I only heard of the Nanny Ball last year when my friend Stella Reid (aka Nanny Stella from Nanny 911) was honored by this event. This year my good friend Candi Vajana (aka The Funny Nanny) is being honored at this event. But the Nanny Ball is also about honoring someone else: All those who work day in and day out in a profession that is still, to a great deal, looked down upon in this country.
When I travel around the world, both for work and pleasure, and I explain to people that I own a training company for a highly specialized type of nanny, most people, if they have had any contact or exposure to nannies at all, are a little bit in awe—because on the worldwide stage, nannies overall are viewed through the lens of the “Gold Standard” in the in-home childcare industry, The Iconic British Nanny—well trained, professional and highly admired. But here in the US, the response is not the same many times—except within my own industry, many people kind of smile and nod with an “oh how quaint” attitude. And yet here in the US, most nannies that I know are highly trained, extremely well-qualified and committed professionals. They often go unrecognized and unrespected. So, an amazing woman named Alene Mathurin, together with a few others, has an amazing event she puts on in the winter to honor nannies, to help them feel special, to help them feel recognized and to help them feel respected.
This year’s theme is Holiday Masquerade, The Unveiling. I spoke with Alene recently about the ball and this is what she shared:
The nanny ball is on December 3, 2016, in Brooklyn and the nanny community out here and in fact all over are very excited. This year the theme of the ball is “The Unveiling” which was purposely chosen for several reasons. First, based on our very organic grassroots research I found out that there were some nannies that were very much afraid to tell others in society that they were, in fact, nannies. Their hesitancy came from the stigmas attached to the nanny profession. Some of the stigmas have cultural roots and other layers of complexities so that notion varies from one nanny community to another. “The Unveiling” will usher a call to nannies to simply step out and be proud of the hard work that they do- To Unveil!. Additionally “The Unveiling” serves as satire to poke a bit of fun about the distorted ideas that some still have about the work of nannies. Most importantly, as a nanny community, we believe that we have an incredible opportunity to have a positive impact on humanity beyond the profession itself and therefore “The Unveiling” also serves as a call to action for young girls and boys that are victims of sex abuse. Therefore we will have a private auction at the ball and the proceeds will go toward a Caribbean child foundation to help spread the message about the dangerous consequences of sexual abuse. As you can see the ball is more than a party, more than breaking bread together and celebrating/recognizing the work of nannies but more so it’s a continued work to help give more credence to the profession out here and showcase our values as professionals.
I cannot help but admire what they are doing here to raise nannies up, to help them feel pride and professionalism in the important work that they do every day. I am excited about this event. I know my husband and I are making the trip to NYC to attend and honor hardworking nannies—perhaps you should too?
For tickets, go to Eventbrite and search “The Unveiling” or www.nannyconnectevents.com
By Tonya Sakowicz