The main problem is that I don’t like the family I work for. My first instinct is to say that I don’t like the children, but that’s not really fair. At five and seven years old, kids are still like dogs in that they can’t really be blamed for their own bad behavior. Who I really can’t stand are the parents who are doing a really half-assed job of teaching their kids basic manners: Saying please and thank you. Not yelling and throwing tantrums over minor things like the waitress bringing your sprite out two minutes later and in a different glass than your brother’s.
And they’re not even trying to teach their children to be grateful for what they have or cognizant of the people who clean up after them. I will die of shock the first time I see Sophie or Robin put their own toys away or stop and say, “Let’s not play with this right now because it just creates more of a mess for Aga and Rose, who work hard enough already.” Or the first time we go to a restaurant and Axel doesn’t bitch at the waiter because his wiener schnitzel isn’t coming out fast enough. Or the first time Gabi and Axel share a pot of tea instead of making two separate ones, thus leaving me with fewer dishes to wash...
Last weekend we were in a hotel in the mountains, and two things became clear to me: as awful as the children are, they aren’t any better behaved with their parents than they are with me. Therefore, it’s probably unrealistic of me to think I can bribe or discipline them into being any less terrible. I also realized that Gabi and Axel don’t get along very well and their marriage doesn’t seem to be a happy one. In the month that I’ve been here I don’t think they’ve spent more than one interrupted hour awake and in the same room before last weekend, and it’s because they bicker constantly…I guess if I can’t change jobs, I can just gossip a lot to make myself feel a little better.
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