Wanted: Toddler's Personal Assistant

In this emotional and insightful memoir about nannying for New York City’s richest families, Stephanie Kiser chronicles her journey through the world of the Western elite – a world in stark contrast to her own impoverished childhood.

***

What are the lives of America's richest families really like? Their nannies see it all…

After a dysfunctional childhood as one of four kids born to teenage parents and raised "white trash" in poor Rhode Island, Stephanie Kiser finds herself a 22-year-old, first-generation university graduate drowning in student loan debt. To stay afloat, she surrenders her career-track PR job for a position as a babysitter to New York City’s toddler elite.

The span of seven years takes Stephanie on a journey from working alongside a stay-at-home mum in her ten-million dollar Park Ave apartment, to a “no discipline” family, to the Kushners, world-class doctors and finally, to a position with a young couple – both high-powered lawyers – with three small kids.

Interwoven with Stephanie’s time in the glamorous world of the 1% (in the unglamorous role of domestic help) is the narrative of her own upbringing, the contrasts illuminating both the effects of privilege and the grit of self-sufficiency in the modern Western world.

With sharp insight, sensitivity and humour, Stephanie Kiser offers a glimpse into the lucrative but exhausting world of childminding for the elite – from emotional highs to crushing lows.