NFTN #4

After that first night of collecting fireflies and lightening bugs, I was awakened at about 5 a.m. the next morning. Christie and Phillip ran into my bedroom and started talking all at once. I was so tired! and jet-lagged! I think the only unsympathetic thing I did while there, was, after this happened a couple days in a row, I locked the door. I didn't start work until 7 a.m. and needed my rest to be effective. I think the parents didn't like it, because then the kids were back in THEIR bedroom.

For the first weeks I was at the house in Bedminster with the children. We were all going to the Shore after that, for the summer. It was dreadfully hot in Bedminster, muggly mainly, and I looked forward to being near water. While at the house, I explored the grounds with the children, and learned about the neighbors and the rest of the Thebault staff. I met Maritza, the housekeeper from Venezuela; Jack, the caretaker; Freddy, the gardner and Maritza's husband; and then there was another family (Jack's family?) and there was at least one boy, Phillip's age or a little older, that Phillip played with. Maritza and Freddy had their own guesthouse and then there was Jack's pad.

There were about 150 acres of "farmland", and Lisa named their property, "River Run Farm". A River Runs Through It" was a popular movie in that household, and, inspired, Brian got deep-water boots and did some fly-fishing in his creek, okay...river.

The house was a little over 5,000 sq. feet and was built in the 1920s if I'm correct. I was told it had formerly belonged to the McGraw (McGraw Publishing) family and was a wedding gift to their daughter. There was a large English garden and a pet cemetary, with tombstones for deceased pets. The house I liked, it was sort of a Nancy Drew type of place, with hidden stairwells behind bookcases, secret passages, and hidden vaults. There was a huge old iron elevator as well (what everyone needs!). The Thebaults had purchased the house before I arrived, and Lisa set about hiring a personal interior designer. Much of her time away from the house and children was spent in New York looking at wallpaper, and carpeting, and some of these things (samples) were brought to the house.

I don't think the Thebault's had been there very long because on the 2nd or 3rd night I was there, a large bat flew up from the basement, and into a room off of the kitchen (sort of a family room where the T.V. was). "A BAT!" Brian yelled. Lisa screamed and gathered her children, covering her head. The bat was circling around, and I stood to the side, watching Brian with a rolled up newspaper, exclaim, "I'll call Jack to get it out!" So, he called Jack up at about 9 or 10 at night, to catch the bat. Like Jack is a bat-catching expert and could do a better job than Brian. But it was clear that Brian wasn't used to this sort of thing. The bat was caught. Lisa seemed to think it was exciting--she was breathless and laughing. It probably WAS the most exciting thing that had happened in awhile there.

From the house, I took walks onto the patio, through the garden, and down a trail into the woods with Phillip. Christie tagged along, but if her mother was ever home, Christie liked to stay with her mother. I spent more time with Lauren and Phillip than Christie, probably. I took Lauren on stroller rides out on the gravel road outside the property. Once, I saw the most ridiculous thing--an entire group of equestrians decked out in "hunting gear". Fox-hunting was a popular sport in Bedminster. I didn't even know it was legal. But when I say hunting gear, I do not mean proper riding boots. I mean, shirts with ruffled necks, and hats with feathers, and tailored jackets, jodphers (msp. I'm sure)...One woman was actually wearing a full-length skirt and riding side-saddle. It was bizarre. Where was the costume party? But these people were dead serious. It's not that I don't know what English riding gear looks like--my mother had horse magazines and owned some gear herself. I'd been to horse shows. My family even lived in a very "horse-country" part of Oregon, where there were many barns, horse shows, and every neighbor had a bunch of horses. But these outfits were something from the 19th century, with frills and lace, and one woman even looked like she was wearing a corset (the one riding side-saddle). Not to mention, if this was for their little private party "fox hunt" who was going to see them? Perhaps they felt it made such a cruel and gruesome sport appear civilized.

The children didn't have horses at that time and Lisa and Brian didn't ride either. I do think they went to a fox hunt though, so maybe they rode on occasion. I never saw them get ready for it if they did.

Maritza thought the costumes were ridiculous as well. She told me Lisa had asked her to wear a black and white maid's uniform and she had refused. "Can you beleeeve it?" She said in her Spanish accent, "These people are unbelievable!!" Maritza said "unbelievable" often when she speaking about the Thebault's. I couldn't understand why they wanted her to wear a uniform because no one was hardly ever there to visit and see her. As far as I could tell, she was an excellent housekeeper. She told me she and Freddy were told not to tell people how they were paid, but because Martiza and Freddy were illegal immigrants with no papers, and for whatever reason, instead of just paying them under-the-table, he put them on his busines bill and gave them a check. Maritza said he had them appear to be employees for his business. I don't know why exactly. Sometime after I left, Maritza became pregnant. She and Freddy had been trying to have kids for years. Over 7 years. Finally, when she told Lisa, Lisa fired her, telling her, "I can't have a pregnant woman in my house." That was the only reason she gave. Maritza said at first Lisa just made her work harder and longer hours after she found out, and then she fired her outright. Because Maritza and Freddy were illegals, they were subjected to a lot of abuse or exploitation because, as it is with most illegals, if you don't do what the employer asks, they threaten to turn you in and deport you, or fire you at an inopportune time.

Maritza had known the German au pair that was before me and told me about her and what the German nanny thought about the family. I know Phillip adored her. Phillip had an initial crush on me (his parents and their friends commented on it) and the children were perfect angels for the first couple weeks and then the honeymoon was over.

I can say sincerely, that every child I was ever a nanny for, I cared about and loved. I wasn't with the Thebaults very long, but when you're with someone every minute, you get to know them fast. Lauren was a little too young to talk with, but she was adorable. Christie was spunky and "the boss", and even the lifeguards would comment on how beautiful she was going to be, and Phillip was the one I got to know the best, through conversations, and thinking about him still touches me. Phillip was a sensitive boy who loved nature, loved the water, wanted to be like any other kid (and wanted to wear comic T-shirts instead of the polo shirts his mother made him wear), and he loved his father. For some reason, I can't remember how he addressed Lisa (maybe "mom"?) but I still remember exactly how his voice sounded when he said, "Daddy".

I asked Lisa if she thought her kids took after them and she said Phillip was like her and Christie was like Brian. Phillip and Christie were so different in appearance too. Phillip had big brown eyes, shiny brown hair (bowl-cut then), and was dark with a tan, and Christie had flaxen blond hair, blue eyes (? I think), and, Kevin and Ken (the lifeguards) commented, "long legs".

When we went to the Shore, Maritza was asked to come along. Freddy had to stay home for 3 months without Maritza, and they couldn't see eachother. Maritza wasn't allowed to drive but I was, so I took Maritza out on the weekends so she didn't have to sit at home alone when she was off. That is, until Lisa told me I couldn't take Maritza out with me. I asked why and she told me she didn't want her help to socialize together. She also forbade us to even speak to eachother.

I learned what people thought about Lisa while we were at the Shore. Sometimes, I even felt defensive of Lisa after hearing what was being said. Lifeguards talked, other nannies told me what their employers (friends of the Thebault's) said, and women sitting around at the Shore, under their umbrellas with their pink lipstick, 3 carat diamond rings and earrings, and a trashy novel or last NYT bestseller, talked about Lisa when she wasn't there. The cattiness of the "upper-class" is something to see. I had thought soap operas on television were a big joke until I worked for the Thebaults. Soap operas actually imitate life, as it is, in Far Hills and Bedminster, NJ. On one side of the Shore, you had the Jersey girl--and on the other side--the Jezebels.

What was said behind Lisa's back up on next NFTN.