We Should Get Paid

Yesterday morning, my eight year old was being a busy bee and completing his chores. He’s always excited about viewing his list of chores each morning. I guess this is an age eight benefit because my ten year old finds no joy in his list of things to do. Well, as he removed the sofa cushions to vacuum the overflowing dust bunnies and find leftover popcorn, lost pencils, and pennies, he says to me, “Mama, we should get paid for the work we do because we do more than you.” At that moment I felt guilty as I sat on my butt typing and looking at him with the vacuum in his hand...the guilt lasted an incredibly brief moment. I forgot I was an adult speaking to a child and quickly went down the list of things I do with a frown on my face. “Do I get paid for cooking your breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Do I get paid for washing your nasty underwear? Do I get paid for anything I do around here?” I quickly snapped back into an adult/child dialogue and lowered my tone and my blood pressure and kindly said, “Sweetie, don’t ask to be rewarded for things you do. We all live here and have to help keep the house clean. God sees you and he will bless you.” I went back to my typing, yet in my mind, I continued to add to the list of things I do without pay and was dumbfounded by his audacity to make such a crazy comment. He was only verbally expressing what I sometimes think. I guess I should take a dose of my own medicine huh?