Would you allow a male nanny to watch your kids?

by

Carolyn Robertson

posted in Celebrities

Actor Jerry O'Connell may play a male nanny on the ABC drama Mistresses, but that doesn't mean he'd be willing to hire a "manny" to watch over his own twin daughters.

In a new interview with US Weekly, the 42-year-old, who has 7-year-old girls Dolly and Charlie with his wife Rebecca Romijn, doesn't hide the fact that he wouldn't be comfortable having a man take care of his kids.

"I'm not sure if given the chance to hire myself as a manny in my family, I don't think I would allow that to happen," Jerry says. "I'm sorry if that's closed-minded of me. I just wouldn't allow that — I wouldn't be comfortable with that. I would explain to my wife and to my children that I was not comfortable with a manny around."

Let's set aside for now the fact that he chose to use the word "allow", and also the fact that his character on Mistresses has a steamy relationship with his boss - that second one may play a factor in his statement, but it does sound like Jerry is ruling out a "manny" all together. Is that closed-minded of him?

Interestingly, Jerry doesn't seem to be alone in this. Looking through the comments on another site, an overwhelming number of people seemed to agree with him.

Jerry O'Connell and Rebecca Romijn with their kids Dolly and Charlie in 2012

"I know a sex crimes prosecutor who has worked on sex crimes against children under 10 for over 10 years and she said she would NEVER hire a male nanny. That should tell [you] something," writes one.

"I try to be open minded about things too, and sometimes I just fail. Male nannies? Uh, I guess, if that’s your bag, but I’ll stick to females for child care myself. I can’t make a proper argument why, it’s just what my gut says," adds another.

And yet another: "I would so not be OK [with] that as well & if my husband were… then it would just have to be something I simply could not allow. I’d be REALLY uncomfortable [with] a male nanny ESPECIALLY if i had daughters..."

There are many more that follow a similar narrative.

We're very fortunate not to need a nanny (thanks, Grandma!), but I'm trying to honestly answer the question: Would I hire a male nanny to watch my two girls?

I'm don't want to write off half of the population as inadequate or untrustworthy - my husband's natural caregiver instincts are much stronger than my own, if I'm honest. Still, the male candidate would have to be head and shoulders above the female ones for me to give him the job. I'm trying to tell myself that this is because I want to have positive female role models present in my daughters' daily lives - and that is absolutely true - but I must admit that there's also a tiny voice in me that seems to echo the mom above: "It's just what my gut says."

As for Jerry and Rebecca, they likely won't have to put his words to the test. A couple of years ago the model mom revealed they don't have a nanny, period: “We pick up each other’s slack. Whoever is less busy helps the busier one: ‘Can you go pick this up for me?’ or ‘Can you book my flight?’ That’s what real life is. Once you start paying somebody else to do the grunt work, who are you?”

What do you think? Would you hire a male nanny?

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Photo: PR Photos, REX/Shutterstock