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Clare Mackintosh - US

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Choosing the perfect childcare

July 5, 2010 By Clare Mackintosh

The new nanny has started, following a brief handover period with the outgoing Mary Poppins.  Readers who have been around for a while will remember my angst over the arrival of our first nanny and I am relieved to discover I have relaxed considerably since then.  It no longer concerns me that she may inadvertently stumble upon my vibrator (it being now irretrievably locked in a cupboard) and to be frank I would not be overly hasty with the P45 if I were to find her in a compromising position with my husband.  This is in no way a reflection of the state of our relationship, simply an understanding of how difficult it is to find good childcare. 


A UK baby-sitting service Sitters.co.uk* has commissioned research into which celebrity would make the ideal baby-sitter.  Quite apart from being a totally pointless exercise (what exactly is the likelihood of Davina McCall watching the kids for me while I go for a bikini wax?) the study also misses out some clear favourites.  Desperate Mums and Dads are united in their desire for Super Nanny Jo Frost and Nanny McPhee to whip their children into shape, but why doesn’t Stalin get a mention?  Margaret Thatcher would definitely appear in my top five, as well as Pinochet, Voldemort and Mussolini.  Top of the list however would be Colonel Von Trapp, whose style of fascist parenting I much admire.  Whistles and all.  In fact if Herr Von Trapp showed up for work tomorrow in a pair of lederhosen I might just be persuaded to relax the rules on employer/employee relations.  You think that’s inappropriate?  Why do you think dads voted Cheryl Cole their second favourite baby-sitter?  Somehow I don’t think they were after a sing-song…

*This is not a sponsored post and I do not endorse this service or have any comment to make about it.  I just thought this press release was particularly ridiculous and worth an airing.

Filed Under: Parenting

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