Naked Dad! - An Embarassing Incident

This sticky moment happened when I was working as a nanny for the first time. Up until I started with this first family, I had little experience working inside a family home.

On that cold winter day, I was preparing breakfast for the boys. My job in the morning was to make sure that William and Hans had breakfast and got ready for school. The boys’ mum was trying to comfort a grouchy Tommy, who was teething. She was doing that while trying to load the washing machine. Just after the front loader was turned on, Tommy stood in front of the machine crying and pointing. His mum scooped him up as William went over to the machine to inspect what Tommy was pointing to. Unable to console him, she began to look for his cuddly (a muslin square/nappy). She asked me about its whereabouts and I reminded her that she was holding it before. To that, William told his mum the cuddly was probably in the washing machine. Having already finished his breakfast, cheeky Hans began to tease Tommy to make him cry even more and then bullied William for revealing the fact. Before things got any worse I was asked to go get a ‘fresh’ cuddly from Tommy’s room. I ran quickly up the stairs and came down faster without the cuddly. Why didn’t I fetch what I was told?

I walked back to the kitchen slowly, hoping that Tommy had settled down. When I entered, Tommy was sitting on his mum’s lap sucking on his thumb while she was reading a bill. I thought Tommy seemed fine and went about helping the boys to clear the table. I was checking William’s bag to see if he had his lunch box and smock when his mum realised I was back. She had this puzzled look on her face and then asked, “Where did you go? Are the boys ready?” She looked down on her lap at Tommy and then thanked me for getting the cuddly. She was talking about how Tommy was not able to live without the cuddly when I told her that I didn’t get one for him. She looked down at him again before he started crying. She said, “I thought you just went up there to get a ‘fresh’ cuddly.” I told her I couldn’t. By then, Tommy’s cry was irritating her. She passed him to me and went upstairs to fetch one herself. The boys and I waited for her at the front door. We could hear laughter upstairs. Hans yelled, “What is so funny mummy?” There was no answer. Minutes later, she came down the stairs clutching a fresh cuddly for Tommy, kissed him goodbye and ushered the older boys to the car. Once the front door slammed shut, I knew the next awkward moment would happen soon. I picked Tommy up, praying that he didn’t need a nappy change and headed straight for the kitchen. On the way in, I closed the glass door behind me. I placed him at his corner, making sure he was happy playing with his plastic vehicles before keeping myself busy washing his bottles at least 3 times. Soon enough, I saw the shadow of the boys’ dad in the hallway. I think he also felt that I was embarrassed and decided to wave me goodbye without entering the kitchen. He left for work without kissing Tommy. What happened when I got up the stairs?

In this beautiful Victorian house, Tommy and William’s room was next to the master bedroom. The second flight of stairs leads straight into the big master bedroom. To get to Tommy’s room, I just had to turn right on the landing. On that day, the master bedroom door was wide open and this exposed the whole bedroom as well as the ensuite to anyone who happened to be on the landing. I could even hear the sound of water as I was climbing up the second flight of stairs. Just before I turned right, I caught sight of the boys’ dad showering. He was standing under the shower stark naked waving at me. I think I stood there frozen for a few seconds because I wasn’t sure if I was really looking at what I was looking at. When I realised it was for real, I dashed down the stairs on the double. It wasn’t like I haven’t seen a naked person before. I guess I was shocked because I wasn’t expecting someone to be waving at me in such a situation.

On the following Saturday, I had to babysit Tommy and William for a few hours while their mum and dad took Hans to the cinema. I didn’t look forward to it because I knew he would be home. I think the couple made the decision to apologise to me. The boys’ mum thoughtfully gathered them at the ‘front room’ (a place where the boys were normally not encouraged to enter) so he could talk to me in the kitchen. He apologised and explained that he didn’t mean to give me such a fright. He was more mindful after that. Sometimes, the boys mum would ask if I minded, before sending me up to the younger boys’ room if he was home. Other times, she would give me the signal jokingly announcing, “The coast is clear.”

I enjoyed working for this family. I do not have anything to whinge about them except that Hans was quite a handful. They were exceptionally good to me. I never expected an apology from someone like the dad. I thought as a top executive for the Asian-Pacific region of a famous international company, he would see little of me. How wrong I was. From the very first time I met him, I was requested to call him by his first name. He isn’t a show off. For William and Hans (when he was younger), the boys knew only that dad ‘counted’ things at work. Dad didn’t want them to have a ‘big head’. He would sometimes read the paper and then asked me opinions on what I thought on business and finance. He has a loud voice but he never used it to belittle or patronize me. After a year of a fun first experience as a nanny, the family left Melbourne for London as the dad climbed the ladder to secure himself a new posting. The boys’ mum was overjoyed by the news as she was finally going home. I agreed too that the boys would enjoy part of their childhood in England.

This post was initially about my awkward moment seeing a naked dad. What should a nanny do in similar situations? Do you carry on as if nothing happened? Do you say anything? As in my case, how do you explain to the mum?