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Tales from the ArcaMax Chef

The Millionaire-Want-A-Be (MWAB) was simply too much for She Who Must Be Obeyed (my wife) and me when it came to avoiding chores. It was like a professional footballer playing with school kids.

Oh I can hear some of you hard-nosed parents out there ... "It wouldn't have been like that if he was my kid" and "What that kid needed was some discipline".

If this is what you think ... then you would be wrong. We tried every kind of discipline imaginable, except water boarding ... and that's only because in the 1980s and 1990s we didn't know what water boarding was.

We tried restrictions: in the yard and house, in the house only, in the room only.

We tried extra chores: menial labor, manual labor, boring stuff, hard stuff.

We tried deprivation: taking away telephone, television, radio, boom box, video games, friends and various combinations of all of the above.

We sent away to applications for boarding schools, military schools, religious schools, to try and convince the MWAB to clean the room ... or else.

The MWAB could absorb it all and still resist doing what he was asked to do in terms of chores. The idea of him doing anything extra around the house was almost unimaginable.

The MWAB was never "in your face" with his slothfulness. It was all very subdued and seemingly accidental. He never intended to take a drink or food up to his room ... he just forgot ... or he felt sick and needed some ginger ale near his bed ... or one of his friends brought the cereal box over with him to visit.

Similarly, the MWAB would never respond to the punishment ... he would just take it ... no yelling or screaming ... not even any pleading or deal making. He would just absorb whatever you did and, eventually, make you feel bad.

He was like the Ghandi of slobs ... peaceful yet brilliant in his slothfulness.

God Bless America.

Enjoy!



This news arrived on: 09/17/2009
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Posted Comments:

09-18-2009 17:56
Ray Jones wrote:

MWAB chores

All 3 of my boys had things to do. The middle one was to take out the trash when the container was full. Trashcan under the sink with a grocery bag in it. Take it out when full! Second bag started by my wife, on the floor. Now it's full, Take it out! Again and again.
Finally, one evening I told him that now there were 2 bags and to Take it out. OK, OK, right after this show.
Of course, it never happened. So, I got up and took both bags into his room, pulled back the covers and spread t he trash/garbage over his sheet, and cover it up with the spread.
Bedtime, and a yell from MWAB, what's this.
I just explained that his job was to take OUT the trash and if not done when the under sink bag was full, I would, but was too lazy to do his job right so his bad was only 20 feet away, THAT was where I would put it every time I found it not taken out!
Never had another problem, trash rarely got full.
They just need an example to stick in their minds.




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