Parents seeking a nanny to help care for their two gender-neutral children have posted a job advert on the UK’s largest childcare website.
The parents, who live in London, state they’ve struggled to fill the position previously, and are willing to ‘pay well’ for an after-school nanny who is ‘open-minded’ and accepting of the way they choose to bring up their children, who are aged six and two.
The advert states that previous nannies tried to influence the children into choosing a gender, and were terminated from the position as a result.
Parents are advertising for a nanny to care for their two gender-neutral children, ages two and six on the UK’s largest childcare website
The job advert was posted on Childcare.co.uk last week, recruiting for a nanny who will look after two gender-neutral children, aged six and two.
The role involves picking the children up every day after school and nursery until the parents return home from work, potentially putting the children to bed if the parents are running late and may include some weekend work.
According to the advert, the guardians have had trouble with past carers who have not accepted their children as gender-neutral, and openly criticised them, with some even trying to convince the children to pick a gender whilst looking after them.
The advert specified that the role is well paid and part-time, and stated ‘I was unsure whether to include the fact that our children are gender-neutral but we’d like to attract the right sort of person for this job’.
The role has been advertised on childcare.co.uk he UK’s largest childcare website. Pictured: The advertisement
The chosen nanny must adhere to ‘rules’ set by the parents who admit they have previously struggled with carers who have disagreed with their approach to raising their children
The parents, who wish to remain anonymous, have also revealed some of the ‘rules’ the nanny would have to follow, including only referring to the children by their names, not using pet names, and avoiding the pronouns ‘he’ or ‘she’
The chosen nanny will also be instructed to let the children choose whether to use male or female toilets if they’re out.
When it comes to playtime the infants should only play with toys, read books or watch TV shows and films that have been pre-approved by the parents, as playing with ‘characters like Action Man and Barbie only serve to enforce gender stereotypes’.
The parents are suggesting a trial shift, to oversee how prospective candidates interact with the children and to formally meet the nanny before hiring.
Childcare.co.uk is a platform that allows parents to search for and connect with babysitters, childminders, nannies, nurseries, private tutors and schools and also allows childcare providers to advertise their services.
Richard Conway, the co-founder of Childcare.co.uk said: ‘It’s a shame that these parents have had such trouble securing childcare for their two young children, just because they’re raising them as gender-neutral.
‘Society as a whole has become more accepting and it’s important that child carers respect the parent’s style of parenting, regardless of their own beliefs or opinions.
‘We’ve contacted the family directly about the advert but were only told that although the advert had been viewed many times, the response has been slow, and that the parents would prefer to remain anonymous.
‘As the UK’s largest childcare site though, we thought we’d support one of our community, so if anyone out there likes the sound of this family and is happy with the job spec, please apply!’