I arranged a month-long leisure trip for my mother-in-law and her friends, and they set off the next day.
She explained all the household chores to Emma, who quickly adapted and worked hard.
By the end of the afternoon, the house was tidy, and the dining table was set with six dishes and a soup, looking delicious.
Nina, ever the enthusiastic cheerleader, exclaimed, "Auntie Emma's food looks so fragrant!"
For a moment, I thought we had made the right choice with this nanny.
But what happened next left us all dumbfounded.
As we sat at the dinner table, nobody had touched their chopsticks when James suddenly grabbed a handful of corn nuts and stuffed them into his mouth.
Then, he plunged his dirty hand into the rib soup, fishing out goji berries one by one.
Throughout this, Emma merely gave her son a token admonition, continuing to watch him affectionately.
We were all too embarrassed to say anything, but Jeremy slammed the table. "Emma, how are you raising this child? This is such bad behavior; he's going to suffer for it later!"
Emma finally looked a bit awkward. "James has been spoiled by his grandparents. I can't control him; he was quite well-behaved in kindergarten back in town, but now, there's just no discipline."
Jeremy looked disgusted. "I'll find him a kindergarten soon, and in the meantime, I'll take some time after work each day to teach him properly; this is unacceptable!"
From that day on, Jeremy's first action upon coming home was no longer to kiss and hug Nina or read storybooks with her.
Instead, he took out the early childhood education materials and behavioral habit books he had meticulously prepared during the day to teach James.
But this child was simply not bright; even simple knowledge had to be repeated many times before he grasped it.
Our home, which used to be filled with laughter and joy, was now replaced by Jeremy's harsh reprimands aimed at James.
Emma kept bustling in and out of the study, busy with chores.
If I assigned her anything, she would ignore me, focusing entirely on Jeremy and James.
One moment she'd be serving tea, the next bringing fruit, happily attending to the two of them.
It seemed like they were a family of three.
Back in my room, I tried hard to lift my spirits and cheer Nina up, hoping she wouldn't be affected by the earlier events.
She played and cried today and was very tired, quickly drifting off to sleep.