Emerging Dimplomat

My mother sent me the following e-mail yesterday. Apparently I wrote her this note of negotiation regarding our chores when I was eight. I will admit that of my childhood sins, bossiness soared high at the top.

I found the note this morning when I was over helping my dad. I sat down to read a book that I had given him on Father’s Day of 2004. In between the pages there was a note from you, written to me. Why it ended up in that book is a mystery… he had never seen it or read it. It reads as follows…

1. You are the mom.

2. We do not think like you do.

3. We cannot just stop and think “what needs to be done?”

4. If we did this, our house would fall apart because Hannah would scrub the toilet every day (ok, give me lenience, logic doesn’t quite begin to develop till 8th grade).

5. We cannot because you would never say stop working, so we’d be working forever.

6. It’s not that anyone has a big problem with working, but it’s never going to end…no one wants to get started.

7. The way to solve it–we know we’re supposed to take care of ourselves and our rooms.

8.  I can make sure H & P and I do that.

9. Then give us each a few “extra chores” like dusting and vacuuming, pick up garage or whatever…

10. Be reasonable, not everything has to be done today.

11. Assign the chores that are the most important.

(It seems that I skipped 12…)

13. Someday we will have your job and you can retire, not yet though… responsibility will grow as we’re older (this is promising).

14. We will be much more motivated if we can see the light in the end of that tunnel.

      P.S. I’m not writing this angrily