My Somewhat Small Summer Employees

My summer work force
Originally uploaded by Beth.

Sometimes you just need to get a job done.

After having the deck built, we had a huge pile of scrap wood that needed to be moved. I told my kids I would pay them a nickel for every piece of wood they carried from this wood pile to the garage. Some were big, some were little: I still paid a nickel for each.

I know, the phase coming into your mind is, “Slave labor.” Okay, so the entire pile cost me just under $20—I still think they made out pretty good.

For someone who’s favorite saying is, “The Bible says if you don’t work you don’t eat,” my kids think they got a pretty good deal. It actually should have cost less. I thought Jonathan and Cole, though they didn’t carry as much as Ashley, certainly worked just as hard—and the heat around here as been next to ridiculous! So I matched Ashley’s earnings and they each pocketed $6.50—which they each promptly gave to Walmart in exchange for various treasures.

What I think is really amazing is that Cole didn’t “know” any better about the small pieces having the same return. He carried some really large pieces and seemed to actually enjoy manual labor.

Now, if only they were big enough to remove tree stumps!