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Wednesday, November 23, 2005

A Bribe From Nana

So my mom is over here working on her laundry right now. She had loaded the washer and come down, with a triumphant smile on her face.

"Let's see if this deal works!" she says, her grin so wide it's freaking me out.

"What deal?" I ask, already wary. My mom is sneaky sometimes.

"I told Emily that if she cleans up her room in the next 2 hours, puts everything in its place, and not just sweep it under the beds, I'd give her $5 bucks."

"What?! Way to go mom, you've bribed her," I say with a groan.

"This isn't the first time money's solved a problem," she says a giggle in her voice.

"WHAT??? You NEVER paid me to clean my room! Not once!"

"Yes I did! It always worked, too!"

"Bullshit, I'd have remembered something like that!"

"I'm telling you, Cissa. I used to do the same thing with you." She then walks away to sit on the couch and bask in her glory of one-upping me.

Now, I pride myself on having very vivid memories of childhood. I don't remeber EVERYTHING of course, but I remember a lot of stuff. For example: I remember the time she actually handed me a screwdriver (the drink) at 16, because I was having a very, very, very rough day emotionally and socially. She would actually refill the liquor cabinet when the vodka was gone. She had to have known she wasn't drinking it all. But there was ALWAYS vodka to make my screwdrivers. It's how I survived 11th grade. THAT I remember.

I remember how she used to take me to my favorite Chinese Restaurant in Providence, once a month. Just the 2 of us. It was my favorite thing to do with my mom. Eat chinese and window shop Downtown. I recall the restaurant with absolute clarity. We used both order the same thign every time. Boneless chicken. It came with AWESOME fried rice, and this gravy they used-- to die for. The rolls were awesome too. god I wish that place hadn't closed....I have never found a place since then that has compared to it.

I remember toast and tea in the morning in the winter for breakfast. Every morning at 6:30 she would wake me up, and by the time I was up and dressed, she was bringing breakfast to me. Every Thanksgiving, or rather the day after, we would drag out the fake tree, and put it up. Decortae it, lights, everything. It was tradition, and she'd always complain about the lights that blew out, and we'd hunt down the offending bulb together.

But I do not recall her EVER paying me to clean my room. I lived in that room for 13 years. If it ever happened, I know I would remember it. I rememebr cleaning my room, and most of the time moving furniture around for a change of scenery in the room. I remember it would take me a whole day and half the night, but I never stopped til it was done. I remember all that. But not once did I recieve monetary compesation for my work.

Hubby has just come home for his lunch break. I had Mom tell him why Emily is cleaning. She just said, her smirk plastered accros her face

"It's a Grandmother's perrogative to bribe my grandchild."

Ohhhh, Mom...You are a sneaky lady! Sneaky and brillant. I salute you!

1 flame(s) added to the fire:

jeopardygirl said...

Kaity is too young to understand the concept, but perhaps this is something you could put into regular practise with Emily. Or you could give her the speech about how everyone has to help out around the house so it's a nice place to live. My mom used that one on me, and it worked.