Mad at the Nanny

M the nanny has been with us a year. She's young, energetic and simply awesome with Magnus. She speaks to him in English and Spanish and as a result, whenever he sees the beach or his bathtub, he declares, "Agua!!"

So M the Nanny just revealed that she is knocked up. She is 21 years old. She is Catholic and thus will not consider terminating the pregnancy. The father has hightailed it back to Columbia because he feels there are more opportunities there, plus he misses his mother. (That should have been her first sign.) He also wants nothing to do with the baby and believes M was sleeping around. How convenient that he didn't think that when they were dating! M is nauseous and highly emotional. Today she tells me that she is going to move to Riverside with her brother because she can live rent free and also get away from her mother, with whom she has an acrimonious relationship. But she still wants to commute the hour plus every day to work for us. I politely responded that the pregnancy was affecting her brain. There is simply no way she can deal with being pregnant and that commute for what we pay her.

I know she's pregnant but I want to smack M in the head. Not because I need to re-hire for her position but because I believed she was capable of doing a lot more with her life. She expressed an interest in finishing college and majoring in child development. Now she will be just another single mother trying to scrounge by, forever at the mercy of an employer or a kind family member to help her. Looking at her bums me out beyond words. I wish I could give her a crystal ball to show her the future and how hard life will be. But anything I say will be in vain. This is her path and all we can do is watch her set it on fire. All I can think is loca, loca, loca, loca.