Contractually Obligated

While I love that our boys are both brothers and best friends, we’ve reached the point in parenting where that unbeatable team can turn against us. Last week, they decided to present a united front to advocate for an allowance. What resulted were some pretty unusual agreements… in writing.

Both boys decided to write up their own contract to get paid for chores. In these contracts, they set their terms, tasks, payment proposals, all with formatting and spaces for signatures. The only thing missing was a notary, and now I’m wondering if I can use that detail to get out of the commitment I signed. Little b took composing his contract very seriously, insisting on typing it up on our computer. I even showed him an old work contract so he could get the formatting right.

It reads in part, “My contract is a contract to approve paying for the agreed chores and so I can buy toys and save money for later in my account and so I can not be broke for a long time of the year.” (the “long time of the year” of course being between his birthday and Christmas, when the gift money dries up and he’s forced to wait it out for his next set of legos.)

He sets the expectations in bullet points outlining payment, committing to get his work done before tv or video games, and my favorite point number 3 reads, “So he has an amount of money to use for later life although he intends to stay at the house and be with you and dad.”

Shortly after I signed and Drew and I began discussing payment once per week in cash, little b tapped the paper, reiterating bullet point number 2, which stipulated his payment should be received at the end of each day. Buyer beware.

While his contract read like a binding legal agreement from now until we retire someday, Big B’s read like a sales pitch. His included the benefits of entering the agreement, including “you won’t ever complain, the work will be so good.” After a page of options to select from an array of chores and number of days per week, the final (fourth) page of the agreement outlined discounts offered- including $1.25 off for every hour of tv or video game time.

I knew enough after little b’s contract to do a bit more negotiating, and we entered into an official agreement with our oldest son.

Although I’m excited about the prospect of more chores getting done without my asking, I am still trying to do the math on whether or not this shakes out in my favor. I will say, they both packed their own lunches this morning, little b has been doing the dishes, and Big Bro volunteered to learn how to do laundry. Perhaps you can’t put a price on good help, even if it’s contractually obligated.