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1. Did you have Nanny/Nannies, Au Pair etc..? (For how long)
My family had a nanny/housekeeper during the first two years of my life. Then my grandmother decided to take care of me and the house full time. After I started kindergarten, my mother hired a "babysitter" (more like a (grand)mother's helper, since Grandma was at home during the time) to teach me English for an hour a day in the afternoon.
2. If so, how do you think you were affected by this in terms of your childhood development relationships to others outside your family.
I think I would have been less sheltered had I been brought up by a nanny. My grandmother didn't let me do ANYTHING remotely "dangerous." On the other hand, I wouldn't have learned how to count by 2s, 3s and 5s at age 3 1/2 if a nanny brought me up.
3. Why do you think your parent/s got the nanny/au pair etc..
They both had to work and didn't want to send me to daycare too early.
4. Do you think it was beneficial for you?
I was too young to remember
5 What race was your hired help and how do you think your relations with people of said race were based on your relationship with your nanny, au pair., etc..
The women my family hired were all Asian, either from the Philippines (hiring Philippine help is common in the Chinese community both in Canada and in Hong Kong.) or of Chinese descent. I remember one of the women who worked in our home was Vietnamese Chinese. I'm not sure how it's affected me.
6. If you have kids, would you get them a nanny, governess etc..? of your race or another?
I don't know. I might want my kids to be exposed to other languages at a young age, so I might very well hire someone who speaks Mandarin (it's difficult to hire someone who speaks Cantonese, and in any case, Mandarin is the official dialect in China). It depends on who is best at the job.
7. What are your general thoughts and feelings about theses type of arrangements?
Arrangements of hiring a nanny of a different race/culture? Or hiring nannies at all? If it is the former, then it can give a child exposure to things he or she might not see until an older age, if at all (e.g. kids being bilingual or multilingual...plenty of kids in Hong Kong can speak Tagalog (a language people in the Philippines speak), Cantonese and English). If you mean the latter, then I think it's really up to the parents to decide.
8. Do you think our society still needs this? Why or why not...
If grandma isn't available, you can afford a nanny, and you don't want to put your child in group daycare then why not? There are usually five or so kids to one caregiver at a daycare, but fewer (maybe two or three at most)
9. DO you think it's elitist?
Depends on your upbringing. I personally do not think it's elitist. Many people hire babysitters to take care of their kids. The only difference is that the babysitter doesn't come every day (or live at the home). In some cultures, such as Hong Kong, having a housekeeper is a fact of middle class life for most families. Upper middle class homes often have two and the wealthiest have many. Of course in North America, pay regulations make it difficult to hire someone full time like that, which is why many see it as
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