Don't Tease Nanny

Don’t Tease Nanny

We’ve all known at least one bully from our childhood. We weren’t big enough to fight back at the time, or we didn’t have a champion to protect us. Once in a while, the Universe takes a hand. . .

When one of my brothers was a baby, he nearly died from drinking cow’s milk, which everyone said he had to have. When he was covered from head to toes in eczema, our mother went looking for alternatives. Someone told her babies could drink goat’s milk, so she checked with local farmers.

Successful in her search, Mom brought home a white goat, but we lived in a small town at the time, and there was no pen for the nanny. After tying a long rope around its neck, Mom led the goat across the road to a field, where she pounded a stake into the ground. The rope gave the goat plenty of room to graze, and Mom left her a bucket of water.

Much to everyone’s relief, raw goat’s milk made a huge difference to my brother. His skin cleared up, and he gained weight. The nanny was a life-saver.

A couple of houses down the street lived a ten-year-old kid. Big for his age, Jimmy liked to push other kids around. He was a few years older than we were, so we avoided him — but one day he discovered the goat.

Mom soon noticed he was teasing the nanny. If cows or goats get upset, they won’t milk properly, and enough stress could make them stop producing milk entirely. Since Mother depended on the nanny’s milk to keep her child alive, she scolded Jimmy and told him to leave the goat alone.

But, of course, it was too much fun to poke sticks at a helpless animal while it was tied to a stake. Our mother tried to keep Jimmy away, but it was hard to do while looking after two small children and a baby.

One day she peeked out the door, and there was Jimmy teasing the goat again. By now, the nanny had developed a serious hatred for this obnoxious kid. Mom was about to charge to the goat’s rescue when she noticed the nanny back up all the way to the stake. Then it lowered its head and charged as hard as it could. The goat must’ve had a pretty good idea of what it would take to uproot that stake, because it flew out of the ground like it was jet-propelled and bounced along behind her.

Jimmy, brave soul that he was, screamed and fled through the field, scrambled through the ditch, over the road, and into our house. The enraged goat was inches from his behind. He dashed into the kitchen, scrambled over the table, and scattered chairs as he landed on the floor. The nanny, rope, stake, and all, leaped onto the table with a murderous glare. There was a resounding crash as dishes were scattered on the floor.

Jimmy charged into the closest bedroom and skidded under the bed.

Mom managed to grab the rope to keep the trailing stake from breaking everything in the house as the vengeful nanny charged into the bedroom.

In the ensuing scuffle, Mom wrestled the goat to a halt, but it kept struggling to charge its hated torturer. When she’d gotten the nanny under control, Mom ordered Jimmy out of the house and threatened that if she ever saw him near the goat again, she was going to let it loose.

Jimmy scrambled out the door, and that was the end of him teasing the nanny.

This little event must’ve given Mom great pleasure, as whenever she told this story, she always had a satisfied smile.