Nanny Stella sets us straight

Stella Reid is one uncanny nanny. On Fox's "Nanny 911," she is the no-nonsense British brat-buster in a rather nonsensical cape. In real life, she is an author, wife, "bonus mom" (she and her husband are raising his two boys), entrepreneur — and, yes, a real nanny of 16 years.

She'll hold a seminar at the Northwest Women's Show on Saturday, but we caught up with her as she buzzed along Southern California's Interstate 405 in her brand-new convertible (though she did pull over for safety's sake).

Q: Are you a good driver? I don't want to be responsible for killing "Nanny 911."

A: It took me 16 years to buy a BMW convertible. I wanted a BMW for a very long time, and I promised myself I'd get one when I was 40. I'm a working-class girl, always buying for everyone else but never for me. To hell with it. Now I'm 41. I traded a very sensible Ford, and here I am driving with the top down.

Q: Tell me about your family.

A: I'll be married two years in April. I met my husband after he called my house by mistake to order a pizza. He left a message saying if I were single, I should give him a call. We had our rehearsal dinner at the pizza place.

Q: Do you have kids?

A: We would love to but, without being crude, you have to be in the same place at the same time. For the last four years, I lived in at my (nanny) job Monday to Friday. ... It might end up that he'll meet me on the freeway with a turkey baster.

My family's blended — my husband and I are Caucasian, one boy is part African American and one is African American. When we moved in, our neighbors rushed over to see who the children belonged to.

Q : Do you think our kids would listen to us better if we all had authoritative British accents?

A : (Laughs) That would grab their attention, but you also have to make clear that actions have consequences. Have credibility. ... I pride myself on the fact that the little boy I've looked after for four years, I can take him anyplace and he'll behave appropriately and show good manners.

Q: Well, that's good to hear — there's one kid, then. Are some kids just born bad?

A: They're born good. The environment makes your child. I do think some things are inherent, like addictive personality, but I don't believe they're inherently bad. I'd have to quit.

Q: Sometimes I'm glad there are brats; I point them out to my son as examples of how not to behave. Is that evil?

A: I think it's very valid. ... What people forget is, they're not just our children. They're everybody's children. You say, "my son, my daughter," but you don't own them. The world owns them. You put them out there in the world.

It's good for other kids to see that behavior, but it'd be better for them to see somebody from "Nanny 911" say, 'You know what? That's really not appropriate behavior.'

We did a seminar in Canada a few months ago, and this lady came along and said she was having trouble getting her 2- and 4-year-old to eat.

You know where she feeds her kids? In the bathtub! Initially I was thinking because of the mess, but it wasn't — she would have to chase them around. She said they take them to McDonald's because they can run around like raving idiots. It's a prime example: If she were ever to put those kids near me, I'd be signing them up for therapy.

Q: What kind of people really should not be parents?

A: Anybody who doesn't like kids shouldn't have kids. Some people who really don't want kids end up having them — some get lucky, and it agrees with them. Parents who were abused or had a bad childhood need to get that into perspective.

Deal with your monsters before you put your problems on your children. At school, they send you home with an egg or a crying baby doll. Adults should try that first. Take care of plants first and move on to a dog.