The Nanny Diaries, part 3

When the 604 call came up on caller ID, I didn't race to answer it. Telemarketer, I just assumed. And then it rang again. and again. So, finally I answered it, ready with my pre-planned "I am not interested, but thank you" when the caller offered me some sort of resort deal. But alas, no! it wasn't a telemarketer, but, in fact, someone calling from Immigration Canada.

"Ma'am, we have your nanny here at the airport in Vancouver. She's ready to be picked up."

um. WHAT? I looked over at Nanny Haydee, who was standing in my kitchen, smiling. She was perfect. We scrambled after getting nanny poached, and seemed to have hit the nanny jackpot. She was sweet, SO SWEET, and so good with the kids.

"You must be mistaken. My nanny is here with me at my home. In Toronto."

"Well, she has paperwork with her. It says that she is coming to work for your family and your three kids. She says her agent Rakela worked this all out."

"Um, yeah. Well, I DID hire a nanny through Rakela months ago, but she up and left me without any sort of notice. and then I couldn't get a hold of Rakela because she was off in Hong Kong recruiting new nannies. So, I severed ties with Rakela and went to a different agency."

"Well, apparently, Rakela doesn't think so."

"Well, what happens now?"

"We will have to release this nanny."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. She came here under the assumption that she was working for you. Even though you didn't know about this and had nothing to do with this. You are supposed to be her sponsor on the live-in caregiver program. Or at least that's what it says on the paperwork."

"Oh, I feel awful. She's got nowhere to go. I would hire her, I would. But I already have a nanny. Where will she go?"

"Honestly, Ma'am, I have no idea. We have seen this happen before, actually. Nanny agencies use names of employers that they have used in the past to bring new nannies in and then they stockpile the nannies in their homes until they can place them in homes."

"You are KIDDING."

"I wish I was kidding. We have even come across agents who have used named from obits."

"Excuse me?"

"They scour the paper for names of people who have passed. And then use those names to bring nannies into the country. under the assumption that they will be working for an employer. An employer who is actually not even alive."

"Come to think of it, Rakela did have about a dozen nannies living in her house at the time. But, she made it sound perfect. She made it seem like this was a good thing. That the nannies in her house were training my nanny to be the best she could be. And when she called them "my nannies" I just assumed they were nannies that worked for her, and it was legit. I didn't think she was harboring illegal nannies."

"Yeah. That sounds about right."

"You know what the sickest part of this whole thing is? That I trusted her to do this for me - because she was the professional. She knew the legalities of the whole nanny process. But, in fact, there was nothing professional about her at all. and now this poor woman has no where to go. She left her family, her friends, her life. to come to work for me."

So, that was that. I looked over at Haydee and thought of the family, the friends, the life she left behind to come and work for me. And I was thankful for her that she had somewhere to go when she got off that plane. I was thankful she came to me...

TO BE CONTINUED...

An original Canada Moms Blog post. You can also find Ali embarrassing herself over at Cheaper Than Therapy and embarrassing celebrities over at Juice: Entertainment News with Extra Pulp.