Ever Felt Like You're Being Recorded?

[nannyde]

We were thinking we'd come up with something to say to see if they would say anything about it.

I would start talking about your new customer loyalty free month of day care prize that you are going to give to the most awesome parents who follow all of your policies. I would talk about the other day care parents and how they appreciated it SO much and how you think this month it should be them. Talk about how you can't WAIT to see their face when you give them the free month certificate. Really cheese it up.... how excited they are going to be and how they really deserve it.

Talk about that when your staff is NOT at your house and don't tell her about it. If they don't bite then a couple of weeks from now tell her.

Sit back and see what happens. There IS a chance that your helper is a spy for the other side.

Have they donated anything to your house?

[small_steps]

I would start talking about your new customer loyalty free month of day care prize that you are going to give to the most awesome parents who follow all of your policies. I would talk about the other day care parents and how they appreciated it SO much and how you think this month it should be them. Talk about how you can't WAIT to see their face when you give them the free month certificate. Really cheese it up.... how excited they are going to be and how they really deserve it.

Talk about that when your staff is NOT at your house and don't tell her about it. If they don't bite then a couple of weeks from now tell her.

Sit back and see what happens. There IS a chance that your helper is a spy for the other side.

Have they donated anything to your house?

LMBO! I love it. Great Idea! I can't think of anything that they have donated right off hand but will try to remember for sure.
I'd much rather it be sound if it's anything because there are many a nights I walk around in my gown throughout my house. Really uncomfortable to think someone would be watching that.

[CedarCreek]

LMBO! I love it. Great Idea! I can't think of anything that they have donated right off hand but will try to remember for sure.
I'd much rather it be sound if it's anything because there are many a nights I walk around in my gown throughout my house. Really uncomfortable to think someone would be watching that.

That would scare me too! On the weekends if someone comes unannounced to my house there is an 80% chance that i'm half dressed. ::

Would hate for dcps to be subjected to that!

[LK5kids]

Thank sounds weird and icky! I would wonder the same thing! I would make up something too and see if they take the bait. If they are trying to be sneaky they are not very good at it, and are letting the cat out of the bag!

One should ALWAYS trust " gut" feelings. In more serious situations it can save your life!

[nanglgrl]

I'm not saying that you're paranoid or that they're not recording you because anything is possible. It could be though that you are sending out subtle hints to annoyances and she is very good at picking up on them. Maybe it's just brushing the child's hair away from their face one too many times..etc. I know that I put out strong "vibes" and I also am very good at picking up on other people's "vibes".
My hubby claims he can never lie to me because I always know...I do though. It drives my kids nuts.
I'm not psychic but weird things happen to me all of the time and it can be down right odd at times even to me. I sure hope no one thinks I'm recording them! :: I could tell you a hundred different instances but here is the one that happened last night:
There is a lady I see a couple times of week at the gym. We have causal conversation here and there but mostly we just greet each other. Last night I was working out on weights and she was walking by and we did our regular greeting. Then for some odd reason I asked her if she had ever heard of the 3 day diet...she had and she had just finished her third day and told me about the experience. She had just heard of it a few days before and decided to try it. I had read about it a few days before and was doing some research. This example is one of the least creepy ones.
The creepiest one was when I was a teenager. There was a story on the news about a lady who had been carjacked and her two children were in the car. She was on the news pleading for their safe return. Without thinking I said "those babies are in their car seats in the lake". My parents, boyfriend and sister looked at me like I was crazy and we all shrugged it off. It was strange. It wasn't something I thought about saying, it just came out. About a week later my sister came in my room in the morning crying...it was just on the news that the mom had strapped the kids into their car seats and let the car roll into a lake. There was one other odd one like that when I thought someone had thrown their baby out a car window and it came to light that was actually what had happened but I don't remember it as clearly as the other one and these were the only ones that were down right creepy.
Sometimes I think it has to do with some energy we all put out and how some people feel it more or something. I have no idea and have never researched it but it seems right to me.

[e.j.]

By any chance do you both (you and the dc parents) have baby monitors that are left on all day? I had the feeling that one of my dc families (people who lived in the neighborhood) were somehow listening to my conversations, because they always seemed to know things they shouldn't necessarily know. I mentioned my feelings once to another dc provider I knew. At first she though I was being paranoid, too, but then she told me that one night, she and her husband were in bed when all of a sudden, they could hear a neighbor talking. She said it sounded as though the neighbor was right in the room with them. It took a few minutes but they realized her voice was coming from the baby monitor. Both families had young kids and used monitors at night. For some reason, my friend could hear the neighbor talking but the neighbor never heard my friend. This same friend also told me that cordless phones could present the same problem.

Just to test the theory, I had a conversation with my friend over my cordless phone and mentioned how frustrating it was when dc parents went home to change after work before picking up their kids, making them late. Sure enough, the next day, dcm picked up her child and the first thing out of her mouth was, "Do you mind that I go home and change before picking *** up?"
After that, I made sure I used my corded phone for any personal conversations I needed to have with anyone.

[nanglgrl]

By any chance do you both (you and the dc parents) have baby monitors that are left on all day? I had the feeling that one of my dc families (people who lived in the neighborhood) were somehow listening to my conversations, because they always seemed to know things they shouldn't necessarily know. I mentioned my feelings once to another dc provider I knew. At first she though I was being paranoid, too, but then she told me that one night, she and her husband were in bed when all of a sudden, they could hear a neighbor talking. She said it sounded as though the neighbor was right in the room with them. It took a few minutes but they realized her voice was coming from the baby monitor. Both families had young kids and used monitors at night. For some reason, my friend could hear the neighbor talking but the neighbor never heard my friend. This same friend also told me that cordless phones could present the same problem.

This is definitely another possibility. We've lived in this house for 4 years and recently remodeled our basement for the daycare. I had a video baby monitor that I'd never used here because I didn't need it. After the remodel I had to come to the top of the stairs to the kitchen to make lunch and I could hear the kids but not see them so I set it up. I left it on throughout the day as I forgot about it. I was looking at it later that night and noticed when we used the microwave it went fuzzy so I switched the channels. Imagine my surprise when I got a clear view of one child in a crib on one channel and on another a child in a bed! It took me a second but I realized that it was my neighbors from across the street. There is a ton of space between our homes and they should have been way out of range of each other. Through no fault of my own I felt like a creep and even though I was friends with this neighbor it was the most awkward conversation I've ever had.

[spud912]

This is definitely another possibility. We've lived in this house for 4 years and recently remodeled our basement for the daycare. I had a video baby monitor that I'd never used here because I didn't need it. After the remodel I had to come to the top of the stairs to the kitchen to make lunch and I could hear the kids but not see them so I set it up. I left it on throughout the day as I forgot about it. I was looking at it later that night and noticed when we used the microwave it went fuzzy so I switched the channels. Imagine my surprise when I got a clear view of one child in a crib on one channel and on another a child in a bed! It took me a second but I realized that it was my neighbors from across the street. There is a ton of space between our homes and they should have been way out of range of each other. Through no fault of my own I felt like a creep and even though I was friends with this neighbor it was the most awkward conversation I've ever had.

I've always heard that about those baby monitors! Creepy recording devices ::

[Unregistered]

I was thinking baby monitor too. In my old home I ended up getting a new monitor after I found out two of my daycare families could listen in and I usually just left it on. I always left it on setting 'a', but I guess if I switched to setting 'b' I would have been able to hear into their homes. A bit wierd finding out about a few years in & then mentioning it to another client who told me that she could hear me too if she put hers on setting 'a'. Awkward.

[Lucy]

A little note about baby monitors... my husband has a police scanner from when he used to be a volunteer fire fighter. One night we heard someone having sex. It was transmitted over their monitor.

[MyAngels]

I don't think you're being paranoid to think you might be recorded. With technology the way it is today there are a lot of ways this could happen. The baby monitors, definitely, but what about the spyware that can be used to turn on your laptop webcam? I'm sure there are many other ways, too, not just a hidden recording device.

I'd think of two different scenarios that you could discuss that these parents might pick up on, then discuss one while your assistant is not there and one while he/she is there. If the parent picks up on only on the one discussed with your assistant you can surmise that the assistant is talking out of school. If they pick up on both or only the first one you might have to investigate further how they might be listening in.

I wouldn't care whether I had anything to "hide" or not, the very fact that someone would purposely violate my privacy would be enough for me to do something about it.