What Was She Seeing?
The security cameras Elaine installed were never intended to capture what she saw or heard. Her perception of Madeline was that she was a sweetheart who would never treat anyone else so cruelly.
However, the facts could no longer be denied. It was reported that seven nannies had resigned in less than seven months, and each of them left due to her daughter's illness.
The Beginning
It seemed as if Elaine's life was perfect. In addition to having two beautiful children with the man of her dreams, she was married to the man of her dreams.
But there was trouble in paradise, and it would turn her world upside down. A path of destruction lay ahead for the couple, and Elaine was doomed to deal with its consequences.
Troublesome Times
It has been three years since Elaine's husband Cody was born, and the life she was used to has changed dramatically. As she and her husband argued more, it appeared they had reached the end of their marriage.
As Elaine's husband requested a divorce, she held onto hope that they could fix things. Her life changed on that night.
A Quick Process
Her husband agreed to divide everything they owned in the divorce, which was swift and peaceful. Children were the only thing he did not want to deal with.
Elaine was given full custody of the two children, and he washed his hands of them as if they were not his. He disappeared a few days later, leaving Elaine with even more problems.
Feeling Lonely
After her ten-year marriage, Elaine found herself alone. To that point, she had been a housewife raising two toddlers as a single mother.
That was no longer going to work. It would be impossible for her and her children to survive without child support and alimony. It would be no easy battle.
Her Pride And Joy
Madeline, Elaine's five-year-old, and Cody, her three-year-old, were her two toddlers. Every person they met was treated with kindness by these sweet kids.
That's what Elaine thought, at least. It wouldn't take her long to discover the truth. To prevent things from getting worse, she would need to take drastic measures.
What Options Did She Have?
The fact that Elaine's children needed to be cared for did not stop her from starting her job search. She only had one job on her resume, and it had been ten years since she had done anything.
After she was rejected by several marketing companies, she was finally given a chance by a new company. The only thing left was to find someone to look after her children.
Seeking Support
Elaine called her parents first thing in the morning. Their grandchildren were their pride and joy, and they made time to see them whenever they could.
Besides calling her sister, she also contacted her mother. In order to protect herself, she wanted to cover all the bases. She got more problems than solutions from the answers she received. She'd have to think of something else quickly.
Not Excitement
Her parents were not up for all that excitement, so they wouldn't be able to care for the toddlers. When something went wrong, they couldn't run after them because there was too much driving involved.
She didn't like kids much, and her sister didn't either. The act of taking care of her niece and nephew on a daily basis pushed her to the limit of her love for them.
What Next?
So Elaine trusted her friends because she had no other option. In order to share the responsibility, she called up a few of the girls.
She hoped the couple of extra heads wouldn't be an issue since many of them had children of their own. Unfortunately, neither of those scenarios came to pass.
Not A Chance
The handful of friends that were single didn’t want to spend their days looking after a couple of toddlers. And the ones that had kids of their own had no intention of dealing with the extra stress.
This put Elaine in a real predicament, especially since she had only so many free days left. If she couldn’t come up with a solution, she would have a whole new set of problems to deal with.
Work Was Starting
The company had given Elaine a month to get her affairs in order, and the deadline was much closer than she would’ve liked.
Two whole weeks had already passed, and she was no closer to finding a solution. But if she didn’t have one by the time she started working, she might end up losing her job.
It Was A Full-Time Job
During the interview, Elaine informed the company that she had two small children. And they made their opinion very clear.
They didn’t want someone part-time, and they weren’t offering half-day positions. So they expected Elaine to be there whether there was a problem at home or not. She wasn’t too fond of the idea, but it was the only offer she had.
Flustered
With one week left, Elaine was starting to feel the pressure. She was no closer to finding someone to look after the children, and that was making her panic.
But there was still one option left. And even though Elaine wasn’t too fond of the idea, it might’ve been her last hope. So she decided to take the chance.
Her Last Hope
Elaine advertised for a nanny. She offered a higher salary than most, with the hope that she would find someone reliable and trustworthy.
But it wasn’t the nanny that she had to be worried about. Her problem was much closer to home, and it would only rear its nasty head once she was out of the house.
Nanny Number 1
After a ton of interviews, a woman came in that instantly captured Elaine’s attention. Her name was Lucy, and she had the look of a woman with a ton of experience.
There was an instant connection between the pair. And Elaine hoped that Lucy would be the woman she was looking for. She had a limited amount of time left, and if this worked, she would be settled.
She Was Perfect
Lucy told Elaine a bit about herself, and her story was impressive. She has worked for multiple families in the five years she’s been in the industry.
And the best part was that she had legitimate references for each of the houses she had worked in. Plus, most of her experience included working with multiple children.
Hired
Impressed, Elaine hired her on the spot. She was supposed to start working the following Monday. It would be Elaine’s first day of work, so it seemed like the perfect day.
Both women were delighted to have come to an agreement. And Elaine could finally let go of the biggest thing that was holding her back from her newfound career.
The First Week
In the first few days, Elaine was incredibly nervous about leaving her children alone with a total stranger. But she quickly realized that things were going incredibly well.
Her son adored the new nanny, and her daughter didn’t have much to say about the change. So she stopped worrying about it. But she was in for a rude awakening.
The Second Week
In the second week, things seemed to be fine, except for the few days when Lucy seemed very happy to be leaving. Elaine found it odd but thought that the nanny might have plans, so she brushed it off.
Up until that point, there were no complaints coming from either side, so Elaine never expected the message she got a few days later.
Her Resignation
On Friday afternoon, Elaine got a message from Lucy stating that she was resigning from her position. She asked Elaine to have her paycheck ready when she got home.
Elaine was shocked beyond belief. There was never an indication that things were leading to this. The message had caught her completely off guard. But she did have one question.
The Reason
Elaine asked Lucy what happened to make her resign. The nanny was very vague with her answer, but she did mention that it had something to do with Madeline.
This confused Elaine even more since her daughter had never caused any problems before. Because of that, Elaine thought it was just an excuse Lucy used to quit.
Nanny Number 2
Not giving it a second thought, Elaine spent the weekend calling up one of the other candidates on her list. She was hoping that Kim was still available and that she’d be willing to start on such short notice.
Luckily, everything worked out as planned, and on Monday, Kim started with her duties as the new nanny.
Two Whole Weeks
It started exactly the same way as it did with Lucy, and it ended the same way too. Kim was there for two whole weeks, and after that, she abruptly resigned.
Concerned with the circumstances, Elaine asked her what had happened. But this time, she was not expecting the response she got. It was something that had her scratching her head.
That Didn’t Last Long
As soon as she asked what happened, the blame was put on Madeline. And Kim was a little ruder about it than Lucy was.
But she still didn’t give any actual details to go on. She just blamed Madeline’s behavior and stopped talking after that. It was very confusing, especially since Elaine had no idea what was happening while she was gone.
Nanny Number 3
But Elaine turned back to her list nonetheless and hired nanny number 3, Ruth. Sadly, things didn’t work out with her either.
It was exactly the same story. She started on Monday, and by the following Friday, she resigned. Once again, Elaine asked about the reason for her departure, and her answer was exactly the same.
Nanny Number 4
Nanny number four, Tina, followed exactly the same route. And at this point, Elaine was starting to get concerned.
She was starting to wonder if there was any truth to what the nannies were saying. But without any details, she couldn’t come to any conclusions. And thus far, all of them refused to tell her exactly what had happened.
Nanny Number 5
When Elaine hired Amy, her nerves were shot. She was looking at her phone every five minutes, dreading the text she was bound to receive in two weeks.
But it didn’t matter how hard she tried or how much she offered them to stay. Every second Friday, she received a text with their resignations and their reasons.
Nanny Number 6
By the time nanny number 6, Daniella, arrived, Elaine was a nervous wreck. All she wanted was to find someone that would last more than two weeks.
But sadly, the same thing happened again. At around lunchtime on Friday, the resignation was waiting. This time, Elaine demanded an explanation, but the girl didn’t want to talk about it.
The Last Straw
That night, Elaine couldn’t sleep. She was so worked up over the whole nanny thing. She was replaying every instance in her mind, trying to find out what on earth was going on.
But she couldn’t come up with any conclusions. None of the nannies wanted to talk, so she had only one option left if she wanted the truth.
Installing Cameras
With the help of her friends, Elaine managed to get enough nanny cams to cover her entire house. This would lead her to the truth. She was sure of it.
But was she ready for what she would see? Or was she just so fed up with nannies that she needed an answer, regardless of what it was?
Nanny Number 7
With her patience hanging by a thread, Elaine hired one more nanny. Paula was an older woman who had children of her own.
Elaine prayed that the motherly instinct the woman showed would be enough for her to push through whatever it was that the other nannies faced. But once again, that wasn’t the case.
The Usual Game
The whole situation played out as it did with Lucy. On Monday morning, Elaine introduced Paula to the children before rushing to work.
At 6 pm, she got home, the older woman was in a fantastic mood as she said her goodbyes, and she left. And when she arrived the next morning, everything was fine.
First Week Was Fine
The entire first week played out that way. But on Friday evening, there was a shift in Paula’s behavior. She looked exhausted, and she couldn’t get out of the house fast enough.
Elaine thought she was just tired since taking care of two toddlers wasn’t the easiest thing. But since she had seen it so many times before, she was starting to worry.
Second Week It Collapsed
By the end of the second week, everything collapsed. There was one difference this time, though. Instead of the texts she had gotten used to, Paula waited for her to come home, and the two of them had a lengthy discussion
What Paula said shocked Elaine to her core. In the past few months, she had thought of every possible reason, but that one.
She Didn’t Want To Believe It
Paula told Elaine that Madeleine was an angel the first week, but after that, she turned into a little terror.
Paula had no idea where she picked up those kinds of insults, but just like everyone else, she wasn’t willing to put up with the way the little girl was treating her. She said the only way she would stay was if Madeline was disciplined properly.
Could It Be True?
Elaine didn’t want to believe what the older woman had to say. But she couldn’t help but wonder if it was true. Could that be why the other nannies left?
She thanked the older woman for her patience but refused her offer. Before she let anyone go through what she heard, she needed to find out if there was any truth to the matter.
There Was Only One Way
What nobody knew was that Elaine had the security cameras installed. She had kept it hidden from the nanny and the children because she needed to see the truth.
And after what she heard, they were her only hope of finding the answers. She would never blame her child for something so awful without evidence at hand.
Reviewing The Footage
After putting the children to bed, Elaine pulled out her laptop and reviewed the footage that had been captured over the last two weeks.
What she saw shocked her to the core. It was so bad that she wanted to accuse the cameras of lying. But there was no way she could deny what she saw.
Shocking Evidence
On the very day Paula resigned, the footage showed her putting Cody to bed for his lunchtime nap. Madeline was jumping around and screaming at the top of her lungs.
Paula tried to calm her down, and that was when the claws came out. She threatened the nanny, and when that didn’t work, she demeaned her.
They Were All Telling The Truth
Elaine couldn’t believe what she was hearing. But she could understand where the nannies were coming from.
If she was being talked to like that, she would resign as well. And even though she wasn’t willing to believe them at the time, she had to admit that they were right. Madeline was the problem, whether Elaine liked it or not.
Her Child Was The Problem
Her daughter would be a total angel the first few days, but after that, her attitude changed. That was why the nannies were so exhausted by the end of the week.
That’s why they didn’t want to address the issue. It was all because of the way Madeline acted and what she said to them when she didn’t get her way.
The Things She Said
So what exactly happened? It all started when Madeline was given an order. When that happened, she threatened to get the nanny fired.
And when that didn’t work, she actually said, “I don’t have to do what you say. I pay you.” It was the most demeaning thing a nanny could ever hear. And for each of them, it was the last straw.
It Was Unbelievable
But they weren’t the only ones who wouldn’t tolerate such behavior. Elaine didn’t raise her daughter that way, and there was no way she was going to let that kind of talk continue.
She would put an end to it, one way or another. Sadly, she was forced to take a route she wasn’t planning on taking.
Talking To Her Daughter
The first thing Elaine did was confront her daughter with the evidence of her behavior. She asked Madeline what was happening with the hope that they could find a peaceful resolution.
But what her daughter said left her speechless. It was also what pushed her to take the drastic action that she ultimately took. There was simply no other way.