You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again: The True Adventures of a Hollywood Nanny

PROLOGUE If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them, and half as much money. Abigail Van Buren When my boss told me that we were all going to Hawaii for Thanksgiving vacation, I tried not to panic. I was nineteen years old, and my vacation experience up to that point pretty much consisted of ten-hour trips in my family's cramped station wagon to visit my cousins in Canada. You'd think I would have been turning cartwheels down Sunset Boulevard. But as enticing as an all-expenses-paid stay at a posh Hawaiian beachfront resort would sound to most people, I was realistic enoughafter almost a year of nannying for one of the most powerful families in Hollywoodto know that I'd be on duty for 192 hours straight. I had counted. One hundred and ninety-two straight hours of running after three children under the age of seven, of sharing quarters a lot more cramped than the ten-thousand-square-foot home we normally occupied, where the air was already tense. Of no room to escape the kids or their parents for one minute. This "vacation" sounded worse every time I thought about it. Good thing I didn't know about the other five kids. The night after I was informed of our upcoming adventure, I decided to be more positive.Come on, Suzy! You could never afford to travel toHawaii on your own. This is a great opportunity to soak up some paradise.I tried not to think about our previous "vacations." Surely this would have a whole different, relaxed, tropical vibe? I called my friend and fellow nanny Mandie to tell her my news. She listened intently while I borrowed scenes from postcards and spun my perfect vision of the eight-day trip. "I'll be basking on white-sugar beaches, with cute cabana boys constantly serving me fruity drinks in coconut halves. After I distribute the beach toys and reapply sunscreen on the kids, I'll soak up the Polynesian splendor. Just think, hula performances under torch-lit palms . . . leis draped around me . . . luaus . . . lanais . . ." In my dream-dappled mind, there would be grandparents, aunts, and uncles to lavish attention on the kids. The gentle spirit of the island would permeate our hearts and inner harmony would reign. But then Mandie started laughing so hard that I was actually afraid she'd lost control of her bladder. We both knew it was far more likely that the actual scenario would be similar to what a mutual nanny friend of ours had just undergone. Her employer, a well-known baseball player, had brought her along to the famous Pebble Beach golf course, where he was playing in a huge charity golf tournament. The event was star-studded, and she couldn't wait to rub elbows with some celebrities. But when the other baseball players' wives realized someone had brought a nanny, they all dumped their kids in her suite and headed off to the tournament unencumbered. She spent three days in a hotel room with ninecount 'em,ninekids. She never saw one moment of golf, beach, or sunshine. I tried to be optimistic, but my spirits wavered when even getting out of the driveway became a massive undertaking. Our traveling caravan included me and my employers, Michael and Judy Ovitz; their three children (Joshua, Amanda, and Brandon); Michael's parents; his brother, Mark, and Mark's wife, Linda, and their six-year-old son; and Michael's business partner, Ron Meyer, along with Ron's date, Cyndi Garvey, and their four combined daughters. It took two stretch limos just to get the whole group to the airport. Altogether, the entourage totaled nine adults and eight children. In addition, Michael's friend Al Checchi and his wife, threeSuzanne Hansen is the author of 'You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again: The True Adventures of a Hollywood Nanny', published 2006 under ISBN 9780307237682 and ISBN 0307237680.