Mo' money, mo' problems.

I saw a post online in which a parent asked the other parents how much they pay their kids to handle chores. Was fifty cents too much (or not enough) to pay her kids for unloading the dishwasher, she wanted to know.

First off, emptying the dishwasher is as terrible as folding clothes, so you'd have to pay at LEAST a buck-fiddy.

Second, I'm glad my child isn't old enough yet that we have to grapple with the age-old quandry: to give an allowance or not to give an allowance.

But third, I couldn't help but think back to when I was a kid. Once Elizabeth and I were old enough to stay home alone during the summers, our mother insisted, and rightly so, that we handle certain chores. Alas, we weren't as proactive as she would have liked.

Now, Elizabeth must get credit where it's due. She was never lazy like me. I was 5 still trying to get my mom to dress me while she, at 2, was trying to button her own buttons. We were told to clean the whole bathroom. I'd maybe scrub the toilet while she took care of the shower, counters and sink. Oh, I might jump in and get the mirror, too, but I was always conveniently absent when it was time to start on the tub. Or floors.

But still, my mom decided that since busting our chops every day wasn't an effective motivator, she'd try the one thing that motivates all kids: CASH MONEY, YO.

Or, nearly all kids. What she failed to acknowledge was the depth of my laziness.

Mama drew up a chore chart of things for us to tackle, Monday-Friday. If we handled all our chores, we'd receive some amount of money per week. I forget how much, now. Maybe $5?

At first, sure, I handled a few chores and got a few bucks for my work. But very quickly I decided that, um, I'd rather not have money and NOT do chores.

Mo' money, mo' problems, indeed (if washing dishes is a problem, which is was for 13-year-old Boring me).

Chore chart fail.

Lazy kids watching Nickelodeon all day to you and yours,
xo