Page 1 of 5+Us Makes Seven

One

Carter

“Nathaniel, get over here. Clara, what did I tell you about playing with your food? Joshua, I swear to you, if you don’t stop jumping on that couch I’m going to drop you off at school and leave you there!”

“If you can’t get your kids under control, I can’t feed them,” the nanny said.

“Isn’t that what I hired you to do?” I asked.

“You hired me to watch them, not parent them.”

“Then watch them and get them fed so I can go get ready for work,” I said. “Joshua! Stop bouncing on the couch and come eat your breakfast!”

It was like this every morning. Clara would come crawl into bed with me and wake me up with her kisses as the nanny walked through the door. Joshua and Nathaniel would take off after the nanny, and they’d start climbing her like a tree. She couldn’t cook because they always kept demanding other things in the middle of her fixing food and she couldn't wrangle the three of them at once because they never listened. In the past two years, she was the third nanny I had hired, and she was already threatening to quit if I couldn't find a way to help her out.

“Who wants eggs?” the nanny asked.

“Ew, eggs,” Joshua said.

“No eggies,” Clara said.

“Do we have any cereal?” Nathaniel asked.

“But the three of you were excited about eggs when I was cooking them,” the nanny said.

“Sit down and eat what’s been prepared for you or the three of you will spend the rest of your day in your rooms,” I said.

“But I don’t want eggs,” Nathaniel said.

“Then you should’ve thought about that before you asked for eggs,” I said.

“I didn’t ask for eggs, Joshua did.”

“I did not!”

“Yes you did.”

“Did not.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Did not, Clara! Quit lying!”

My kids were wonderful kids. But they were kids, and they were all under the age of seven. Nathaniel was the oldest, and he was six. Joshua came shortly after him, and he was about to turn five. Clara was just beginning to blossom into her personality and anyone could tell she was raised with brothers. She turned three a couple of weeks ago and she was a rough and tumble as they came. She could outrun, out-spit, out-hit, and out-yell any boy on the block.

And all while wearing her favorite purple tutu.

“If you guys don’t sit down for breakfast, you’re going to be late for school,” the nanny said.

“I’ve really gotta go get ready,” I said.

“Help me get them settled first,” she said.

“Again, that’s what I pay you to do.”

“They don’t listen to me.”

“Then figure out why they don’t and fix it,” I said.

“I can’t. I’ve tried. For seven months I’ve tried to get them to listen to me and they don’t. They’re wild, unruly, and disobedient. They don’t need a nanny. They need a trainer.”

“Hey. My children are not animals. They’re children. You were aware of the circumstances and their ages when I offered you this position. If you didn’t think you could handle it, then you shouldn’t have accepted the job offer.”

“I couldn't turn down the money, Mr. Maxwell. But I can’t handle this.”

“You took three days off last week going into the weekend to get some rest. And I gave it to you because I get it. But now you’re here and I need you here. I can’t do this without you,” I said.

“We want cereal! We want cereal! We want cereal!”

Nathaniel was chanting at the dinner table while Joshua continued to bounce on the couch. Clara was eating the eggs set in front of her, but I could tell she wasn’t happy about it. I went over to the couch and grabbed Joshua in midair, then threw him over my shoulder and sat him down at the table. I scolded Nathaniel with one look before I looked up at my nanny, hoping she got the picture. I wasn’t restricting her need to punish and tame my children. They were in their wild years.

But for fuck’s sake, she had to at least try.

“I can’t do this,” she said.

“No, no, no,” I said. “Don’t leave.”

“Your children are too much, and I can’t handle them. You don’t need a nanny, Mr. Maxwell.”

“You understood the circumstances coming into this. You signed a contract to work for the next year,” I said.

“Then take me court. Anything’s better than this,” she said. “I’m sorry. But I can’t do this with your children every morning and night.”

“I’ll give you weekends off. I’ll bump up your pay. Please, Michelle. Stay. I need someone here to help me.”