NANNIES as ROLE MODELS

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There is always a role model in any person's life. Parents are the first role models; brothers, sisters and other relatives may also be role models. One day, teachers in school and professors in college will also be role models. Sometimes, nannies are caring for babies since they are born. The relationship between babies and nannies can be really extraordinary and nannies become role models, too.

In the book "The boy who was raised as a dog," the writer, the psychiatrist Bruce D. Perry, explains a really dramatic case. A wealthy, busy family hired a nanny to care for the new born since the baby was three weeks old. Starting the job, the nanny got a second job and she neglected the baby. When the baby got older, he had no social skills at all. The psychiatrist claims that because the child was emotionally neglected during the very early years of his life, he had no social skills. Babies' brains need affection to develop properly.

When I was reading this chapter, I remembered a Colombian girl who I met a few years ago. She came to the States to study a program in M. Ed. for children with disabilities. She said that her parents and teachers in school never believed that she could study in college because her grades were terrible. However,  she went to college and graduated with honors. Her dream was to become a teacher and she did because of her passion of teaching and her great admiration to her nanny. She said that her nanny was very good taking care of children and her nanny become her role model.

Her words towards her nanny will remain in my memory for ever.