THIEVERY MOST VILE: CRIMES AGAINST KIDS AND MUMS

By Margarita Y. Locsin-Chan

 

My son came home yesterday barefoot.

Some vile mummy or nanny stole his new shoes, along with the socks and Parakito strap it was bundled with inside his named cubbyhole at school. I call it thievery most vile!

In this day and age, it’s amazing, and not to mention, disturbing, what some people will do, knowing how vulnerable children and their doting parents are.

Three years into being a parent, I have met and encountered some of the most heartless creatures – among them, the Nasty Nanny (NN), the Nanny Thief (NT) and the Mummy Thief (MT).

I met Nasty Nanny when my son was two years old. My husband and I wrongly assumed that this college-graduate, well-speaking woman from our home country would make a great nanny for our little one. We were so wrong.

A few weeks into her contract, we noticed that our son would scream hysterically whenever we came home and NN opened the door, but since he couldn’t really speak clearly yet, he couldn’t tell us what was bothering him.

He also despised being left alone with her whenever we’d go out without him, and would pull at our clothes and scream the one coherent word her knew “NOOOOO!”

I got suspicious and started to look very closely at my son’s skin, which I had admittedly neglected to notice since she came in and I allowed her to bathe and change my son as part of her getting used to being his nanny.

Lo and behold, I found hand-sized black-and-blue marks on his arms and legs. NN was hurting my son and she was doing it while pretending to be Little Miss Perfect. I immediately terminated her and you couldn’t describe the happiness in my little man’s face as we walked away from the agency.

I vowed never to truly or totally trust anyone with my son again. I know this sounds a bit extreme, but under the circumstances, I’m sure most parents would have sworn the same!

Next in line is the Nanny Thief.

Unfortunately, this vile creature comes in many forms. They can even be friends and relatives. They greet you, make small talk, but all the time are observing your nanny and waiting for you to leave so they can make their move.

This is what happened to a friend of mine at one of the more popular play areas.

An old acquaintance of both her and her husband’s, the NT greeted my friends and after some small talk, parted ways as my friends went to do a bit of shopping, leaving their little girl in the capable hands of their long-time nanny.

Unknown to them, NT took that time to cozy up to their nanny and to – gasp! – pass on her contact details to her, as she offered her a job. Of course, NT quickly scampered off after doing her dastardly deed so that my friends would not suspect what she was doing while they were away.

Unluckily for NT, the nanny was devoted to my couple friends and reported the incident immediately upon their return. They were appalled and disgusted by their acquaintance’s behavior, but were more thankful that their nanny was not “nanny-napped”!

Needless to say, they won’t be greeting NT anymore, but as I mentioned to them when they told me about the incident, NTs aren’t just in Asia, but in the West as well.

When I was living in Europe and contemplating hiring a nanny, friends of mine cautioned me that Filipino nannies were on the top of the nanny list (which is actually a complement for us Filipinos, but is still no excuse for NTs to proliferate!) and so, were very much likely to get nanny-napped.

It seemed nowhere was safe. They could be poached from parks, schools and by anyone from strangers to friends, so my husband and I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and took care of our son ourselves until we moved back to Asia – which by the way, has made all the difference in our relationship with him.

And finally, yesterday, my son and I met the Mummy Thief. Perhaps the most vile of all, these people victimize our unsuspecting and innocent kids by taking their things, and thinking that since they are children, that they won’t care.

The MT is sorely wrong, for while the little ones have short-term memories, their mummies and daddies don’t and will relentlessly find a way to catch these terrible thieves.

How do I intend to find my son’s shoes’ MT?

I will observe which of the parents at the school are green-eyed monsters, the ones who like to ogle at my son’s things, which, because his doting grandparents are abroad, are often ones that are unavailable here and therefore quite special.

Of course, my son’s appalled grandmother, who called immediately upon receiving my SMS, has also suggested I put up a sign in the cubbyhole area that reads “Whoever took my son’s shoes, socks and Parakitos, please return them NOW!”

If they don’t come back today, Nana’s sign goes up tomorrow!