Upper East Side Nanny Paycheck Reveal

Hello, it's Elizabeth Day from How To Fail Here. My next guest is the pioneering British fashion designer, renowned for his signature classic with a twist aesthetic. Sir Paul Smith. They say, "Oh, Paul's job, yes, head of happiness." Oh, that's my job. What a great job. I do close as well. Yeah. Listen to How To Fail, wherever you get your podcasts. Some evil thing happened here. Three people died in a quiet suburb in Mississauga, Canada. It's not a coincidence. One after the other, in the same house. Is this bad luck or something more sinister? The worst investigative mess I've ever encountered. A long simmering, what took you so fucking long to get here. From Sony music entertainment, this is what happened to the Harrison's. I'm Amy Dempsey-Raven. What happened to the Harrison's is available now on the binge. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts to start listening today. Subscribers to the binge can listen to all episodes, all at once, ad-free. What's up, rich people? It's me, Haley, aka Mrs. Dow Jones. And this is Financial Tea. What's up, zippers? Welcome back to Financial Tea. The podcasts where I teach you how to build wealth with a side of market drama, money scandals, and of course, financial pop culture. Now, I want you to picture this. You're 24, you're making six figures. You have full benefits, a retirement plan. And you spend your winters in Aspen and summers in the Hamptons. You eat gourmet meals prepared by a private chef. You're chauffeurred around the city. And you travel the world on someone else's dime. Here's the catch. You're not a CEO. You're not in finance. You're not in corporate America. You're a nanny. And before you roll your eyes, this is not the babysitting you're thinking about for $15 an hour. In cities like New York and LA, experience full-time nannies can pull 100 K+ pay packages with benefits. Think about it. Child care costs have exploded. And for households at the top, it's sort of a non-negotiable line item. Now, I want us to zoom out again, because we also have to think about where we're at right now in the economy. Because the episode isn't really just about nanny-ing. It's also about where power is shifting in the new world. Entry level, white collar work. I mean, I'm sure you've seen all the headlines, like in finance or marketing or consulting, is really getting replaced by AI. And it used to be the launch pad. It used to be stable. It used to be something that you could move up in. But those junior tasks are now the most exposed to automation. Because AI can just like write the copy or summarize the meeting. And it doesn't need a health insurance or a signing bonus. So you're already seeing major firms slow down junior hiring and poor millions into automation AI instead. So whereas corporate use to mean predictability, now it sort of just means layoffs every 18 months, efficiency initiatives, and waking up to see if your slack still works. Meanwhile, hyper-wealthy households still need humans. They need someone to run logistics, to manage staff, to coordinate travel, to oversee children, to execute in the real world. Because you can't automate labor or discretion or physical presence. I mean, at least not yet. So what's happening? We're seeing power shift away from the middle of the org chart and towards ownership, towards capital, and for entry-level people towards proximity to capital. And some young people are making a very rational decision. They're like, if the ladder feels unstable, why don't I just stand next to the people who own it? So today we are going behind the scenes of a very wealthy household with Tally, my cousin, okay, the rumors are true, who is a luxury nanny on the Upper East Side who pulls in six figures with benefits and has real leverage. And later, very special guest, my childhood nanny Claudette is going to join us to talk about how this job has evolved over decades and what it was really like to be a nanny. But first, before we get into billionaires and benefits and household power dynamics, let's start with the MDJ Market Report and see where the money is moving today. Okay, welcome to this week's Mrs. Dow Jones Market Report. It is snowing outside. It is probably illegal that I am in my office. I did have to break in to record this. But the cippers needed it. These are the stories you need to know about Wall Street happening right now. And we weren't going to miss it. So our first story is actually crazy. Okay, so first up, we do need to talk about tariffs. And it was basically chaos in DC this weekend, you guys. On Friday in a shocking turn of events, the Supreme Court officially slapped down on Trump's tariffs and called them illegal. So, socks rallied for like five minutes because within hours, Trump found a loophole. He basically pulled a hold my beer and invoked section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which gives the president 150 days of total tariff free reign before Congress even gets a vote. So he was like, oh, you want to stop my tariffs? Actually, you can't. He started at 10% on Friday. By Saturday, he was already at 15%, which was the legal limit. So basically, the Supreme Court did not stop the trade war. They just basically forced him to change the font on the paperwork. But here is the real T for your wallet. I feel like everyone is obsessing over the 160 billion in illegal tariffs that the government now has to potentially refund to big corporations like Target and Walmart. But the question that I have is like, where's our refund? Because the truth is, when things got more expensive because of tariffs, those companies didn't eat the cost. They passed 96% of that burden onto us, onto the consumer directly. So we've already paid for this. Like in $7 cartons of eggs, in $12 or $6 packs, in the price of your new sneakers, in the price of the new iPhone even. And the billionaires and the big box stores are going to have these like high price lawyers filing motions to get their billions back. But like us consumers, we're just going to be held holding or seat for a lifestyle that got 15% more expensive. It feels like a massive transfer of wealth where they get a refund for something that we already paid for. This specific law expires in 150 days. So if like you are eyeing a big purchase, like a TV or car, I would weed it out. Weed it out. Don't pay the chaos premium in February if the law might vanish by summer. Our next story is about America's next top model. The documentary is on Netflix. And the show was so successful. It generated literally like $2 billion in revenue. But what is so shocking is that the actual contestants, like the people who were doing the work, creating the content, modeling, were reportedly paid just $40 a day and they had to pay for their own food and their own alcohol. Like and they weren't even built as employees. They were independent contractors. How crazy is that? And I feel like this is a really good financial lesson about like how you are the asset. Like the second that you sign over your likeness or your labor or your content for exposure, you're just doing America's next top model math. In America's next top model math, it means tyrogets to check and you just get like a photo shoot in a burlap sack. Okay and everyone is losing their minds over Carolyn Bassett Kennedy's closet right now. We all want to be wearing tortoise shell headbands. But I need you to understand that hurt 1996 street style and the 2026 S&P 500 are currently telling the exact same story. There was Justin article in the Wall Street Journal about a term called Halo stock. Shout out to downtown Josh Brown for coining it. And Halo stands for heavy assets low obsolescence. Okay wait before your eyes glaze over let me just break down what this actually means. Okay so heavy assets means companies that own like massive expensive physical things. So think like mines, pipelines, factories, fleets of aircraft like things that take years and billions of dollars to build and can't be like copy-pasted by a startup in a garage. And law obsolescence means their core product cannot be replaced by an app update. Like copper is still copper babe. A combined harvester does not become a relevant because someone shipped a new iPhone. So while software companies are getting crushed, I mean the Nasdaq is struggling. AI adjacent names have taken serious hits on fear of disruption. Investors are now rotating hard into the physical world. So like Caterpillar randomly is up over 24% at this year alone. Walmart just hit a $1 trillion market cap and is up and you release 70% over the last two years. I mean these are boring dependable undefeated companies and that's the entire point because this isn't just about stocks, it's about an aesthetic. And honestly Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, our girl was doing this in 1996. You never saw that woman messing with a disruptable trend. She never wore a bubble skirt. She never wore a YSL track jacket. No logo mania for her. She never did anything that needed a software update. She was timeless. She bought infrastructure. That Prada floor length may be wool coat. That's Caterpillar baby. It's heavy, it's built to last. And it's completely indifferent to what the trend report said. What about those. Straight leg Levi's that she wore with everything. I mean, come on, that's Exxon Mobile. It's foundational. It survived every fashion cycle since 1873. What about her Covencline slip dress? I mean, that's Walmart. It's quietly undefeated and everyone wishes they had bought it earlier. And so here's the financial lesson and it's almost embarrassingly simple as they always are. We have spent a decade worshipping the digital cloud. And 2026 is sort of just like quietly reminding us that you cannot actually live in one. Like a chop-up can tell you exactly how to build a house and how to style a trench coat, but it can't swing the hammer or like sew the seam. So don't buy the hype, buy the heavy. Caroline figured this out 30 years ago and it feels like the S&P 500 is just now catching up. Okay, now let's dive into our episode on Upper East Side Nannies because that is some serious financial tea. When you put your body in the hands of a surgeon, you assume your doctor will do you no harm. I'm looking at the surgery board for tomorrow. These people are ****. Cricket doctors have launched their most ambitious fraud yet worth over $1 billion. One doctor says my kickback was $25,000 and the other doctors go and we only got $12,000. From Sony Music Entertainment and Western Sound, this is Dr. Billions. Coming October 1st to the binge, listen wherever you get your podcasts. Three people die in a quiet suburb in Mississauga, Canada. One after the other in the same house. Long simmering, what took you so **** long to get here. Subscribers to the binge can listen to all episodes, all at once. Add free. Okay, welcome to the show. Hi, Tally. Okay, so you are nanny extraordinaire on the brief side. I am. Let's just rip the bandaid off queen. How much do you make? Like walk me through your comp package. So yeah, it's interesting. I'm in a unique position with, you know, my nanny work experience. I started off with like a good $10 an hour. Like most of us do babysitting. Yeah, been there. And when I graduated college, I wasn't able to jump into the corporate world. Like I had thought I would be able to. Just because I wasn't passion driven. And so I slowed my role. And I was like, what am I good at? And it's being with kids. And I'm now bringing in like total package is like 148. Damn. Damn. Damn. And so my base is like 125. And then I have my like health insurance stipend. So yeah, I'm comfortable. So what perks come with the job that most people wouldn't expect? I travel to incredible places. And I am also like quietly working on professional skills. I think in a way that like doesn't feel so obvious or like hard skill focused, which is a perk. Because I'm also like given an incredible amount of free time during the day. And I mean, that alone is like an incredible perk. I could start my own business on the side with the amount of time I have. So you give them back time, but you also have a ton of free time within the day. It's definitely, it's mutual. Yeah. Walk us through like what a typical day looks like. What are your hours? 736 and school. I'm like done with drop off and whatnot by nine. And then I have from like nine to 130 to do my own thing. And then they get home after school. And from like three to six, we're chilling. We're doing homework and dinner. And I usually like will make-- I will cook in that. What kind of things are you cooking up on? It depends. I'd say like love a chicken pot pie. I don't know. Like a mini chicken pot pie hockey raised up. That's true. And like a crispy chicken cutlet. Wow. They have some advanced palettes, yeah. I mean, crispy chicken cutlet is like baby food. But you know what I mean? So yeah, it's a lot of that. And they like love to help. And I think they're both-- they're at a point where they're like taking responsibility. And they're like recognizing that they have autonomy. And it's exciting to see that. They're growing up before your eyes. Yeah. It becomes, you know, a little more integrated when they're home because I have to actually like step up and be a part of the family in like a shadowy way, which is an interesting part of the job. I think like finding a way to be as helpful as you can, but also like recognizing that you're an extension of the family. You're not actually in the family, which is a difficult thing. I know like growing up with sitters and nannies and whatnot, you always find comfort in the fact that these people are so closely integrated into what you think of as your nuclear family. And so it's been hard for me to kind of like let go of that expectation. But there is a boundary ultimately of like professional and family. And sometimes those lines are crossed in this job. Yeah, what way has that happened? Just like forgetting that it's a job, you know? And like feeling the weight of growing up through these children and like wanting to show up for them and ways that feel important because you love them and you're with them. And you don't get that in a corporate environment, you know? You're not like-- No, we can love with-- You're like, no. No. You're not like rubbing their back like do you have a stomachache? No. That's cuddle. Yeah. How'd you sleep? Yeah, and so it's these like really tiny intricacies of just like being a kid growing up that you have to show up for. And it's special and it's hard. And yeah, it's rewarding in its own right. So-- I was a nanny for many years, and I-- Winthrop. Winthrop, but I also had Vera, a Martha's Vineyard. And I would live with them in the summer. And the parents were going through a split. And so she was quite vulnerable, the little girl. And we would sleep in the same room. And I just remember like having to like tell her stories or like rub her back before about it. Like just like very sweet, intimate, maternal moments that sort of pretty-- Yeah, they count on you in a maternal life. Yeah. But then there's like, you know, you have to remember at the end of the day, like, you're not mommy. Yeah, I never-- Winthrop, I never thought I was mommy. Yeah. Sorry, Winthrop. You have obviously other friends who are working in corporate. They're working in finance. So you have these more traditional like consulting roles maybe. And so how much are they making versus you? Because it feels like at 26, making 148K, you must be out earning a lot of them. I think, yes, that's true for the most part, because a lot of them like continued professional school. I would say like at least 50% of the people I graduated with are in a master's program of some sort, which just delays. And that's what it felt like to me. Like if I went into that, it wouldn't be because it was like passion driven. It would be because I need more time. Yeah. And so this gave me the opportunity to do both things, like delay and make money. Yeah, make money. But yeah, a lot of them-- I mean, I'm at the point now where a lot of my friends are like graduating from those programs, and they're going into the workforce. And no matter what, because of the experience that I have, I will be taking a pay cut of some sort, I imagine, when I do leave. And I think that's what's stopping me from making the jump, because I'm so comfortable with what I'm making. And ultimately, in New York City, it's not very much. Oh, my gosh. It's $125,000 doesn't get you an incredible amount. And that's the worst part about all of this. It feels like a lot. But it feels like a lot. But after taxes and all the other expenses of just being alive, it's not what I want. And I think it's just because I'm aspirational and money-driven, that it will never be enough. And so that I know if I take another job in an entry-level role or whatever, or find a way to finesse this experience into something more senior or something along those lines in a corporate environment, then I could match it. But right now, it feels like no matter what, I'm going to have to compromise. Yeah. So if you leave nanny-ing, then you'll have to take a pay cut. But also, what's interesting, too, for your generation, because you're obviously younger than me, is you're seeing so many of those entry-level jobs sort of disappear. It's really hard to break into a career path. And so you're seeing a lot of young people go for these more nanny-ing-type, just things that are conventionally side hustles, that are being legitimized into action. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because they you make a lot of money, but also they're safe. It's not like you can outsource, you know, what you're doing. No, it's a computer is not going to take over your role. No, and I think that's the exciting thing about this field for the career nannies is like they'll always be there. And there will come a point when, you know, this kind of salary is just the expectation because it has to be. You know, I think people are still I know many people who are still getting $20 an hour and are getting paid under the table and, you know, the standard is that babysitters nannies get paid under the table for that reason because the pay is just so astronomically low that like without being paid under the table, they would take home nothing. It's in no way livable wage. And so I think, you know, over the next few years when AI becomes everything as it already is like these kind of roles, these like household staffing roles are going to have to be. Amped up and like paid their dues because they can't be replaced. You're right. Like unless you get a robot. Why do you have so much desire to leave nannying? I don't. I hate a lot. And we feel like there's like not that many like, you know, white collar jobs that are available. It's not so much that I have a desire to leave. I think it's just, you know, because I went to school for something else because I hustled so hard in school. I have this part of me that just remains unfulfilled by what I'm doing because it's not like intellectually simulating in any way. The challenge is more like, how do I show up for these people in the way that they need me and that's rewarding in itself. But I think when I think about, you know, where I see myself 10 years from now, I want to think about being with my own family when that happens. And this takes an incredible amount from you. And like the emotional sense and the physical sense. It's like ultimately like a labor job. Yeah. I walk like 20,000 steps a day. Wow. And I'm proud of it. But it's a lot. It's exhausting. And I think I'm ready for someone to like tell me what to do. And, you know, I love the people that I work with. And if I didn't, I would have been gone. But I'm lucky in that way again that, you know, a lot of people don't have a choice. They just like have to stick stick with whoever they get matched with, especially if they're like through an agency. And I'm a choice, but to kind of deal with it. But wait, explain the agency structure. So how did you get your job? And then how do agencies work? Like what are what's their kite. So an agency typically takes 15 to 25% of the nannies first year. So crazy. Because like incorporate recruiting views or recruiter. They take a piece of the salary. But I would have to pay that to the recruiter. It would never come out of the salary of who I was hiring. Yeah, I mean, the structure is different for every agency, Madison agency is like a huge one that I think a lot of. I have this sort of agency. Yeah, I think one of my bosses is ready to go. We're ready. We're ready to go. We just haven't made it happen. We'll explain the agency thing and then we'll talk about your next step. I think I think I have. I'm in a good position because I have the experience of being the nanny and he has the experience of being a father. I'm talking about one of my bosses. And so it would be this like perfect balance of what people are looking for and what people are getting. And I don't think that's standard in an agency. I think you just have like this hustling group of recruiters. It's like matchmakers, you know, yeah, and it's hard, especially when, you know, the family has like young children and they've never done this before and they don't know what they're looking for. They don't know if they're looking for a housekeeper or someone to watch their kids and they ask for too much or they ask for too little and so the people just never fit. Where would you recruit your nannies from like, would you want to get like, you know, young people the way that you were out of college to do this. Yes, most of the people that I find are just like being I find through being brave at like the playground. And I'm just like, so you're like, what do you do? How long have you been doing this? Well, so you're sort of like, are you happy with your family? Yeah, yeah, we have those conversations. Yeah, and if they're not, I'm like, run, let's find you someone else. So talk to us a little bit about the other nannies because there's got to be like a whole crew on every side, you're going to the planning. Like, are those your homies? Like, do you know how much they're making? Yeah, I have their their ranges of where they from their ranges ranges. Yeah, I know a lot who are kind of sitting at that 30 to 35 range and they're doing this is kind of like a stepping stone and you know, whether it's for like acting or you know their theater kids who are like growing up to do things in New York and they need a side hustle. But I see more and more people who have like found a way to really take advantage of this and like are putting those other things aside and sticking with it because it's just so lucrative, especially when you're getting paid under the table and you get to just like run with all that money. And I think I told you about this, but there was this woman I met at the playground to came to New York for, you know, some like banking job and she decided she hated it. And so she started doing a masters and something else and she ultimately got connected with this like southern bell who was like a connector a liaison between the south and, you know, high net worth families in New York. And she connected this woman that I met at the park to a family on Fifth Avenue and now she's like done with the master she was planning on doing. And she's like in this to stay and you see a lot of that because of agencies just like having the connect and you know that's the great part about an agency, but then again they take like 15 to 25% of your salary for that first year. And that's a big cut, so that's a huge. What's something that you've had to handle that like the job description would just never have included. Several years ago when I like first started getting interested in this idea of of doing this legitimately. I went on this app called bambino, which is like tender for babysitting so you have the families who are scrolling through babysitter profiles and they can like pick you and and message you and you go from there. And I had connected with this family that was visiting from Germany and the parents were divorced and I. Agreed I was like okay let's do this it was a babysitting job and you know the out the expectation was that I was putting the boy to bed and it was game over whatever. And they ultimately like went out to white planes for a wedding and the boy was just different he was not as expected he told me I wasn't going to leave their alive. Yeah scary like throwing lampshades at me. No like it was a violent violent. Five yeah. I think at the end of the day like there was a lot more going on there it was like the trauma of whatever was going on at home. And I was just a good person to project out but I mean that that's I called and called and called until they came home. Yeah but you know that happens a lot with babysitting jobs in particular like you do a one night stand situation and kids are just different and like sometimes you're not ready for the incredible amount of you know trauma or grief or like frustration like the behavioral issues that they're managing. You're never going to tell you that like you're never going to know that like a kid's biting or throwing things and that's you have to find that out like you have to get bit you know. Yeah what surprises you most about working for a rich family like access travel accommodations like what is not really like I mean for some of these families who are you know like who live half the year in Aspen and then half the year in the Hamptons like they exist and you know the. Nannies are getting put up in like their own homes and and they have their own cars and it's a very I mean you can take this to a crazy level like I'm an in comparison to those like really agency driven jobs. So you want to work for like a billionaire family or something you would have to agency agency and those I mean and they heard get a lot of them from England. Yeah yeah yeah they're like because they have those they have like any universe. Yeah I knew a billionaire. I should go. Yeah should be at university. I'll sponsor you. Thank you. But yeah I learned a lot of them yeah a lot of them are coming from abroad and it's like the opair transitions into just like full time live in forever you know there's there's no expiration date on how long they stay but the agency's do you like background checks and the references are extensive and it is like. And your service like a teacher too yeah yeah it becomes you become tutor you become parent you become like everything. I think it quotes too yeah they're supposed to know I saw that yeah. - Yes, yes, it's scary, that's not me. - Yeah. - You're like cool, you're like fine. - I'm the fun older sister. - Yeah, you're fun older sister, but you're not like, we get crumbs everywhere, we have elbows on the table. - You're like, my fist messy, you're like, you're messy, you're a kid, you're supposed to get messy. - You remind me of the parent trap of the nanny. - That's such a compliment. - You just such a compliment. - But like, I would want you to do this. - And my nanny fam calls me Mary Poppins. - You are. - I'll take it. (bell dings) - Hello, it's Elizabeth Day from Heart to Fail here. So Paul Smith. - They say, "Oh, Paul's job, yes, head of happiness." That's my job. - What a great job. - I do close as well. (laughs) - Listen to Heart to Fail, wherever you get your podcasts. - Hello, I'm Simon Mayo, and I'm Mark Kermod. What a great episode we have for you lined up. Mark, what are you doing on the latest take? It's a packed show. We have reviews of Heart to the Beast, Brad Pitt, and a dog, her private hell, the new film from Nick Winding Reffen, a ballman in the devil, a documentary about the worst film ever made, and sense and sensibility with our super special guest, gorgeous George McKay. Don't miss a single second of the latest take. - What do you think about outsourcing your childcare? Like, do you think that the mom has guilt or like, is jealous of you? - 100%. - I jealousy, no. I think, at least in the family that I work with, I think I understand my role very clearly, and they have great parents who are like, present, and I think that's a distinction with a lot of families, is that, you know, they're outsourcing help because they can't show up. But then you have the families like, you know, I know who are outsourcing help because they just need help, not because they're not there. And it becomes really hard for a nanny or a babysitter to make it happen if they're playing the role of both parents, you know? And I've seen that like, over the course of my time doing this, I've met so many women who are like, I can't do it anymore because it destroys them, having to carry the weight of a family that isn't theirs, you know, it's a heavy role. - That's so true. Like, if the job functions, as it should, then you're not doing balance. - Yes, you're not doing that emotional lift as well. You're just doing logistics, cooking, whatever. That's a huge difference. If you have to like put the kids to sleep every night, reminding them that like, you know, their parents will be home. If you're a living nanny too, that's a line I could not cross. You know, I would never be a living for those reasons 'cause it makes it really hard to go home and like not feel that emotional burden to the children. - With my nanny with Claudette, I feel like what was hard was she came to America from Guyana with a young son, and then this was a great job for her to get because low barrier to entry. She loves kids great and she can make a lot of money and support her family, but then it like made it so that she couldn't take care of her own kid, which is, and it's like the greatest issue. Like you're getting a good work. - Yeah. - For you're paying someone else to take care of your kid. - Yeah. - Where's the, where's the, what's the outside? - Yeah. - Claudette. - Claudette, we love her. So you don't see this as long term. This is a stepping stone. - For now, if something happens overnight where like, I really get on with this idea of an agency, then cool. I think it could be awesome, but I also feel like something's missing. - And what do you think would make this industry better for nannies? - I think like an industry standard for pay. I think it's embarrassing. - The other people, - How parents are okay with paying so little for childcare. It's, like you're getting a manicure for $90, but you won't pay a woman $20 more dollars. I know me too, a minor coming up. But it's just, it doesn't need to be like that. Like if they have disposable income, they can make it happen for these women. And they're like, nannies are the hardest working people - Yeah. - And showbiz. - They just, it doesn't stop. And so they deserve it. - And with your friends, do you ever feel judged, or like have you, you clearly judge yourself a little bit, but like what? - I think it's more self-inflicted. - Yeah, I think it's hard sometimes for me if I'm in like a, if I'm meeting new people and they're like, what do you do? And I'm like, I'm an Annie. And I think I try to rephrase it like I'm a house manager to kind of like contort it to the way I need it to sound. - Well, what I'm saying is like, I think that now this is going to be so much more normalized. And people are like, that's incredible. And you must have so much fun doing that. And it is, like I should silence those thoughts 'cause it is incredible. And like, it's fun. And I get to be a kid. - And it's, I prove. And it's, I prove that's the best part of it. - Yeah, that's why you really are in it. - Sorry to love you so much. - Thank you for coming. - Thank you for having me. - You're the best. We got the T. All right, so we have talked about the new generation of nannies, but I only thought it was right to round out the episode to now talk to someone who has been doing this for decades and who actually was my nanny. This is Claudette. This is very exciting that you're here. Claudette was my nanny since I was six months old. Tell them, I love you here. - I love you so much. I start working with Hale and her sister. He was six months old when I started the job. And she was a cute baby. She's the cutest. When you're going to her room, she's like playing in the crib. - The crib. - Yeah, the crib. And she's kicking and she's doing the arts arts. And she's laughing by herself. She wasn't a bad baby at all at all. I took her to the park. I took her to school. I took her to tennis, whatever games they have to do. - Whenever we would have bake sale, we would bake together. And the best thing was cookies and cookies. And then cakes. - Oh my God, we made a lot of money for charity with this. - Yes, yes. - And I would always wanna stay home from school 'cause if I would stay home sick from school, then I could watch like Mori or the daytime TV with you on the couch and we could order Chinese food. - Yes. - We would order hot and sour soup. - And when, you know, when she added food, the food comes, I'm gonna tell her, "Hey, I love you, oh yes. "Only when I give you something you love me." (laughing) - That's true. I gotta order you something now. (laughing) Remember the time when I told him, "I send the, um, "was her birthday, and I sent her a bouquet of flowers, "and I told her I'm her secret admirer." (laughing) But then I say, "Oh my God, I have to tell the kids "because if I don't tell you guys, "your dad gonna be, you know, he might be up there." - He'll be upset, yeah. - And he might want to do "Oh, mommy, "and she didn't behind his back. "So I have to tell you, I had to tell you." (laughing) It told Liz. - Did she fall for it? - She didn't know who sent her a bouquet. - And then you finally told her? - She was, yes. She was saying, "Oh, um, she have a friend "from high school or college or something." (laughing) And then at the last, then we would go to the secret that I send the flowers. - That's so funny, Clara. - I know, yes, it was a lot of fun. And then another thing when I gave them a bath, I used to sing a song, "Oh, your mother loved us. "Your mother loved us. "She'd never forget the wrong things you do child. "You're bound to regret." But they were so little, unlike they understand the words and stuff that I'm saying. And they used to cry. I said, "Oh my God, I'm making this kid cry. "I'm singing songs for them to cry. "Now, every time they want me to sing this song, "sing your mother love for me." - It's true, every time I see you now. - Yeah, we have to sing it. - Sing your mother love. - Would you have any other crazy memories of us? - I went to Anguela with them. We had a lot of fun. - There you will come on vacation with us. - Yes, we had a lot of fun. - Martha has been here to come. She told me to hook me up with a guy, every. - Oh, Carol, yeah, we try. And I went, yeah, there was a man, Carol and Anguela that we were trying to set you up with. Who, by the way, still holds the torch for you. - Every time you sing this song. - No, yeah, oh, yeah, he sent you a cake. - Remember you guys were in this. - Oh my gosh, wait, tell them. This is crazy. 'Cause you're sort of a mix. - So did you have her kiss him or anything? - No, I never did. - No, no, okay. Okay, so Carol, you might Carol and Anguela. - But there was a little bit of a vibe. - Like, yeah, there was a flirting. I mean, who would have? - And Jucoro, but that's it. - And then you wouldn't come back the next year's and he would always do you. - No, no, but I'm saying even when you didn't come back, he would send us stuff home for you to be like, give us a call, that's my girl. - Yeah. - Yeah. - And he would, you know, ask for me and stuff. - Yeah. - He still, he looks really good. - Oh, yeah. a lot of like push ups and he's in really nice shape. - But you guys did a lot of things? - I went last year. So you should, well, next time we go, you should come and maybe rekindle it all with him. - Yes. - What's wrong about that? - We should get his, I'm gonna get his what's up for you. - No, no, I know. - Why not? I'll get it today. - No, I know. - Why not? That's fun. You could do a phone call. Why not? - No, no, no. - You've shut down shop. - I don't shut down the shop. - I would like it. (laughing) I'm sleeping. I don't want someone. (laughing) I don't want someone who's gonna make me sleep. I want someone who's gonna make me sleep. - You think Carol's gonna make you go to sleep? - Make me wake. - No? - No, I know sleeping. - But why do you think Carol's gonna make you go to sleep? - He's still old. (laughing) - No, he has, he's like young and vibrant. - No, no, no, no, no, no, which would be so cool. - I don't want to be a critter's nature. (laughing) - I think you are, you are our nanny soul mate. Like there was no one else who could have done it. Like you were really like, like you, I can't imagine life without you. - Yes, no, I did everything. I did everything. It was hard work. - Oh yes, but I enjoy it. - One time her mom told me, she said, "You and I, like husband and wife, we arguing like husband and wife." (laughing) That was so funny when she tell me that. - 'Cause you worry about her. - Yes, I used to break, I used to break the flowers and bring it home. And I tell him, oh, I'm gonna pray with his flow. - Oh, yeah. - I will just say a cloth. First of all, thank you so much for being here. I really do feel like we started everything together. And I love you so much. Like you, I feel like my personality is because I got to hang out with you. 'Cause you are just like the most fun, vibrant, mildly inappropriate, chokey, full of life, full of like childlike, just wonder. - I love you, and I would just like, I'm so grateful I got to see you. I love you. I don't have a doubt. - You're my family. - No, I'm your daughter. - But they have three daughters. - Yeah, you do. - Okay, Sippers, if this episode made you rethink everything you thought you knew about work and child care and what it means to make it in America, hit that like button, leave a review and share this with someone who needs to hear it. Please leave comments 'cause I'm gonna show them all to Claudette and she's going to absolutely love them. And if you want to go deeper on the death of the American dream and how to build wealth in a system that feels like it's actively working against you, pre-order my book, Future Rich Person at MrsDow Jones.com. It has all the new rules for building wealth in this crazy economy. Thank you for being a Sipper for listening to Financial T. We will be back next week with more money in tell. And if you want to share your Financial T, please email T@MrsDow Jones.com. Stay rich. (upbeat music)