be hired. Don’t be fooled by glitz and glamour because more than likely you will live in the Upper East Side of NYC but you will be sleeping in the laundry room.