When I returned to work full-time, after having my second child, we hired nannies.  My mother-in-law come to my home two days; a friend came for 2 days and another friend came for 1 day.  We also had my niece employed as a live-in nanny for 2 months during the summer.

My husband worked around the corner from where we lived and he would come home for lunch every day. Never did I think there was a chance he would come home and screw the nanny.

I often wonder how Dave and Janice feel when news breaks about a marriage or relationship ending because of an affair. I know how my daughters feel when we watch t.v. and something on the subject comes up.  I know they sometimes verbalize their disgust and disappointment or they go very quiet depending on the show and how the information unfolds. I have broken the ice with others if the mood is tense based on the cheating subject by saying something either genuine or mocking like–“been there, done that, got the T-shirt and lawyer bill as a souvenir.”  I wonder how much more awkward it would be for a husband and wife who have experienced infidelity in their marriage but stayed together. They must relive the pain all over again every time.  I know that Dave and Janice mocked the subject on Twitter. Like a Teflon frying pan, guilt and ownership just slides right off them.

I was thinking about this with the media attention surrounding Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale’s marriage that tore apart by Gavin’s relationship with their nanny.  I wondered if Dave and Janice think what shitty people Gavin and the nanny are?  Do they ever consider how devastating it must have been for Gwen to find out her husband had been sleeping with the nanny for 3 years, right under her nose, even while she was pregnant with one of their children? Do they think how disrespectful they were? Do they consider how sad it will be for 3 children now that their parents are divorcing because of the affair and how their lives are now set on completely different paths?

Or instead do they think, Gwen must not have been meeting her husband’s needs? They likely believe there was obviously something wrong in the marriage for Gavin to have done what he did.  Do they think how sad it is for the nanny to have her name, Mindy Mann, her face and image splashed around the media? Do they think how sad it is for the nanny and her family to have to deal with the public shaming? Do they feel badly for the nanny who went into hiding because she got found out?  Do they want to contact papers and entertainment shows to admonish them for reporting on such things screaming that, “Everyone needs to move on.” Do they think how terrible it was that another nanny ratted her out? Do they blame someone else that their sexting and the nude photos of Mindy were found on the family iPad and that the children had access to this information? Do they think it is love between Gavin and Mindy? Do they think that the affair “just happened” and that no one was looking for it? Do they see Gwen as acting like the victim when they feel she was likely the cause of it instead?

I wonder if they detach themselves from these situations and don’t see themselves in the same way that most view this ultimate betrayal.  I suspect they justify it saying things like, “Ethan Hawke married his kids’ nanny so it must be true love and meant to be.”  I bet they look on whatever positive they can muster up to justify themselves and spin it in their favour. They do , I am sure, because Dave has always excused and minimized their behaviour. They have even got their friends to rally behind them and support them on this blog. I bet they can’t even see themselves as acting exactly the way these people did.

Here is an Ethan Hawke quote, “To act all indignant that your world has been rocked because your lover wasn’t faithful to you is a little bit like acting rocked that your hair went grey.” Wow, guess the nanny shouldn’t be too comfortable in her role as his wife as he has given her fair warning what to expect along with grey hair. He has also given her a license to cheat.

When Chris Du Burgh got caught with his kid’s nanny he said, “I got caught up in something a bit like getting on a train. When I got on board it was stationary and it started moving a little faster and a little faster . . . By the time we were going at 80 mph, I realised I couldn’t jump off without getting badly hurt.”   Typical cheater mind-set.  Worried about their own hurt and using that as an excuse for the no-sense-stopping-now attitude instead of considering anyone else’s feelings and doing what is right over what feels better. To underscore this cheater’s selfishness, he fooled around on his wife (the one he wrote the song ‘Lady in Red’ for) while she was recovering from a broken neck. She probably deserved it for not being able to meet his needs at that time.

When Maria Shriver found out that her husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger, fathered a child with their housekeeper and was paying the housekeeper child support (or shut-up money) she filed for divorce. Arnold said that, “A lot of people, no matter how successful or unsuccessful they are in life, make stupid choices involving sex.”

Nannies, housekeepers, coworkers–all just easy, convenient prey in the path of the lustful husband.  These women care more about what they are getting out of it than thinking of anyone else.  Do these women have such low self-worth they can’t say ‘no’ or do they have zero morals and values and feel entitled to have whatever they want or whoever is desperate enough to take them? Do they really think that they must be better than the wife and that it is love? Is it all just selfishness and greed? Ben Affleck’s nanny was seen driving a new Lexus after he and Jennifer Garner split because of her. Robin Williams’ marriage ended when he fooled around with his son’s nanny.  The nanny got promoted to be his personal assistant and then moved up the ranks to wife #2. Janice’s quality of life increased with my husband. Janice’s husband was even one of the people who told me that.

Jude Law was engaged to Sienna Miller when he got caught fooling around with the nanny for his kids from his first marriage. His response: “I am deeply ashamed and upset that I’ve hurt Sienna and the people most close to us.”  Really? He’s fathered a couple of kids with flings since. Interesting how woman are less cautious with birth control when their partner has more than they do. Probably why my ex was so anxious to get a vasectomy in the year before I know that he was having an affair. Wonder who was before Janice or at least who he was hoping was before Janice. I am convinced he just threw out the net and pulled in whatever he could.

These nannies do not love the children they are caring for otherwise these types of affairs would never happen. Who can say they love the kids and then go and sleep with one of their parents in secrecy and deception. The nannies may as well have cut the head off the family pet, too. They love themselves first and that is probably it. Dave likes to say that our children are fine with Janice. He thinks they are forgiving and get along great with her. He thinks they have a relationship. Janice will never love my children. You can’t love someone when the only reason they are in your life is because you chose to selfishly fuck them over. My kids do what they have to do in order to have some type of relationship with their dad. Janice does what she does in order to try and look good to Dave. She never bought my younger daughter anything until this Thanksgiving but she tried to win over my older daughter with gifts for her birthday the last 2 years and Christmas. She treats my older daughter noticeably better in front of my younger daughter and both my kids know this. It is all surface level interaction. Janice can’t even put aside her own feelings and insecurities to treat my children fairly and equally. She gave my older daughter a box of food to take to university. I ended up bringing most of it all back home and donating it to the food bank. My daughter hates cereal and nuts. The box was filled with the cereal bars, granola bars, chocolate bars with nuts and there were other things my daughter would never eat.  She wouldn’t even keep the food to give to her new dorm mates. If Janice really cared about even my older daughter she might have asked her what food she liked or actually would want to spend time getting to know her. The other woman’s focus is only on pleasing herself and making sure she has what she wants.  The cheating spouse thinks the focus is all on him.  Only because she is getting what she wants through him.

I have “No Doubt” that there will be another nanny.  And what makes them feel so secure?  If the husband is able to fool the wife for 3 years, why would the nanny, Janice or any other woman out there think they won’t get the same treatment in return? Take whatever you can selfishly grab now because there is unfortunately always another woman out there ready to spread her legs or open her mouth for the next promotion and there is always a man who will say what he needs to or spend what he has to for sex. And men, these woman will just as easily leave you when a bigger carrot is dangled in their face.

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