I really enjoyed this book and it’s look into the world of a nanny. I was expecting some fluffy funny stories about nanny life, but it was so much more than that. I liked the honest and heartfelt writing about the good and bad parts of being a nanny. The author also discussed her life growing up with a lot less than the families she nannied for which made her story even more interesting. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced reader’s copy.

Wanted: A daily confrontation with your traumas and reality check

I started reading this book thinking I was going to laugh nonstop and probably have moments in which I thought I couldn't believe people like this existed. Yes, those two things take place in the book; however, this is much more than that. If you have never worked in an environment that makes you confront your traumas, count yourself as a lucky human! This book is reflective and makes you think about inequality on many fronts.

It's an incredible journey reading the book, and it makes for the perfect weekend read; I had to put it down on day two for a family dinner, and I was pissed because I wanted to keep reading. That is how good this book is.

My favorite quotes are:
"Peace is a luxury I no longer take for granted."

"Growing up is hard, and accepting people for who they are is even harder."

"Dignity has no price tag."

"In Manhattan, having a therapist is a mark of success, wealth, and awareness. In poor neighborhoods, it can mean only one thing: you are crazy."

"Women needing validation from men is a universal problem that affects every class."

Please pick the book and enjoy the reading because if this book has something to teach us, it is that the outcome does not matter if you do not learn from the journey.

Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks, for this ARC!

I liked this book for a couple reasons - one, it shows the very vast world of nannying and that people can fall into the profession in many ways. It discusses the types of families that are out there and that not everyone is a good fit in each place. Finding a family is like finding a unicorn, and its way easier said that done. As a mother that has a staff, I really liked Kiser’s perspective - the long hours, the lack of personal time, the expectation to always be ON is hard and its one I have in my home. I appreciated how frank and telling this book was, without being TOO judgmental.

I’d love to gift this to my nannies when it comes out, and keep it in mind for the times when I need a perspective shift!

I love this book by Stephanie Kiser, Wanted: Toddler's Personal Assistant. The author finds herself mired in student loans, and she finds herself nannying for the 1% (for lack of a better term.) While this book has humor, and I loved the way she had the current story, but also in some chapters went back in her timeline to show how she was raised. She started realizing that some others really do live in worlds that are so much different fro most of us that it would almost seem like fiction. The book reads like fiction...but it's not. While I enjoyed it as much (or more) than a novel, it made me think, had me nodding my head, and honestly, at times a little discouraged, because there are a lot of truths in what she sees. While she knew nannying wasn't her career path forever, she loved the children and I think they were lucky to have had her in their lives. Read this book. I don't give a 5 often, but this one gets that from me.
Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I really liked this! A really interesting perspective on upper class families, class mobility, and parenting. Don't expect academic perspectives on these topics - it's a lot more personal than anything, but quite good!

This is a quick and easy to read memoir diving into the differences of growing up vastly differently than the rich toddlers the author babysat. There is also a clear difference between how our author was treated vs. how POC nannies were treated. It's an interesting deep dive in the differences that arise, while treating everyone with care and consideration as well.

I really enjoyed this book. I was looking forward to reading it because I love reading about different professions. The book kept my attention the entire time and was such an easy read.

From chapter to chapter you move to and from a different time in Stephanie’s life, I normally don’t like a time jump back and forth but this was written really well.

The growth in Stephanie’s character, personality and thoughts were very relevant and it just goes to show how much our parents and those around us when we’re young really do leave their impression.

This is a good book about the life of a nanny to a very prestigious family. The story went between present and past time of the nanny’s life. This story was easy to follow and an easy read. Would recommend.

This was a memoir of Steph’s experience nannying for the upper east side families in her twenties. She gives glimpses into the inequalities in gender roles, race, socioeconomic classes, etc.

There’s plenty of humor about the kids, parenting styles, and situations in her life. She keeps things light and fast even on the deeper topics that she brings up.

It is a retelling of her experiences. It’s very personal and fast paced.

I picked this up because I recently became a parent and honestly hadn't expected to enjoy the book as much as I did. What a refreshing read! Wanted: Toddler's Personal Assistant was funny, charming, and informative. I highly recommend it.

I liked how the chapters were structured, alternating every so often between Stephanie's experience nannying and her childhood. Her writing was accessible but also intelligent, and I flew through the story in just a few days, which says a lot considering it usually takes me weeks (or months...) to finish a book!

Stephanie's sense of humor stood out as my favorite aspect of the memoir. Her witty quips sprinkled throughout kept me entertained, and she only seemed to get funnier as the story progressed.

Aside from making me laugh, I found Stephanie's writing to be insightful, honest, and deeply reflective. She is clearly a gifted writer, able to balance sarcasm with thoughtful observation.

One place I think the narrative could have been improved is the ending. 1) It felt short and a bit abrupt; I would have liked to know more about her life after nannying. 2) I didn't think it was necessary to include the lessons learned at the very end as I felt they were implicit throughout the memoir. That said, it's my only critique.

I'm eager to read more of Stephanie Kiser's work in the future!

As someone who has been a nanny I wanted to see it from someone's else's point of view. I have not worked for the extreme wealthy but this book was a good take on being a nanny for some wealthy families. I liked how the author wove her own story into the book too.

4.5 stars rounded up! Thank you to Sourcebooks, NetGalley, and the author for the ARC.

This one pulled me out of a major book slump! A peek behind the curtain at unspeakable wealth is always interesting, but from the perspective of a (self-proclaimed) “white trash” background nanny who is an industry outsider, yet who possesses her own amount of privilege as a young, white, healthy employee?! Utterly fascinating.

Stephanie takes us along for the ride as her nannying for the ultra-rich reveals to her the hilarious, absurd and somehow universal experience of rearing children and how caring for them forges one’s own growing up. Hearing about some of her employers’ more ridiculous requests and still others’ humility despite fame was intriguing.

She also shares fascinating and sad insights about the inequalities amongst “the help” (most other nannies, as you could guess, are receiving salaries under the table that can’t be taxed which of course appeals to people who are undocumented).

Though some pieces get a bit tangential and the writing has its flaws at times, Stephanie’s own story woven in with her experience as a nanny made this one unputdownable.

This was an interesting and fast read about working/being a nanny for the top 1%. The differences in how people live, money, etc and the privilege in America was not eye opening necessarily but interesting to read for sure and was very well done.

I also enjoyed some funny parts of the book as well & was glad to have read this after a few thriller reads which was a good palette cleanser!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review!

This book is a memoir of the author's time working as a nanny for very wealthy families in NYC and contrasting that with her own upbringing in a working class family. While the writing is fine, I kept feeling that Kiser wanted to be seen as the Stephanie Land of nannying, but neither her backstory nor her insights into the lives and challenges of her wealthy employees bring this book up to that level

wow wow wow this is so much more than a nanny tell-all

Stephanie Kiser, using the seven years she spent as a nanny for some of Manhattan's most elite and wealthy families and her own upbringing, discusses the socioeconomics of parenthood and the impact of generational wealth on "success" in life. Her memoir is incredibly honest, from sharing her abortion to the tumultuous upbringing she had and everything in between.

Kiser details her childhood as the first daughter to teen parents and what those family dynamics entail, and how that was a driving factor for her to seek "more" out of life, though as she writes, she struggled with figuring out what exactly "more" is- a societally acceptable job, millions of dollars, a Park Ave address?

The book really dives into how people at different socioeconomic levels approach parenting and how oftentimes, the choices poor families have to make are judged, while the rich are celebrated.

Kiser also talks about the power of her education, and how, had she not gotten a scholarship to a private high school, she wouldn't have gone to college and ended up where she did, while also acknowledging the lack of accessibility to good education most people have, evidenced by her massive student loan debt. I also loved how she described her education being a catalyst to changing her worldview, teaching her things she didn't know under her parents conservative views. Deftly, she wrote about how while she came to disagree with her parents on a lot of their beliefs and values, she understood why they believed what they did, and how they were likely just scared of what little social capital they had being taken away from them.

In discussing her experiences as a nanny, Kiser dives into the complicated world of high-money families and the ways they treat their staff, including her observances on race, as she tells several stories of times she, a white woman, was treated better than her POC counterparts by various nanny families.

This book is compelling, honest, witty, interesting, and important.

I enjoyed this book, but it was not quite what I expected. Stephanie Kiser is a nanny to rich New York City families, and I expected more focus on just that aspect, but she spends a good deal of time delving back into her difficult childhood and comparing that to the world she sees her charges growing up in. It was a very insightful study and ponderance of how much of our success in life is shaped by our early environment and values. The only thing I found frustrating was how dismissive she was of nannying. She often talks about how it's a nothing job and it has no meaning. I think she may have absorbed some of the elitist perspective that a domestic job has no value. Those kids she loved and raised will probably always remember her. She had a big hand in helping shape lives - that holds immense value! Not a criticism of the book, just my pet peeve as a fellow former nanny.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for the arc - all opinions are my own.

I did enjoy “Wanted: Toddler's Personal Assistant” by Stephanie Kiser. With that being said it was just fine. I read it quickly probably because I kept wanting more and expected it to get better but it never did. The book was lacking something and I’m not sure what that was. This wasn’t what I expected and it was not a hit for me.

I thought this book would be more light-hearted with tales of nannying for the rich. Including funny stories of those 1% aren’t like the rest of us, how ridiculous. Rather it moved between past and present. I understood why the author did this as it’s a memoir to try to add depth to her rational, experience and decisions and show how vastly difference her life is to those she is a nanny to.

Stephanie grew up working class in Rhode Island with a seemingly unstable family. She received a scholarship to a private girls high school for basketball and met her best friend Lila. She then got a scholarship for college but wanted to be at a bigger school for TV and film writing and had to take out loans against her parents wishes. After graduation Stephanie moved to New York found jobs hard to come by and became a nanny by accident and got a taste of reality waiting for many of us post graduation. The book highlights socioeconomics and really puts it into perspective during the Covid-19 pandemic. I did find myself cheering for Stephanie and her to find happiness and fulfillment in her life and career we all desire. Overall 3.5 stars out of 5.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

As someone who has worked very similar jobs I was so excited for this book and hugely appreciated how open and in-depth the author was. It was extremely well-written and readable, making me fly through it in just a few days. The connections made between Kiser’s work as a nanny and her own childhood were really well entwined and adding a great depth to the memoir. I also appreciated how she explored the larger picture of what she learned re: class, race, and motherhood.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
This was very interesting and very well done. The author grew up in humble circumstances but was able to go to a private girls high school on a basketball scholarship, and then on to college for TV and film writing, and then after graduation moved to New York and, well, reality hit with a ton of bricks and she was not able to pay both her living expenses and her student loans on the low pay of jobs or internships she can find. But then she discovers what nannies to the richest families get paid--and ends up doing this for several years, through good families and not so good, even through covid lockdown. She emerges at the end with the chance to write this book, and process all the things she has learned about families, money, parenthood, sexism, and love. This was a great first book and I hope she has many more to come. This was well written, engaging, and a lot of fun to get this "peek" into the realities of the very wealthy. Recommended!

This book was both entertaining and eye opening! Stephanie gave a look into not only nannying for the wealthy in NYC, but growing up in poverty & her struggle to make her own way as a young adult. I really enjoyed her honesty throughout the book, especially with the personal accounts about her own family. She was able to contrast her childhood with the childhoods of those she nannied for and show that some struggles of being a mom are universal regardless of class. I really enjoyed this book and felt like her voice & sense of humor came through - loved seeing her evolution throughout her 20s (& the pandemic!) and realizing that money & things don’t buy happiness.

Thank you to NetGalley & Sourcebooks for the ARC!