Negotiations

I was reading a post about a friend and her son who has learned how to negotiate and it reminded me of a conversation I had with my mom a while back. We were carpooling to work one morning and I was talking about my daughter wanting to earn money. She wanted a “job”.  So, I gave her one. Do my laundry, wash, hang, take down, fold and put away for $20 a week. She agreed.  Well the first few weeks were good. She did the laundry and put it away. After about three weeks, she started lagging and spending her time at the beach and what not. Therefore, my laundry was not being done.  In regards to payment, I was paying her when I had cash. OR, we’d go out shopping and I would deduct her purchases from what I owed her.

Now, that morning on the way to work, I was complaining to my mom about her slacking off and not fulfilling her duties.

Mom: Well, hell! You only paying her so cheap! How many hours is that? Wash, HANG, TAKE DOWN, fold and put it away. You so CHEAP! Pay her more! And more worse, you not paying her every week.

Me: Mom, she did not argue about the rate at the time we agreed to this contract. She gladly accepted it. And just like with government contracts, I pay in arrears. I will not pay until the full month of work is completed!  If she has problems with the agreement, then she needs to say something to reneg the contract.

Mom: OH MY GOD! ARE YOU FREAKIN SERIOUS! ? MY GOD YOUR POOR KIDS!

Me: Mom, they gotta learn! It’s my job. It’s work. I cannot help I think like that!

It was at that point that we were both laughing so hard, I couldn’t drive.

Yes, I’m mental. I’m crazy. But hopefully, that experience, helped teach my daughter a little bit of something that can push her up in the real world.