How To Be A Good Nanny Part 4: “Empowerment”

I remember when I was growing up, I always felt able to do something that I wanted to do. I never felt ugly, clumsy or stupid and I think that the main reason for that was that my parents, and in particular my father, spent time making sure I felt empowered.

The words ‘you can do anything you want to’ really mean a lot to a child. As a nanny I have definitely put this into practice.These words empower a child whether they are 2 or 15 years old to make decisions for themselves and recognise that other people find their choices important and note worthy.

Giving praise when praise is due is so important. I worked in a lovely household where my one issue was the stress that the daughter was under at school. If she got her report and it had 7A*s and 3As, she wouldn’t be congratulated on her achievement by her parents. They would say, ‘mmm what are those 3 As about, you’ll have to pick up the pace next term if you want to go to university.’ There was no mention of how absolutely, fantastic the results actually were. This led to this girl feeling useless. She felt like she was working hard and what was the point? Nobody seemed to notice at home. I chose to speak to the parents about this, and although I wasn’t criticising their parenting technique, it was so important for me to know that the child was feeling good about herself and the work she was doing. Luckily for me the parents admitted they were freaking out about tough university entrance requirements and recognised that they had not been praising their daughter’s efforts.

As a nanny it comes naturally to me to empower the children I look after. If a child is loving painting I want to tell him how good he is at it. If another child is struggling with her music practice, I want to tell her she is doing so well and it is sounding better each day. Empowerment and encouragement go hand in hand and both lead to a more confident child, which in today’s competitive society is more important that ever, not only for results in later life, but for the child’s happiness and state of mind.