Woman wants to keep nanny despite her politics; Husband says, 'she's got to go.' AITA?
When this woman doesn't want to fire her nanny but her husband does, she asks Reddit:
"AITA to stop husband from firing communist nanny?"
Our live-in nanny, lets call her Tatiana, has been taking care of Darcy (13) and Henry (8) ever since Darcy was 2. She is Eastern European, speaks with a heavy accent, and is a communist.
She tells the kids bedtime stories about the Russian Revolution, sings them communist songs, and calls them comrade. A couple of weeks ago, Darcy turned 13.
Her present from Tatiana was a little matryoshka nesting doll Tatiana made herself, an Eastern European headscarf and a copy of the communist manifesto. Me, my husband, and Tatiana took the kids to New Look to get Darcy a pair of shoes and a dress for her upcoming birthday party.
A saleslady complimented Henry on his shoes, he then called the lady comrade, flipped his nokia 2660 open (a birthday present from Tatiana) and played the soviet anthem.
Tatiana persuaded him to go to costa's for a biccie, and the next evening, we called Tatiana for a meeting. My husband wanted to fire Tatiana, however the children overheard and run down, crying.
I told my husband that Tatiana was a member of our family now, and that she will continue being one permanently. Tatiana was moved to tears, and my husband later ranted about her the next day when she had taken the kids for a walk. AITA for refusing to throw her out?
Let's see what readers thought.
mmiggs writes:
Tatiana has been raising your kids for the last 11 years, and you're just now wondering whether you have a problem with her teaching your kids soviet-style communism?
ESH, because this situation is too ridiculous for words. If you allow Tatiana to address your kids as "comrade", and to sing communist songs with them, they are going to do that with other people.
Because they're kids, and that's what kids do. If that's a problem for you, you should have addressed Tatiana's behavior at some point in the past decade.
okcontext1168 writes:
NTA. But in the very least, you should talk to her about NOT teaching them communist principles and anthems since your husband has a problem with it. She is way overdue for a "boundaries" conversation. What Henry did in the store was super weird.
fuzzymic writes:
NAH. Your nanny is buying phones for your kids? You are paying her that much? (So much for the theory of oppressed workers.)
And your husband is concerned about the influence that her comments about workers controlling the means of production will have on the kids.