little jakie knoivs mrs. shaw is not mother and on more than one occasion mrs. greta shaw herself has told him she is not mother ( `` i hope you know i 'm not your mother , 'bama , `` she says , giving him a plate and on the plate is a peanut butter , bacon , and banana sandwich with the crusts cut off as only greta shaw knoivs how to cut them off , `` because that is not in my job description '' ( and jakie-only he 's 'bama here , he 's 'bama between them-does n't know exactly how to tell her he knows that , knows that , knows that , but he 'ii make do with her until the real thing comes along or until he grows old enough to get over his fear of the deathfly ) and jakie says do n't worry , i 'm okay , but he is still glad mrs. shaw agrees to stay instead of the latest au pair who wears short skirts and is ahoays playing with her hair and her lipstick and does n't care jackshit about him and does n't know that in his secret heart he is `` bama , and boy that little daisy mae ( which is what his father calls all the au pairs ) is stupid stupid stupid .