It’s an interesting week in Latina events. Two things hit my radar this week, two wildly different things, but two things I decided to combine into one blog post.
First, I saw a bunch of Facebook posts linking to a site called Por Favor Nanny. It bills itself as a network of resources for “ for new cooks, mothers, fathers, nannies, housekeepers and all other caregivers who work hard to put dinner on the table each night.” They’ve also published a book. No idea if it’s out from a trade house, my guess is they self published.
Not sure about you, but I certainly don’t need guide to cooking with Spanish translations of sentences like “”Please wash hands before preparing food” to give to my mom.
Why do we need their advice? I’ll let them tell you.
Some of the wonderful women who care for our children and style our homes with their impeccable tidiness speak a different language. Because of this language gap, asking for help in the kitchen is difficult. So, we created a Spanish and English cookbook, Por Favor Nanny, Please Make Dinner. book includes traditional American recipes that are delicious and easy to prepare.
“Style our homes”? You mean clean, right? I get the feeling that these women drop a pretty penny on interior designers. Now, I can see a need for a book that teaches you how to communicate with others of different languages. My company has published books like that, including Spanish textbooks for courses offered in culinary and restaurant managementcourses. But this book goes way beyond that. The graphics and tone on the site are horribly condescending. It’s The Help, but with enchiladas instead of fried chicken. Or not, because the cookbook contains “traditional American recipes”. I don’t know, if I had a nanny of that ethnicity, I might be all about the native cuisine. Heck, my dad comes to visit from Houston, and he gets put to work cooking Mexican all week. But I digress.
I really really hoped that this was a spoof, but it seems to be for real.
Changing gears to a far more light item…this morning, I made a quick trip to Kohl’s to return some items. I love that they are open at 8am – I can be in and back before my working day starts. I noticed they had some of the new Jennifer Lopez Collection items out and paused to look through them. Certainly, the one sleeved blouse would be a hit at work! In any case, the collection was located where the ELLE collection items were. I noticed they had moved too, taking the place of Daisy Fuentes. But where was Daisy? Are you getting the feeling that I know WAY TOO MUCH about the Kohl’s store planogram? Daisy had moved to a dark corner of the store where another brand used to be displayed. The one with the shirts on 3 tiers so you need to get a grabber tool to pull them off, if you’re not 10 feet tall, which I am not. Poor Daisy. Kohl’s apparently assumed there was only room for one Latina diva in their front of store, so Daisy got the boot. No matter. I like her clothes and will seek them out, even if I have to do so on a step stool. J Lo? The verdict is out. I guess if I were a 40-something going clubbing they might work for me, but I like two sleeves on my clothes, and I like my clothes not to shine from sequins and metallic fabrics.
Who knows what next week will bring!
I don’t know that I see a problem with this. I have someone watching my kids who no speak Ingles – I’d love to be able to tell her to make dinner. What’s wrong here? Just another liberal viewpoint?
Hi Stacy, I’m not sure how this came off as liberal, except for the fact that I will always be branded liberal having a Jewish last name and being from New York. That said, I think there was a way to accomplish what the “Por Favor Nanny” ladies wanted to do without offending. They could have done it respectfully. It’s a reality that many of us employ people who aren’t native speakers of English. Create a web site that shows that you value this relationship. I can’t imagine talking down to anyone who watches my kids, regardless of their ability to speak my language. What they did is just plain icky.