As previously reported in "Out of my comfort zone" I have been teaching
twins English for the last month or so here in tropical Moscow. I go every day
and spend ninety minutes separately with each child. Teaching adults is
far easier than teaching children and I would prefer to teach adults any
day. However, some kids can be fun to teach, some can be cute, while
others can be total monsters. I think how a child develops, is down to
his or her parents, their home environment and due to their educational
experience. Some kids turn out well, while others fail badly socially
and academically from a very early age and this failure can often be
irreversible. The two kids that I teach, have loving Russian parents who spare no
expense in helping them to learn English. I believe they will turn out
to be good human beings. They have a small team of carers to make sure this happens.
These two kids, have three nannies. Yes I said three, in case you
thought I had typed the wrong figure. As amazing as it sounds, it's
true. I have worked at Oligarch families before here in Moscow but the
family I now teach at, are not oligarchs but obviously have cash in the bank
to pay for full-time nannies and for me. Both parents run the family
business and are busy from dawn to dusk and therefor not at home most of the time. I have
written before about Russian nannies but they are a rare and unusual
type of woman with their own methods and with their own systems of
childcare. I do not claim to know the right way or the wrong way to look
after children and we all have are own opinion of how kids should be
looked after but these nannies are an interesting subject of species
analysis and I have pitched my tent in their environment and study them
from the bush, taking notes as I observe their witch like, methods of
childcare.
The nannies at the family where I teach at, sleep with the kids and live in, they work on agreed rotational shifts, two are always on 24 hour duty, one for each child. The kids have
normal single beds and each night, these nannies squash in with the kids
and sleep with them. They are with them all day every day, do the shopping, cook and clean the flat. The windows in the flat are never opened and the
stale slaps you in the face when you arrive and could turn milk to
cheese. Opening windows, is seen as a deadly sin in Russia. Travel on
any overground train in Russia and the windows will all be shut, open them and a
train ticket babushka will tut at you and abruptly slam the window shut. Open a
window and you will be immediately deported. The other day, I was sitting at
the kitchen table teaching one twin and I began to sweat, the flat
heating was on full heat and it was a sunny day outside, the flat was like a sauna. I ran to the window and
opened it slightly, then one of the nannies rushed to the window and shut
it, when I asked why she shut it, she said "the children" and looked terrified as
if they would catch the plague or pneumonia, these nannies have built in nipple alarms, that sound when the temperature drops below 35 c. Further to my amazement,
one of the twins had woolen tights on his legs, under his trousers inside the hot flat. He split some water on his trouser leg and rolled
his trouser leg up and hopped around as if it was acid, this behavior has been caused by over protective nannies. I wounder if he will help his future wife out? Probably not, they will hire a live in nanny or nannies.
I have noticed that Russians love children and even the most stony faced of
Russian's, will crack a smile when they see a child. However, these
nannies are over protective and wrap the kids up in a protective cotton
wool that I am sure does not do them any good later on in their lives. On the
positive side, they are often wonderful cooks and will make very tasty
classic Russian dishes. Many don't know western foods and will stick to
what they know. It is usually high in calories but very tasty. They also make
homemade jams and juices from wild berries that are high in vitamins and rich in goodness. These women have an in
depth knowledge of plants, berries and herbs that have health benefits. I
don't know if this knowledge is passed down from generation to
generation or if it is a habit born out of necessity from the old
Russia? Maybe they have all attended Hogwarts school of witchery? They know what the different berries are good for, some are good
for the blood, some have natural antiseptic properties, some are
good for energy, some will make you more beautiful or turn your enemy into a toad. They pick mushrooms in the mushroom season and make
very tasty soups. It's amazing for a ignorant westerner like me, to meet
people with such a good knowledge of the natural world and of natural
medicines. People like me are used to just going to the pharmacy and
buying a box of pills or powder to cure a certain medical condition.
These treatments are man made, chemical and probably very bad for you. I would prefer
to choose natural remedies to chemical remedies if I had the choice and
the knowledge that these Russian women have.
These nannies have big hearts but a tough skin, they amaze me, yet
slightly scare me. They are like witches who love children. If you get
to teach at a Russian family, that has one or more nannies, tread
carefully with them, charm them and get them on your side, you would not
want one as an enemy. It will be Women's Day tomorrow on the 8th of
March and this is a big thing in Russia. Women's day here, is not really a
feminist celebration as it used to be but more like Valentines Day and
Mothers Day. Men buy flowers and give their women presents and rightly
so, they deserve it. In Russia, women don't enjoy the heady rights and equality
freedoms, that their sisters do in other countries, Russian men are
generally fairly lazy at home and don't help out much, so Women's Day is
a good opportunity to show their appreciation for all their hard work. I
will be giving these three nannies chocolates when I go back to the
family on Friday. They help me with the twins sometimes and I need them
on my side, as they say when in Rome or be turned into a frog!
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I have very similair experiences from dealing with Chinese families. I am not convinced that all that pampering is good for them - having rrecently become re-acauainted with those same children (now young adults) they seem totally incapable of dealing with any of lifes difficulties without a phone call to mummy or daddy. Maybe that sounds harsh - but I think at sometime kids have to learn to stand on their own.
ReplyDeleteJane this may a bigger problem than we thought. As the old saying goes "spare the rod spoil the children"!!
ReplyDeleteAs always I enjoy your essays. One thing that has always struck me in Russia, it the EXTREMELY hot temperatures in homes, grocery stores, and all buildings in general in winter. When I go shopping, I have to take my coat off, and put it in the "safety" locker before the entrance. I can not believe the locals bundled up in a fur coat and hat in a place where the temperature is 35!!! I grew up in a cold climate, and very few people in Canada dress up this warmly. The children are another story. They look like they are suffocating inside all that clothing. Even in the house they are dressed for -40. I have 2 stepdaughters here in Moscow, age 17, and 22 and it is very apparant that they have been treated like princesses. Don't get me wrong, they are both very polite, and respectful. I just worry that they have very little life experience, only because they have been over protected by their mother, and Grandparents. Lifes little problems are very difficult for them. Help is constantly needed. I worry for their futures. They would get eaten alive in the West.
ReplyDeleteToday in the flat, they had the oven on full while we sat in the kitchen to learn English. The boy I teach complained he was hot, the nannies would not take his jumper off!! I was amazed. When I got out the flat it was great to breath in cold air (note I said cold rather than clean but you can't have everything!).
DeleteIt is amazing, how realistic you get Russians and their life, it is really interesting to have a look from other side on traditional things we got used to ( for example celebrtating March 8,you get atmosphere ablosutely right it is like excuse from men once a year and about laziness at home it is me:). One additional thing if you will get in queue on March 8th and willtry to get flowers you wrote in other post you will often here "Give me that broom!". It is funny and shows men's attitude at the same time to this day they have to be nice and polite:)
ReplyDelete