Cinderella: Now with More Money

"You just sit back and relax," my son tells me. "I'm gonna vacuum for you because you work so hard." He sets about getting the vacuum out and plugging it in. He makes a big show about moving his kid-sized recliner to get to every inch, and even goes so far as to pull out the kitchen chairs to vacuum under the table. I snapped a few pictures just to prove it was true and sat back with the remote to channel surf. This is the life, I thought.

He wrapped up all of his hard work, put the vacuum back, and came to the living room to snuggle up next to me on the couch. "You know, Mom...people who do work need to get paid, right? And I just vacuumed the livin' room and under the table. Nobody works for free, you know. I'm gonna need a dollar."

I gave him a speech about how he shouldn't expect to get paid to participate in keeping a clean and healthy house, but honestly, that carpet was dirty and he is only five so I caved and gave him the dollar. He's been offering to vacuum every day this week and I'm running out of dollar bills.