The Hollywood Reporter has an eye-opening article about the staff requirements and trends of Hollywood’s elite. According to their report, it’s not uncommon for people earning $5-$10 million a year to spend around $200-$300k on staff alone. Along with that comes a laundry list of requirements for the various positions, including “estate manager,” “chef,” “housekeepers,” and of course “nannies.” We’ll just be focusing on the nanny portion of their report, which quotes multiple staffing experts on the tricky business of finding just the right nanny for their particular high profile clientele. The most interesting part to me is of course the part where they say that Ben Affleck’s dalliance with fame-hungry nanny Christine Ouzounian ruined the career aspirations of so many hot young nannies in LA. I jest, they didn’t go that far, but there is a definite call for older nannies and it can be traced back to Affleck’s wandering dick. Here’s more:
Need a nanny? You’re in the right place. “If you’re looking for a college-educated, athletic and well-traveled nanny, the choices are greater in L.A. than almost anywhere else,” says Baker, who notes that the New York elite often dip into the L.A. nanny pool. The norm of having a full-time nanny five days a week and an on-call babysitter on weekends is morphing into two rotating full-time nannies seven days a week, says Elizabeth Rose Agency’s Julie Swales, whose clients include working CAA and UTA moms. After placing a nanny (some of whom fetch $30 an hour, plus health benefits and an SUV for safe kid transport), Swales often stays involved as an adviser: “Imagine the dynamics of a mom who’s dealing with postpartum blues, has to get back to work and doesn’t want a nanny, but needs her.”
Agents all note an increase in requests for nannies knowledgeable in attachment parenting and RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers). Adds Westside Nannies’ Katie Provinziano: “Clients ask me if I could find a nanny who may have been a pro-level tennis player. You’ll have parents asking for a ballerina if their daughter is into ballet.” Nannies who eschew the use of gender pronouns are also in demand. “There’s a gender conversation going on now,” says Swales. “They look for nannies who will let a little boy wear a sister’s tutu to school.” But the trend toward younger nannies has slowed: “The [alleged] Ben Affleck nanny affair scandal didn’t help,” says an agent. “I got calls from clients saying they don’t want anyone under 35.” And the strict British nanny is no longer in vogue: Only “a Chinese bazillionaire or the Saudis might love that,” says Baker. The invisible nanny, however, is still going strong, as celeb moms feel pressure to appear as if they’re doing it all, with personal assistants also doing nanny duties (as Gwyneth Paltrow’s are said to do) or staying out of lens range when traipsing with the brood through LAX (Angelina Jolie). As Provinziano puts it: “You need to give up your life a bit, do anything necessary to make this family’s life happen.”
I know about attachment parenting and practiced it but RIE is new to me. I guess that’s specific to people who care for children. I have a confession to make. I was going to write something snarky about how attachment parenting and having nannies doesn’t mix, but honestly I had a nanny for a while when my son was three. Sometimes people have nannies and they’re not all rich, entitled a-holes. But I wouldn’t expect a nanny to be all things for my kid, that’s what you’re there for. I don’t begrudge people who work from having live in childcare. What gets me, though, is when they act like they do it all themselves and try to hide the nannies away. For all you can say about Jennifer Garner, she’s let the paparazzi see her nannies before. She probably wishes she didn’t hire one nanny in particular, but the blame for that should primarily land on her no-good husband. (Still, that nanny is/was a piece of work. I’m grateful that she’s out of the picture. Ben seems to have shut that down with cash and an NDA.)
Here’s Affleck out with a different longer term nanny in late August:
photo credit: WENN.com, Pacific Coast News and FameFlynet
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