Trying to be helpful, I generously offered these children the opportunity to come work at Auntie's to earn some summer spending money. Here's how the initial conversation went:
Me: Want to earn some money pulling weeds at Auntie's?
Them: How much?
Me: oh, maybe 10-15 dollars for weeds
Them: How about a dollar for every weed pulled?
Me: Auntie just remembered she has other plans.
Them: Just kidding. How about $20?
Me: (checking bank statement) - uh, ok.
Them: That's $20 a piece, Auntie. In cash. No checks.
I mean really! $20??? A piece??? Why, when I was a young lass, (cue violins) we pulled weeds for nothing! And we liked it! Anyway...they show up, dressed for a day at the beach, and have to borrow clothes and boots from me! And of course we can't go outside at first, since it was TOO COLD (for them), so I have to sacrifice my house to their cleaning "skills":
Here they are cleaning my tub/shower:
Finally, it was warm enough for the child laborers to head outside for weed pulling duty:
Here's a sampling of what I heard during the first 15 minutes:"I'm dizzy - grandma told me to sit down if I am dizzy"
"How many weeds do I really have to pull?"
"I'm allergic to weeds, by the way"
"Have I earned my $20 yet?"
"Can we have a break?"
"When is lunch?"
Despite all the colorful commentary, they did actually do a great job pulling the weeds, as the photos attest:
So I treated them to some lunch:
Then I kicked them back outside for another 20 minutes of hard labor:
Finally, after a couple of back breaking, tween sweating, never ending hours of work, they were done:
They couldn't wait to get to the mall to throw away, I mean spend, their hard earned money. Before we left, I managed to corral them into taking a few photos:
Please note how "tired" and "overworked" they appear. Next week, the boys want a chance to earn some dough, so I had better start saving my nickels!
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