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We Almost Hired a Male Nanny
The decision revealed our unspoken prejudice
He stood six-foot-eight. Holding our daughter in his hands, he looked like former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal does when holding a basketball. The proportions were comically incongruent.
After I lost my job in 2016, we advertised on Care.com for a nanny. We don’t have relatives nearby. We had no option other than a stranger to watch our child. My wife was a local teacher at a Montessori school.
We interviewed a few neighborhood college-aged women.
Then he walked in.
He towered over us. He would be a wild sight on the playgrounds, full of short caregivers, mostly from South America and Western Europe.
There would be zero struggles with setting up the BoB jogging stroller. He wouldn’t be exerting himself carrying an infant's stuff around.
He would stand out because he was a man.
My wife Sasmita conducted the interview. I thought about how cool it would be to have a male nanny watching our daughter. He and Sonali played the whole time. She was enamored by his physical presence.
He said that his wife worked in a sensitive national security position and was unable to have biological children. His part-time job was creating set…
