Did you grow up with a nanny/governess/maid/servants etc?

Our childminder had a telly that had a meter you had to throw 50p pieces into. It was an education!

When I went away to school in England some of my classmates were filthy, and I mean filthy rich - country estates, shooting on weekends, the whole nine yards. One girl in particular had me over to stay for a few days and her 'driver' came to pick me up. Once there the cook made dinner and the general dogsbody guy just shuffled about the house doing stuff. She started going out with a trainee electrician as part of her rebellion and the 'rents cut her off So fickle these rich folks.

thundercunt wrote: »

The odd time when my mam was lazy she'd get in a cleaner once a week, but they never lasted long cause she always seemed to catch them stealing stuff. That's as close as I think most Irish people get to maids..

When my grandmother was sick with chemotherapy the hospice used to send around someone to provide home help a couple of days a week and she'd get up early those days to have the house decent for her before she arrived.

We had pixies in our house

Come home from college on Friday evening and throw a sportsbag of filthy clothes in the utility room

Leave Sunday night and they would be washed, dried, ironed and folded.

There were pixies living in our house I tell you, only explanation

I remember reading some Roald Dahl novel, think it was called Boy. His early life time in public school, what we'd call boarding school I suppose

Senior students selected a new student as their "fag"

With outside toilets one task was go sit and warm the toilet seat which would be freezing in winter. The fag would do this so it would be somewhat warm for the senior student. They had to do all sorts of tasks

Very strange but you know, zero gay connectations at all
It was more of a master servant relationship. The Brits would know a lot about that. And reading the posts of people living as ex pats and colonies or former colonies, seems to have been the same

You made me laugh

No, but my children will.

My parents lived in South Africa before I was born there they had a Gardner and a live in cleaner/cook person. When my older brother was born he had a nanny. At the time you didn't have to be mega rich to afford these things.

They moved back to Ireland before I was born and we then had a childminder whose own children were already grown up. She would bring us to school, and pick us up. Make all our meals breakfast lunch and dinner.

She cared for us for us till I was six as my little brother had come along and she felt that 3 kids under ten was a bit much, She had already raised 5 of her own. That woman became a second mother to me an up until I was about 14 I would go and stay with her at weekends and on school holidays. She still got us Easter eggs, Christmas and birthday presents etc. She was so much more than a childminder.


Then we got a proper nanny but she was far too strict. She instead on doing extra lessons etc she never played silly little childish games that mean nothing but are a lot of fun with us. Everything had to be educational. We had her about 6 months.

Then we started with live in aupairs. They cooked, cleaned and played with us. Some even took us back to their country with them at the end of their stay for a holiday and to meet their family. Going on holiday without your parents when you’re young is the best thing ever.
I had aupairs from the age of 7 till about 17 as I had a younger brother and sister. In all I think we had about 28 aupairs and we are still in contact with about 10.

I wouldn’t say that we’re really well off and there are a few negatives. I have had over 32 people raise me. That's 32 different styles of parenting and slightly different rules. My parents worked a lot and during the week we only saw them for an hour or two a day and as I got older not much more on weekends. I love my parents but growing up I always felt closer to my first childminder and the current aupair. Aupair change over time was also a bit stressful as your little world was taken away and now a stranger was in it.

Would I change it? Nope I may not be really close to my parents. But growing up without them made me very independent. I got to learn from most other cultures in Europe and I can also speak the basics in German, French, Spanish, and Italian. I also know a few different European swear words .I was also shown how to cook all different types of food. But most of all I think it has brought me, my brothers and sister closer. Sometimes I do get envious about how close my friends are to their parents, To be honest I think I don't really know my parents as they have never been around much. And as of October they are moving back to South Africa. So I will only get to see them once or twice a year.

Would I do the same for my kids? Nope because I want to be there when they scrape their knee, I want to bring them to their first day at school and I want to be who they turn to when they get their heart broken. Not only because it's what parents do but because I know from experience that sometimes you just want your mam or dad not someone you have known for two weeks.

We also had a window cleaner, a lady who came once a week to do some cleaning and ironing, and a person who done some gardening every now and again. Apart from the window cleaner none of these were professional.
Some people may think that we had a silver spoon in our mouths but we always had to work for everything we got. Pocket money etc had to be earned and we had to have summer jobs from the age of 15.
So I guess the grass isn't always greener.

I grew up a poor bastard, but I know of lots of big houses around here that had nannies, maids, servants etc. There are a fair few estates and whatnot around Wicklow, so you just get used to them. Best part of it are the German nannies :pac: