Manny, anyone?

By now, we’re all quite familiar with the Manny. Most would argue that white trash Britney was the first to have a manny, what with last summer’s manny heart throb, fresh from the naval academy. Who knows, perhaps he inspired Vin Diesel’s character in “The Pacifier.”

But wasn’t Tony Danza really one of the first manny’s in this country? I think we all remember his classic role in “Who’s the Boss?” And if you don’t, then you’re probably not old enough to drink and you’re definitely not old enough to be reading this blog.

Ahh yes, lovable goofy Tony Danza, here’s the beginning of his role as the manny of the house, its TV writing and comedy at its best:

 Tony: I’m Tony Micelli. I’m here about the job.
Angela: Oh, I’m sorry. There must be a mistake. This job is for a housekeeper.
Tony: That’s me, Mr. Goodmop!
Angela: Well, my mother’s screening everyone. Did you meet her?
Tony: Yeah yesterday. She gave me the once over, kicked me in the tires, put me up on the rack…
Angela: Well, she should’ve checked under your hood, ’cause you’re the wrong sex.
Tony: Oh, wait a minute; she said that wouldn’t be any problem.
Angela: My mother didn’t think World War II was a problem.

Indeed kids. We probably thought that was really funny at the time. I mean, Mr. Goodmop! What the hell does that mean?

But now, apparently manny’s are such a phenomenon that, of course, someone’s written a book titled……wait for it……

“The Manny”: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Story?id=3293877&page=1

Brilliant, I know.

And so, while having Mary Poppins was so 1970s, Mr. Mom was so 1980s, regular old foreign nannies is so 2000, apparently having a MANNY is so 2007.

SO I got to thinking, what might be the pros of having a manny?

Well, there’s the obvious eye candy for the pro category. I mean, one dear KT friend suggested a while ago that the very attractive Casanova young Latin intern in my office this summer might make for good manny material.

And right she is. Mamacita! He’s easy on the eyes, sweet natured, charismatic, why wouldn’t I, and my darling daughter, of course, want him around the house? And the brilliant thing is, darling husband leaves in the morning before our current female nanny arrives and well, he’s never home in the evening when she leaves. SO darling husband could go months before even knowing that pleasant older female nanny has been replaced with doe-eyed 18 year old Latin Casanova….

But then there’s the other thing to consider. See, avid KT fans (and there are thousands of you) know by now that there are days when I despise my nanny.

Why? You ask.

Because my kid likes her, of course! Why else!

But seriously – the relationship between mom and nanny is fraught with issues. Jealousy, competitiveness, contention. It ain’t an easy path to navigate all the time, after-all, this woman is spending the entire day with your beautiful cherub…and if she’s worth her salt, your beautiful cherub grows to love her too.

And every woman wonders, is there enough love in beautiful cherub’s heart for the both of you?

Of course there is – so long as she loves mommy more and never shows any inclination otherwise. Which naturally all toddlers demonstrate very clearly on a regular basis.

But now – would this be the case if you had a MANNY? Would the same mother-nanny dynamics exist as what exists between two grown women?

I don’t think so. I think it would be a very different dynamic, as sad as that is to admit.

And we all know, when mama’s happy, everyone is happy.

So – was Britney really onto something, back for one brief second when she still had a brain cell? Is the Manny the way to go?