Oh, YES, I Did!

Yep, I just took $5 from my kid. I have zero reservations about it either.

A little back story, I do everyone’s laundry. Don’t judge me, yes my kids need to know how to do it but most days it’s just easier if I do it. They put their own laundry away, but I do wash, dry and fold it. In a pinch, they are smart enough to do it themselves and have done it once or twice.

Anyway, my girls play hard. They get dirty and as such, they are stinky. Yes, my kids stink. It’s been so hot and humid, that though rare recently, when they wear socks, those things get ripe. A few months ago I was griping and grumbling about inside out nasty socks and underwear still attached to shorts in the dirty clothes hamper. So The Husband and Little One worked out a deal that if she tosses her clothes in the dirty clothes hamper inside out, she owes me $1 per piece. It was a win for me!

She did really well and was committed when the deal first started. After a few months, I’d occasionally still find inside out stuff but it was rare so I let it go.

Well, last night after taking a shower the Little One came out to the living room wrapped only in a towel and announced in a not-so-pleasant fashion that she was “out of pajamas!” Another little backstory here, the Little One has a wonderful habit of just tossing her dirty clothes wherever she strips them off. Typically the floor of her room is covered with inside out clothes. Just like everyone else in the family, if they expect me to wash their clothes, they need to get said clothes to the dirty clothes hamper. I do not go hunting and gathering for dirty stuff. So often, she waits until I’ve washed everything, THEN she decides to clean her room. This is what happened earlier in the week.

So as she was exclaiming her dissatisfaction with my laundry abilities, I simply told her to find a t-shirt or something and go to bed. Her crisis was not my problem.

This morning as I began sorting the dirty clothes in the hamper to begin the wash, I found plenty of inside out clothes. Not feeling too generous after the attitude last night, I began tracking as I flipped things right side out:

One T-shirt

One pair of shorts WITH the underwear still attached (2 pieces technically)

One purple sock

Two purple socks

One pajama shorts bottom

One pajama tank top

One nightgown

As I counted I shouted from the living room, asking for clarification on the dealio that The Husband and Little One has negotiated. “Was it $1 per piece or $1 per pair, if it’s socks?”

The response from The Husband and Big One, was $1 per piece.

At that I heard little footsteps charging down the hallway, “WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!” she exclaimed.

Now she did clean both bathrooms yesterday, so as she tried justifying why her clothes were all inside out, I decided to cut her a deal and only charge her $5 instead of the $8 it should have been.

We’ll see if this lesson of handing mom the $5 really sticks or I make even more money on the deal.