“What is this?” Each of the kids questioned, while staring at the omelet in front of them.
“It's called an omelet. It's made out of eggs and milk.” Lisa explained. Each of the children poked at the omelet on the plate. Nick didn't bother with this, he just pushed his plate aside.
“I want granola,” he demanded.
“Or banana pancakes,” Nataly chimed in.
“Just give it a try, you might like it.” Lisa tried to reason with them.
“The farmer does not eat what he does not know,” Clara explained.
Lisa sighed, removing the plates from the table. Lisa was disappointed that the children wouldn't even try her omelets. She had spent so much time getting the shape right. It was all for nothing. Clara added in that the children only ate French fries with schnitzel. She said everything else was a long shot.
Lisa had wasted good cooking on them, too much food for nothing.
The host parents were rather upset when the children ignored a pair of dishes Lisa has cooked. These were dishes that Lisa herself ate in her home country. Lisa thought it was nice that the parents sympathized with the work she had put into the meal. But it turned out they were upset for a completely different reason. She learned this the hard way.
It happened when she decided to cook with the children. She wanted to make them something they would actually enjoy. So, they all decided on a nice dessert.
The children helped her put the dessert together. She used the milk from the kitchen, a pudding-bag, and one of the pots that was stored in the cupboards. They children helped her stir while she was making the pudding. Then, they helped her put the pudding into single serving cups. Lisa was very proud. She was excited to show the host parents what she had done for them.
The parents came home a little late that night. They had a long day in their medical office. They were noticeably tired and worn out. Lisa thought this would be an especially nice treat.
“What have you done here?” Clara asked, seeming surprised.
“We cooked a nice dessert for everyone,” Lisa explained.
“Who gave you permission to go to the shelves and use our food?” Clara yelled at her. Lisa didn't know how to reply. She was under the impression she was a member of the family. That was what Clara said when she first agreed to come live here.
“Please don't go in the cupboards or on the shelves without permission again. Or anything else for that matter. Ask permission before you do or use anything. Before you want to cook something, ask us. We will let you know if it's necessary and what you are able to cook,” Clara continued. She took the volume of her voice down as she spoke. But, there was a sharp feeling to every word. Clara wanted it clear that although she told Lisa she was a part of the family, she wasn't.
"I'm sorry, that was the last time," Lisa apologized.
In Lisa's experience, family members were allowed to cook without permission. Especially when they were making a nice meal for everyone. She was wrong again.
6
Lisa's job was primarily looking after the two-year-old toddler, Luca. She knew that children in this age range were in their exploratory phase. They wanted to wander around all the time. They wanted to explore everything. They wanted to touch everything. This child in particular was confined to a room. Lisa would play with the baby in the labyrinth. She played with a toy kitchen that the baby had. She built puzzles. She played for hours and hours and hours.
The baby was never tired. Lisa was busy all the time. She was always playing something with one of the children. Or she was exploring the unknown world with the baby. Every day she had to rediscover the whole world with the baby. But, she was confined to the labyrinth and toys in the baby‘s room.
Once, her host family went to a folk festival. They left the toddler at home with Lisa. The parents knew that the baby would cry the whole time if they brought him alone. So, Lisa stayed home alone in the giant house with the baby. They were essentially locked in a small room. They played for hours and hours that day. It must have been five or six. They were playing with the little plastic kitchen, pretending that they were cooks.
“B-butter, bre-ead, honey,” the toddler tried to pronounce the words. “Bre-ead, b-butter, “ he repeated. These were the only words the baby could say. Lisa listened to him attempt to say these words every single day, eight hours a day.
Around the sixth hour, Lisa realized she had to pee. The baby had taken off to sit in the corner and play with a puzzle. Lisa thought about what she was going to do.
“Do I take the baby with me?” she asked herself out loud. She watched him playing with the puzzle.
“No. He isn't my child.” She figured he would be fine while she quickly ran to the bathroom. At the moment, the child was busy with the puzzle and ignored Lisa. Lisa thought that theoretically nothing bad could happen if she left the toddler alone for a very short time.
“Okay,” Lisa thought, “I have only thirty seconds to run to the bathroom and come back.”
Two minutes later, Lisa came back. The child was still busy with the puzzle. They played until evening.
At dinner, Lisa was informed that Luca had broken the TV.
“You are guilty for this, Lisa. You shouldn't have left the baby alone,” the host parents yelled. Lisa felt bad enough without the parents yelling at her. She didn't mean to let the baby wander off. She didn't think anything was going to happen while she was gone for a few minutes.
“The baby probably saw the remote control and pressed it very hard. One must never leave the kids alone,”Lisa thought.
“I was with the child every second. I only left to pee,” she explained herself.
“It doesn't matter. It's your job to take care of the child. You're doing a bad job taking care of him, obviously,” Nick yelled at her. Lisa didn't bother responding to the child.
“Did you think about what would happen while you were gone?” the parents continued.
“Babies put their fingers into an electrical sockets, Lisa,” Nick yelled in the background.
Lisa shook her head again. She wasn't a mother. She didn't know that leaving a toddler alone for three minutes would give them enough time to hurt themselves.
“Now we have to pay for the repair. Or, maybe you should have to pay since it happened on your watch,” they continued.
“Children, Lisa is only human and not a robot. Sometimes she has to visit the bathroom,” the grandmother said, trying to protect her.
Lisa sighed. She had to pee. She was only human, after all. Maybe they wanted her to be a robot. Or, to wear a diaper for seven hours so she wouldn't leave the baby to use the washroom. Lisa was so inexperienced that she could not imagine that if she left the child alone for only some minutes, he would instantly do something bad.