My husband and I have 3 kids (2f, 5f, 8m). My husband and I both work 50-60 hours a week, my 2 year old and 5 year old get out of school/daycare at 12 and my 8 year old gets out at 1:30. We don’t usually get home until anywhere between 6:30 and 9 so we have a nanny to fill in the gaps.
Last year our nanny started a YouTube channel. It started as her recording herself making lunches while talking about life, stories from when she was a teacher, managing her chronic illness, and cracking jokes. Then she started posting videos of her packing bags for my kids swimming class, gymnastics, ballet, tee ball, etc. while also talking to the camera about whatever she had on her mind. Then I asked her for help with my daughter’s hair since my daughters have curly hair that seems to have appeared out of nowhere and the nanny also has curly hair and is able to style it beautifully. She’d take videos of her doing their hair from behind with a step by step guide and send them to me. They were incredibly helpful so she asked if she could start posting them on her channel. I approved it because their faces are not visible.
Now her channel is a mixture of her cleaning, cooking, doing hair, shopping, and preparing stuff for the kids with a little bit of her doing her makeup or getting ready for the day. Any video that has any part of my kids (back of their heads, voice in the background, etc.) is sent to me for approval before posting.
Her channel is doing well. Not well enough for her to quit her job or anything but she was able to move into a nice apartment and trade her 2007 Honda fit in for an almost new minivan. Companies also send her stuff to use in her videos sometimes. We’ve gotten some pretty nice lunchbox stuff and a great double stroller from this channel.
I was talking to my sister and the nanny’s YouTube channel came up. My sister told me that she was shocked that I let it happen considering how my husband and I are very strict about my children not being online. I told her the nanny sends me any video that might have the kids in it for me to approve and their names and faces are not anywhere on this channel. Then she brought up how it seems a little exploitative for her to make a channel that’s mostly about my kids and how she’s able to get paid twice from them.
Now I’m thinking if this really is ok for the nanny to have a YouTube channel primarily about my kids. AITA for allowing it?
NTA. You monitor the content. Their faces are not online.
NTA
It sounds like you are being supportive of her YT channel and she is being respectful of you and your children, by making sure you have approval over anything she posts.
She’s not making money solely off of content including your kids, plus it also sounds like you’re getting some nice perks out of the deal. If you feel you are being exploited, you could ask for a discount on her fee, I guess, but it seems like your sister is overreacting by a lot and should maybe mind her own business.
Yeah, people who are saying she is making money off her kids don’t understand the work that goes into creating content.
The nanny could just as easily be using a mannequin head with a wig.
The kids aren’t the actual content, the nanny’s skills, tip, tricks and educational style of explaining things are the content.
As the kids get older I think it’s important that OP check in with her kids about even the backs of their heads being used, because people in their real lives who recognize the nanny could put it all together, so they should have a say.
But I think people are downplaying the work the nanny does to create engaging content. The kids aren’t the reason the channel is successful.
I know how much time it takes to frame shots, adjust lighting, reshoot mistakes etc, and she’s doing all of this while supposedly taking care of 3 very young kids. I’d be worried about how long my kids are being told to stay out of the way and stay quiet in their own home.
It sounds like the nanny isn’t on the clock until noon, so the making lunches, packing bags, etc might all be happening before she picks up the kids… only the hair would actually need to be filmed while they were around.
OP makes it sound like the kids are only in a fraction of the videos… certainly the make up tutorials and “getting ready for the day” videos are being filmed while the kids are in school.
OP doesn’t say anything about it being a timing issue, so I’m going to presume she would know if the kids weren’t being adequately supervised…
NTA for allowing it, since you approve everything. Clearly your nanny needs or wants the secondary income. Yours is guaranteed, youtube is not.
Does your sister have a nanny? This reeks of jealousy to me.
I guess I’m in the minority but I think YTA and anyone else who profits off of content that involves children who don’t have enough life experience to consent or object to being included, esp when they don’t get any of the money for their participation.
It sounds like the children are only in the videos if the nanny is doing their hair, and they’re filmed from behind so their faces aren’t shown. OP says the nanny chats and does things like packing their backpacks and lunches.
If your kids are her content, if in the US, you need to look up Coogan’s Law, and if in CA, be aware of the Child Content Creator’s Rights Act. If your children are earning her money, they have rights.
YTA I’m sure your nanny could easily be tracked down based on her widespread posts (putting your kids in danger).
It takes so little to figure out where people are from seemingly innocuous information. This is so much worse danger wise than a few pics from a grandparent.
How much does filming interfere with the day? Exploitation is not just faces on the internet. It can also be using children as unpaid performers in her videos. I would not be ok with that. When is she editing everything? How is she actually supervising your children properly if she’s focusing on getting the right shot? Nannies are paid to care for and engage with their charges.
This. The nanny is an authority figure to your kids, and they might not feel like they have a choice to participate in her videos or not. Please talk to your kids about this, and put a stop to it if it’s not fun for them.
Their only participation in a video is when she does hair, which has to be done either way. If a hair video doesn’t come out the way she wants it, she just doesn’t use that video.
Most of the filming is during nap time, before she picks up, or after she leaves. She edits after she goes home. The only time she really films with the kids is the hair videos.