Sunday morning was Lisa's day off. It was the first day off she had had in a long time. She took a deep breath and enjoyed the moment. Suddenly her peaceful, momentary rest was soon interrupted by the sounds of little feet running towards her.
At seven o'clock, the kids jumped up on Lisa's bed. She looked at the baby and with a bleary-eyed, tired smile, forced herself to get up.
"Play with us!" they shouted.
"Okay," Lisa said, even though she hadn't slept enough. She didn't know how to reject the kids.
"Where are their parents?"She guessed that they wanted to spend lazy weekends, having enough sleep and not being distracted by the noisy kids.
They played peacefully. Lisa read them a book aloud. She washed and combed their hair and brought them downstairs to the kitchen. Afterward, all four of the children rushed down to the cellar, playfully pouncing on Lisa.
"Play with us Lisa!" they shouted.
"Okay, but let's play a quiet game," Lisa said, trying to hold onto the blissful silence for a few moments longer. They settled down to play a board game right there on the table in the cellar. The hum of the huge fridge was louder than their voices, so loud in fact that it caught little Nataly's attention!
"May we have an ice cream?" she asked in her sweetest voice.
"Ask your parents," Lisa said, in order to avoid possible trouble. She had gotten in trouble before for allowing the children candy before a meal. She wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.
Nataly immediately ran upstairs to ask her mom, with an excited grin on her face.
"We are allowed!" she yelled, as she speeded back down to the basement.
"But you are not allowed to eat an ice cream. Ice cream is only for children, not for a maid," announced the six-year-old Nataly proudly to Lisa. Julia shot Nataly a look, that told her it was an inappropriate comment. Julia was ten-years-old, but somehow wise beyond her years.
Nataly finished her ice cream in what seemed like one minute, and very quickly began asking for another. Lisa did not want the kids to eat too many sweets. She also did not want to get in trouble with the family again, and secretly, she was also happy to get Nataly back for her rude comment, but she'd have never of admitted that.
"No. One ice- cream is enough," Lisa said firmly.
Nataly's face dropped. She looked at Lisa with dark, soulless eyes. She stormed off upstairs, while the others continued to enjoy their ice cream and game.
Ten minutes passed, and Nathaly had still not returned.
"I'll go find her. She's probably in a mood," said Julia and she left to search for Nataly.
A few moments later Julia came running back down the stairs in a panic.
"Lisa! Lisa!" she yelled. Lisa immediately got up from her seat.
"Whatever is the matter, Julia?" Lisa asked, sensing she was clearly frightened.
It didn't take long before Lisa realized what the issue was. Nataly had followed Julia back down to the basement with a huge knife.
"I am a pirate. And I am going to get my ice cream! " she shouted. Lisa looked at her for a moment, unsure the best way to progress. She was worried Nataly was unhinged, but she decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and write it off as a childish prank.
"You can not play with the knife," Lisa said.
"Would you like to ban it?" She threatened Lisa with the knife, her voice sounding a little too menacing for a child of her age.
"If you don't let me eat as much ice-cream as I wish, I'll tell my parents that you're a very bad au pair girl, and they will throw you away." She was not just a pirate, but also a blackmailer. Lisa was not going to be won over by Nataly and her spoilt ways.
"And, I'll tell your parents that the children are not allowed to play with knives," Lisa came back with quickly.
"Try it!" Nataly said and took the knife to Lisa's neck with one swift move. She had a lot of strength for such a small child, and the other children watched on in horror, two of them crying quietly in the corner. It was as if Nataly had done this to them before and they were afraid of her.
"Help me!" Nataly commanded, and the crying children came and held Lisa's arms and legs down. She had no way to escape now, and was beginning to feel intimidated by four small children. Had they been watching scary movies? Where had this come from? They were usually such well-behaved children. Well in her presence anyway. Whatever the reason, Lisa had succumbed to the fact that this was no longer a game.
"Okay, you can eat the ice cream!" Lisa shouted in desperation, giving up to children.
"Good!" She beamed. "I can eat them, but you cannot!" Nataly yelled, wielding her knife in the air. She got up and ran to the freezer, giving out ice creams to her sisters.
Lisa sat and watched them in shock. Her heart still pounding in her chest.
Lisa walked upstairs slowly, trying to calm herself and dusting her clothes off from the dirty cellar floor. The children's parents were sat on the sofa, each with a glass of red wine, relaxing without any children's cries.
"You were playing so quietly in the basement. You have so much fun."
"We do," said Lisa quietly, not having enough courage to tell the parents that she was not able to cope with the naughty kids
Sometimes Lisa understood that she with her teaching degree was not able to manage naughty manipulative kids. Even their own parents could not manage their children.
The children were allowed to do anything they wanted to. No one corrected them or told them not to. So, they believed there were more powerful than the adults. Their parents gave them expensive gifts, often for no reason. Sometimes, those gifts were just cash. Family members and friends showered them in gifts as well. The children knew nothing about the value of money.
"Look, Lisa! I have a hundred dollars. That is what my daddy gives me every day. I bought a case for my iPhone. It was very cheap," Nick once said to her.
She couldn't believe the way these children acted.
One time during a nice dinner, Nick asked his father, "Dad, are we going to the amusement park tomorrow?"
His father looked up from his plate.
"No, Nick," he said dismissively. Nick crossed his arms over his chest and a pout spread on his face.
"Why not?" he whined.
"We went last week, Nick. That's why," his father answered quietly.
Then, Nick just screamed, "I hate you, dad. You're an idiot."
There was such an anger to his voice that it frightened Lisa. His voice echoed through the massive house. Then he pushed his plate across the table, jumped up, and left the kitchen. Back home, if any child behaved like this, their parents would surely ground them. They would be without any luxuries until they learned to behave better. They would also be made to apologize for such inappropriate actions. Especially in front of a guest, such as Lisa.
His father kept silence, continuing to eat his dinner. He did absolutely nothing. He didn't even react. He let Nick storm off and casually went back to eating his meal. Moments later, the table conversation turned to something about work. It was like it never happened. This family either ignored all their problems, or Nick was always misbehaved. Lisa was surprised that the CEO of such a well off company couldn't even manage his own child.
Then she thought to herself, if these parents couldn't control their children, how was she going to? She was just an au pair. She had no real authority in their eyes. She was expected to do so much for these children. They were neither helpful nor appreciative.
The children she used to look after back home were far better behaved. There was the occasional one that acted out like Nick had. But, they were made to apologize and told why their behavior was wrong. She missed working with children like that. Children who recognized there was a right and wrong way to treat other people.
Nick expected everything to be done for him. If he could, he always made it harder than it had to be.