I Wonder What Happened to Her
I used to babysit for a very dysfunctional family. Their whole relationship was a nightmare. The mum got knocked up on purpose so the dad wouldn’t leave her, subsequently, the dad hated the mum and resented the child. I know this because they fought about it often, publicly, and in front of the child. When I would arrive the baby would always have a very dirty diaper that had obviously been left like that for many hours.
The baby’s first word was her own name, and then my name. Not mama or dada, her own freaking three-syllable name. One day, the child had no milk or baby food left, and the mom goes to the store and comes back with just a pack of smokes. I asked her why she didn’t get anything for the baby, and her response made me furious: “Well I didn’t have enough for both and I don’t get paid till Friday.”
It was Wednesday, and she was just gonna let the kid go hungry for three days; there was nothing edible in the house. I completely lost it. I don’t think I have ever raged out on somebody so bad in my entire life. I let her have it for a good ten minutes, screaming at the top of my lungs the litany of reasons why she was a failure as a parent and how I was gonna call CPS if things didn’t change.
She burst into tears and took it back and came home with milk so I guess it kinda worked. I ended up making pureed veggies at home and bringing them to the little girl for the rest of the week. They moved away shortly after that and I always wonder what happened to the little girl.