Vault: Are you jealous of the babysitter?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Bert Show – Vault: Are You Jealous of the Babysitter?

Air Date: July 22, 2026
Hosts: The Bert Show Cast (Birch/Bert, Kristin, Abby, Cassie, Tommy & others)
Episode Theme: Exploring parental feelings of jealousy and insecurity when children form strong attachments to babysitters or nannies.

---

Overview

This episode dives into the surprising and sensitive topic of parental jealousy toward babysitters and nannies—especially when children express a clear preference for their caretaker over their parents. Bert shares his personal experiences and opens the phone lines to listeners for stories from both sides: parents and nannies/babysitters who’ve experienced this emotional tug-of-war. The conversations are candid, humorous, and often deeply touching as callers recount real struggles and heartache caused by children’s attachments.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Birch/Bert’s Opening Story (01:01)

• Bert shares that his children have expressed a preference for spending time with their babysitter over him.
  • “It hurts my feelings, man… I can understand, kicking the gut, man.” (Birch, 01:16)
• He wonders if this affects mothers more deeply than fathers, and if anyone has ever fired a sitter because their kids got ‘too close’.

2. How Should Babysitters/Nannies Handle This? (02:33)

• Co-hosts discuss the awkward position nannies are put in if kids prefer them—should sitters “back off” being loving?
  • “What are you supposed to do? Say, ‘Hey, don’t hang out with me. I’m not that cool’?” (Co-host 3, 02:34)
• The group laughs about how parents might come up with excuses to fire sitters, given how rarely anyone would admit the real reason.

3. Listener Call-Ins: Babysitter/Nanny Experiences (03:49–07:34)

• Michelle’s Story (03:49):
  • Michelle was fired honestly because the mom saw her children were “too close” to Michelle and chose to quit her job to stay home.
    • “She just looked at me, and she just started bawling, and she just ran out of the room.” (Michelle, 04:54)
  • The dad was more relaxed about the relationship; the kids wanted Michelle for bedtime, which upset the mom.
• Danny’s Story (05:41):
  • Danny, a nanny for ten years, was let go because the girls “loved me and not her (the mom).”
  • The children were so attached they needed therapy afterward: “Their teachers and the psychologists and the doctors said, this is like a divorce. They're going to need counseling.” (Danny, 06:01)
  • “It was a terrible, terrible situation. It's taking years in therapy to get through it.” (Danny, 06:26)
• Nanny’s Story (06:55):
  • A live-in nanny assumed she might get a raise, but was fired instead—likely because the child wanted the nanny more than the mother.
  • The family never explained, but switched nannies. She still visits and babysits occasionally.

4. Listener Call-Ins: Parent Perspectives (07:51–10:31)

• Stacy’s Story (Voice Disguised, 07:52):
  • Stacy and her husband noticed their son formed a stronger bond with the nanny. They decided to sell their business and change their lifestyle so Stacy could stay home.
    • “Our kids are more important than the things that we have to show off to our neighbor.” (Stacy, 09:27)
  • She credits this shift with bringing their family closer.
• Danielle’s Family (09:59):
  • Danielle’s aunt was her nanny, and she was closer with her than her mother. The mother dealt with her feelings by moving the family away and not telling her aunt she couldn’t come.

5. Memorable Parental Gut-Punches (10:44–11:34)

• Jennifer’s Experience:
  • Jennifer’s daughter said, “I wish our babysitter was her mommy” just after Jennifer had a new baby and hadn’t used the sitter in a while.
  • Bert notes, “Oh, it’s a kick in the gut, isn’t it?” (11:56)
  • Jennifer jokingly responded, “You guys can go live with her.” (Jennifer, 11:25)
  • The hosts discuss how these moments sting, but are mostly passing reactions from young children.

---

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “I mean, they’re with them more during the day and stuff and you know, it's all fun and games with the babysitter… but yeah, it hurts my feelings.” (Birch, 01:16)
• “As a parent, what do you say to the nanny? Like, back off. Being so loving to my children. You can’t do that.” (Birch, 02:41)
• “The mom would sit there and just bawl and cry and look at me…she just started bawling, and she just ran out of the room.” (Michelle, 04:54)
• “Their teachers and the psychologists and the doctors said, this is like a divorce. They're going to need counseling.” (Danny, 06:01)
• “We re-evaluated our priorities…our kids are more important than the things that we have to show off to our neighbor.” (Stacy, 09:27)
• “This morning…she told me that she wishes our babysitter was her mommy.” (Jennifer, 10:46)

---

Important Timestamps

• 01:01: Bert introduces the topic; shares his personal experience of “babysitter jealousy.”
• 02:48: Discussion about nannies/babysitters often witnessing “firsts” that parents miss.
• 03:49: Michelle’s story—getting fired for being “too close.”
• 05:41: Danny’s experience—10 years as a nanny, let go because of kids’ attachment.
• 06:55: Live-in nanny gets fired without being told the real reason.
• 07:52: Stacy shares how her family changed their priorities after seeing the impact.
• 09:59: Danielle’s family moves to avoid the attachment issue with their nanny (her aunt).
• 10:44: Jennifer’s raw moment as her daughter says she wishes the babysitter was her mom.

---

Overall Tone and Takeaways

The episode was marked by its authentic, heartfelt, and often humorous take on a complex emotional issue that many families encounter but seldom discuss openly. Callers and hosts alike share a mix of laughter, empathy, and honest vulnerability, exposing the universal human need for connection—and the parental pain of feeling “second best.”

Listeners walk away with a sense that these feelings are common and valid, but can also prompt positive changes in family priorities and relationships.

---

Want to share your story or be a part of the discussion? Call The Bert Show or visit thebertshow.com.

Transcript

[Radio Announcer]

All new drinks are now at McDonald's with refreshers like the Strawberry Watermelon Refresher and the Mango Pineapple Refresher with Popping Boba. To crafted sodas like the Sprite Berry Blast with berry flavors and cold foam. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire six? All new drinks are here now at McDonald's.

[Commercial Voice]

Refreshers contain caffeine.

[Jey Uso]

What's up Foos? Main event J uso here from the WWE. When it's just me between matches, it's day one ish. And that means it's Chumba time. With hundreds of casino style games and new titles arriving weekly, there's always something fresh to try at Chumba Casino. The daily boost make it even more fun and have me bout to get em all during my downtime. Ready for a fun way to chill out and enjoy a few minutes for yourself?

[Radio Announcer]

Let's Chumba.

[Commercial Voice]

No purchase necessary. VGW Group voidware prohibited by law. CTS and CS21 sponsored by Chumba Casino.

[Co-host 1]

Get it?

[Host (Birch)]

The Bird Show I have a question ask you this one. This might be a stretch, but I'll use a voice disguiser if you want to call in. I've had a couple of instances over the last couple of weeks where I've wanted to take the kids to go do something and they start whining that they'd rather hang out with the babysitter instead. Hurt my feelings, man. I mean they're with them more during the day and stuff and you know, it's all fun and games with the babysitter and yeah, it hurts my feelings. Hurts my feelings. I can understand kicking the gut, man. Why don't we hang out there? And Hollis, the little one, the three year old starts crying.

[Radio Announcer]

No, Tiffany's here.

[Host (Birch)]

Come on man, I'm your dad, dude. But. And I think guys can get over that faster than women. But here's what I wanted to know. Like, I'm curious if there are any moms listening that have ever fired a babysitter or a nanny because the kids were getting more attached to them than they were to you. Or if you're a babysitter, you could call us also and go, yeah. The mom said to me, my kids are too in love with you. They're too attached. And I'm taking second fill.

[Caller Michelle]

I could see that.

[Host (Birch)]

So I'm gonna let you go. 404-741-Q100 does your nanny have to worry

[Co-host 2]

about her job right now?

[Host (Birch)]

No, we've got the best.

[Co-host 2]

Oh yeah. Oh my God. I'm being A little scared right now.

[Host (Birch)]

No, no, no, no. For me, it's a tremendous relief. Like when we leave the kids with a qualified babysitter or a nanny or whatever, and they're happy and I know they're in good hands, it's a relief. But it is a kick in the gut when the kids choose to like, stay home and they want to hang out. It hurts. It hurts. But I think as a mother, I think you would be more sensitive to that kind of thing than you would a dad.

[Co-host 3]

I'll be shocked if we don't get all the phone lines lit up.

[Co-host 4]

Yeah, but then what do you do

[Co-host 3]

as the babysitter if the kids really like you? I mean, what are you supposed to do? Like, knock on them, like, say, hey, don't hang out with me. I'm not that cool.

[Host (Birch)]

I don't know how you make that adjustment. Like, what, as a parent, what do you say to the nanny? Like, back off. Being so loving to my children. You can't do that.

[Co-host 2]

Right. I was going to say, and it's all those things that the nanny gets to experience with the kid that the parents don't. There's got to be an inherent jealousy there. Like, wasn't it like first steps, first words, that kind of thing that the nanny or the babysitter gets to hear?

[Host (Birch)]

Yeah, I remember it was. We did have a babysitter. Remember that? I think it was Hollis that was like his first word. And she was all excited when I walked in the door and she told me, tell me that.

[Co-host 1]

Filter it.

[Host (Birch)]

Tell me that.

[Co-host 1]

Yeah, I was just gonna say that. There's gonna be. The calls that we get are, what's gonna be interesting is to hear the made up reasons why the parents said you gotta go. Yeah. Because if you're that good of a sitter, they're not gonna tell you the truth. Where your kids wanna hang out all the time and you're experiencing all these things. Something is gonna have to be made up. I'm sorry, I just. I think you're stealing. What?

[Host (Birch)]

I would like to talk to one of the parents that actually did this. But this is one of the babysitters that's convinced that she got fired. Cause the kids were just getting too close for. 404-741-Q100. Hey, Michelle.

[Caller Jennifer]

Hi.

[Caller Michelle]

How are you?

[Host (Birch)]

Good. How are you?

[Caller Michelle]

Good, I'm great. I actually got fired because the kids were very, very close to me. Like they did not want to go to their parents. The mom would sit there and just bawl and cry and look at me. And then she. One day, she was just like, I'm going to quit my job and stay at home, and I'm just going to have to let you go because the kids are just too close to you right now.

[Co-host 4]

So she was honest.

[Co-host 1]

She was honest.

[Host (Birch)]

She was totally honest with you. Now, did you find out later that she did quit her job and she did stay home with the kids more?

[Caller Michelle]

She actually did. She did quit a job and stayed home with the kids more, actually. Okay, she did, because she just was like, I can't take this. They're just too close to you. She's like, you're a good babysitter and everything. But, I mean, I used to travel with the family and everything, and, I mean, I was with the kids when they were, like, I think, like, four months old until they were like three or four years old. And then they was just really, really close. Like, they didn't even want to have

[Caller Danny]

anything to do with their mom or their dad. So she was like, I'm gonna have

[Co-host 4]

to let you go now. When she broke down and cried, did she do that in front of the kids?

[Caller Michelle]

She actually did. She did that in front of the little boy.

[Co-host 4]

Oh, no.

[Caller Michelle]

Yes, she did. She was holding him, and I was there, and he was like, I know. I want to go to Michelle. I want to go to her. And she just looked at me, and she just started bawling, and she just ran out of the room. And then the husband came in and started talking to me, and I was like, I'm sorry. You know, I was apologizing everything, but he did not want to have anything to do with it. He wanted me to sleep in the room, stay in the room with him until, you know, he fell asleep and everything. And so she was not having that. They were not having that. The dad was cool with it.

[Caller Danny]

The mom was like, no.

[Host (Birch)]

See, I could see some parents. I could see some parents saying that, look, we're gonna stay home more with the kids, and I'm gonna leave, and then just hiring somebody else, but not

[Co-host 4]

actually, like, leaving the job.

[Radio Announcer]

Yeah.

[Host (Birch)]

Good morning, pam. You're on Q100.

[Caller Michelle]

Hi, guys.

[Caller Stacy]

Hi.

[Host (Birch)]

Hi.

[Caller Danny]

I was Danny for 10 years, and I was let go because the mom decided that she couldn't handle it any longer. And the girls loved me and not her. And. And the dad didn't agree with it. You could tell because the dad sat down and talked to me. But it was terrible, terrible, terrible.

[Host (Birch)]

It's almost like they're having another parent ripped away from them.

[Caller Danny]

Yeah, it was and their teachers and the psychologists and the doctors said, this is like a divorce. They're going to need counseling. And the parents just kind of shut everybody out and took over.

[Host (Birch)]

Now, did the mom specifically say to you, like, we just can't do this anymore because our kids are just way closer to you than they are me?

[Caller Danny]

The mom actually never had the nerve to say it. The dad said it for her.

[Co-host 1]

Oh, really?

[Host (Birch)]

You can't sell out your wife like that.

[Co-host 1]

Was the mom there when he said it?

[Caller Danny]

No.

[Co-host 1]

Oh, so he told you.

[Caller Danny]

And I knew it. It had been coming. I mean, the girls were much, much closer to me. She was kind of detached for 10 years. It was a terrible, terrible situation. It's taking years in therapy to get through it.

[Caller Jennifer]

Wow.

[Co-host 1]

Newer for the kids.

[Caller Danny]

For me, the parents just kind of decided that they could fix everything. And they. I had had the baby since they were born, through 10.

[Host (Birch)]

Yeah. This is hard. Many of these, man. This is pretty common, like you said. Wendy. Hey, Sue, Good Morning. You're on Q100.

[Caller Nanny]

Hey, good morning.

[Host (Birch)]

Good morning.

[Caller Nanny]

Yeah. I was a living nanny for three years, and I took care of the child day and night. And one day the parents came to me. I thought they were going to give me a raise because they've been discussing giving me a raise, and they fired me. And I was so taken aback. And I really think it boiled down to that. The child wanted to be with me far more than his mother.

[Co-host 1]

What was it that they told you?

[Caller Nanny]

They didn't give me a real reason. There was not a set reason. They just said, you know, it's come to a point, we think that we should move on, and they hired someone else.

[Co-host 1]

Man.

[Host (Birch)]

Wow, that hurts.

[Caller Nanny]

And we never had problems. There was never fighting. They actually still invite me over to their house to this day. I still get their child. It's pretty. Pretty.

[Host (Birch)]

There's a fine line here. Now, here is a mom that fired the nanny, okay. For the same reason.

[Caller Jennifer]

Here.

[Host (Birch)]

Good morning. We'll call you. Stacy, you're on the voice disguiser. Hello.

[Caller Nanny]

Hi.

[Caller Stacy]

How are you? Good morning.

[Host (Birch)]

Okay. How are you?

[Caller Stacy]

We owned our own business, and we had our first child. And the plan was that I would work at our office as much as I could, but then also try to supplement and work at home. And so even though I was there, I wasn't. And I was still nursing, but I was pumping and that kind of thing. I still felt that the relationship and the bond was less between my son and me and our nanny and my son. And so it was something that we discussed with her, she understood. She saw it too. She was a very, very sweet girl. But what my husband and I did is we re evaluated our priorities and said we don't have to have a Land Rover and another nice car. We don't have to have a big house. We don't have to have a boat and a jet ski and we don't have to have all that. So we sold our business. He got a job. I stay home with all three of our kids now. My son doesn't even remember her. And that strengthened our relationship. And then so we got rid of all those things that we really didn't need, that we really looked forward to when we got married. And that kind of, that's what said success to us. But then the real success though is having a tight, close knit family. And so we still go on nice vacations and we do things like that. But we don't have the biggest house anymore. We don't have the fancy cars because our kids are more important than the things that we have to show off to our neighbor.

[Host (Birch)]

Thanks, Stacy. Thanks for calling.

[Co-host 2]

It's like the wake up call they needed.

[Co-host 4]

Yeah, they're saying it from the other end because there's so many parents, I think, that have this resentment, you know, that they're missing out on something because they have children, because they have to make the sacrifice. And it just showed. That should be kind of a call to them that, look, it's really not that big a deal. You're not missing out on anything.

[Host (Birch)]

Here's Danielle. Good Morning. You're on Q100.

[Caller Nanny]

Hey.

[Caller Danielle]

This is kind of from the other side. My aunt was our nanny and I would go anywhere with her and do anything and just couldn't care less about

[Host (Birch)]

my mom, as bad as that sounds.

[Caller Danielle]

But we were so close and my mom got to a point where it just hurt her so much that she, rather than firing my nanny, we moved and she told my, my nanny that she couldn't come.

[Host (Birch)]

Whoa.

[Caller Jennifer]

Wow.

[Co-host 4]

Was that her sister?

[Caller Danielle]

No, it's her sister in law.

[Host (Birch)]

Okay, that's a harsh one right there. I got to get away from her. I got to move. States and Jennifer, you'll be on our last call. Good morning.

[Caller Jennifer]

Hey, Burt Show.

[Co-host 4]

Hey.

[Caller Jennifer]

This morning, my daughter, I was getting in the car to take him to school and she told me that she wishes our babysitter was her mommy.

[Jey Uso]

Oh, no.

[Caller Michelle]

Oh, man.

[Host (Birch)]

I mean, as a parent. Oh, it's a kick in the gut, isn't it?

[Caller Jennifer]

Well, the thing is, I just had a baby, so I'VE been on maternity leave. The babysitter hasn't been coming over at all. And we had dinner with her last night and they played and had a good time and. And she's like, I wish she was our mommy.

[Host (Birch)]

How do they know at three or four years old exactly what to say to get it to your heart, man? How do they know that?

[Caller Jennifer]

It's just instinct, I think.

[Co-host 1]

Did you turn it around and go, well, I wish our babysitter was my kid?

[Caller Jennifer]

Well, after this morning, getting ready for school, I said, you guys can go live with her.

[Host (Birch)]

Oh, damn. You didn't take the. You didn't take the high road. No maturity here.

[Caller Michelle]

No, no maturity.

[Caller Danny]

When you're dealing with a four year

[Host (Birch)]

old, it really is like a knee jerk reaction, man. You have to remember, okay, I'm the parent here. More mature. I'm more mature. You're on the Birch show.

[Radio Announcer]

All new drinks are now at McDonald's with refreshers like the Strawberry Watermelon Refresher and the Mango Pineapple Refresher with popping Boba. To crafted sodas like the Sprite Berry Blast with berry flavors and cold foam. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire six. All new drinks are here now at McDonald's.

[Commercial Voice]

Refreshers contain caffeine. Looking for a little Hollywood style fun? Check out Ryan Seacrest 10K Ways. Exclusively at Chumba Casino. There's 10,000 ways to play get spinning for free at ChumbaCasino.com no purchase necessary. VGW Group void or prohibited by law. CTS and CS21 sponsored by Chumba Casino.

[Radio Announcer]

All new drinks are now at McDonald's with refreshers like the Strawberry Watermelon Refresher and the Mango Pineapple Refresher with popping Boba. To crafted sodas like the Sprite Berry Blast with berry flavors and cold foam. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so. Fire six. All new drinks are here now at McDonald's.

[Commercial Voice]

Refreshers contain caffeine.