It Needs to be Remarked On

For dissemination to the media at such date as the COVID-19 crisis ends.

Whereas

Most nannies began their employment prior to COVID-19, with older sibling charges who were in schools, employers who were happy and sane and got dressed every morning and went to a workplace they enjoyed going to, and with parks and playgrounds and playgroups and children’s museums and story times and music classes to attend if the whim struck. Nannies expected these conditions, agreed to these conditions, and set up routines around these conditions. These were nannies going-exactly-to the call of duty.

Then came the crisis epidemic.

Playgrounds closed.

Playgroups were declared illegal.

Schools closed for older charges who were now not only underfoot, but needed to have an adult provide educational supervision and differentiated instruction.

The employers’ workplaces then closed and switched those individuals that could to distance participation. So now employers were similarly underfoot. But not just underfoot, underfoot with distress and frustration and general malcontent for not being able to do the things they enjoyed about their adult lives.

And yet nannies persisted. They showed up to work every day to provide as much consistency and structure and care as those children could get in this odd time.

Nannies transitioned into the role of Governess with the school aged charges, even though few nannies in North Carolina hold teaching degrees or credentials which would have prepared them for the role. But they stepped up.

Nannies, who always were parent educators simply by modeling, now were also parent emotional-managers as the parents expressed very valid distress about the state of the economy and whether they’d ever see their colleagues in person again.

All of these things are above-and-beyond the call of duty, or as the field of ethics would term it: supererogatory acts.

Some nannies even, at the behest of their employers or because their healthcare-employed employers could not leave their hospitals, moved in and took over the households in which they worked. This is a supererogatory act.

Nannies who worked with front-line healthcare workers that were allowed to return home, risked their health and/or life to continue to show up to work lest that employer not decontaminate perfectly and the nanny catch SARS-2 in such a way as to experience deadly complications of COVID-19. Such nannies did not have access to PPE (personal protective equipment) nor were they able to engage in proper social distancing when working in the household. When nanny first started working for that family, nanny did not do so with the expectation that they might be asked to die for their employers or for humanity. The risk-taking alone is a supererogatory act.

The Declaration

For the supererogatory acts performed by nannies in the profession during the time of the COVID-19 crisis, it is hereby decreed that a new industry standard is enacted: Recognition of supererogatory acts by nannies; specific, intentional, concrete, identifiable, public-facing recognition.

We at the North Carolina Professional Association of Nannies recognize all nannies as heroes of this crisis. And we call upon employers, the media, and the general public to do so as well.

What this recognition looks like will vary by individual and circumstance, but we insist on a bare minimum of intentionally speaking about, and to, the nanny in a grateful manner for acts done. If employers are in a position to offer additional compensation in the form of a financial bonus or additional fringe benefits, it would be fitting to do so. In addition, if you can speak to the supererogatory acts of a North Carolina nanny you know, we wish you to let us know in the section that follows.

Reward Them

The North Carolina Professional Association of Nannies would like to, in addition to the recognition offered by employers, the media, and the general public, provide our own recognition of Superstar North Carolina Nannies who went above and beyond the call of duty. We are awarding every North Carolina Superstar Nanny a full year’s membership to the North Carolina Professional Association of Nannies, or if they are already a member, a year’s extension to their membership. All we ask is that you tell us about them! Use the form below.