Boss Yourself
Like most big sisters, Hannah was a bit bossy.
“Ronald, don’t put your shoes on the couch,” she told her brother. “And stop being so noisy. Mom has a headache!”
Ronald slid his feet to the floor, but his car still roared along the back of the couch.
Hannah was about to scold him when Papa called from the kitchen. “Time for chores!”
“It’s your turn to wash dishes,” Hannah told Ronald. “I washed them yesterday.”
Ronald didn’t move. Hannah was about to poke him when Papa called again. “Hannah! Ronald!” So they both had to go.
“There are a lot of dishes, so Becca and I will wash,” Papa said, setting little sister on a chair. “Ronald will rinse and Hannah can dry and put things away. Let’s see how fast we can get them done!”
“I don’t like to rinse,” Ronald muttered, as the sink began to fill with soapy dishes. He slowly swished his hand in the water and pulled out a plate.
“Ronald isn’t working very fast!” Hannah complained.
“How about you?” Papa asked. “Are you being a cheerful worker?”
“Well, I don’t have much to do,” Hannah said, watching her brother slowly put the dishes in the draining rack. “Ronald, hurry up,” she said. “You are taking too long.”
“I think you’d better boss yourself,” said Papa.
Hannah looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” said Papa, “it starts by paying attention to what you have to do. If I have a job to do, then I tell myself, ‘See that work to be done? Don’t sit around and feel grouchy about it. Get working and do your best!’ ”
Hannah picked up a wet dish and rubbed it ’round and ’round with her cloth. She didn’t say anything for a moment, and Papa smiled at her. “Since you are so good at noticing what should be done, it shouldn’t be hard to boss yourself!”
“I guess,” Hannah said slowly. But then she added, “Becca isn’t supposed to wash the glasses, is she?”
“I got it clean!” Becca said, lifting a soapy cup in both hands.
“Thanks,” Papa said, taking it quickly. He handed her a scrubbie. “Now see if you can get this pan all clean.” Becca scrubbed eagerly and Papa praised her. “What a good worker you are!”
Ronald sighed loudly. “I feel tired! There are too many dishes!”
“Then it is time to exercise your muscles,” Papa said cheerfully. “See how fast you can rinse fifteen more things. Then you can have a turn drying.”
“But I’m drying,” Hannah said with a frown.
“It will be your turn to rinse. Then you can show us how fast you are! It is always better to show others how to do good jobs than just tell them.”
Ronald began rinsing dishes quickly, but Hannah pressed her lips together.
“Hmmm, I see someone using their arm muscles,” Papa said. He raised his eyebrows and peered around the room. “But I wonder who is exercising their smile muscles?” Ronald grinned, and the corners of Hannah’s mouth twitched.
“I have smile muscles!” Becca announced, as she squeezed a pile of bubbles out of her sponge. Hannah and Ronald laughed.
“Good!” said Papa, with a wink. “And I’m glad to see some people using them. It always makes the work go better when we have a good attitude about it.” He began to whistle a cheerful tune and Ronald joined in. Soon the kitchen sounded like it was filled with birds as the dishes clinked and clattered.
“I think I even work faster when I don’t talk,” Hannah said suddenly, lifting a stack of plates into the cupboard.
“That’s probably true,” Papa agreed.
“It’s my turn to dry now!” Ronald announced.
“Don’t drop that pot,” Hannah warned, handing her brother the dry towel.
“Are you bossing yourself?” Papa reminded her.
“Well, I don’t want Ronald to hurt his foot or something.”
“That’s true,” Papa said, “but I think he could figure that out himself. You don’t want to be his brain, do you?”
Hannah giggled. “I guess that would be bad, cause then he wouldn’t have his own brain!”
“That’s right,” Papa agreed. “We each need our own brain, and we each need to use it to do our own work.”
“Well, I’m going to fill up this dish drainer really fast,” Hannah announced.
“Good,” Papa said. “It’s great to work with people who are bossing themselves.”
“Won’t Mama be surprised when she sees that the kitchen is clean?” Hannah asked. “Maybe Ron—I mean, maybe I should sweep the floor, too!”
“I can wash off the table,” Ronald offered.
“And Mama will like some flowers,” Becca said, reaching for a little jar of marigolds on the window sill. “It will look pretty on the table.”
“Be careful not—” began Hannah, then she smiled. “That’s a good idea, Becca!”
“Maybe I will plan a surprise for all my big helpers,” said Papa, as he dried his hands.
“What is it?” chorused the children.
“I’ll go out to the garage to get it ready,” said Papa, “if you can all boss yourselves and finish up quickly.”
“I can!” said Hannah, grabbing the broom.
“I can,” said Ronald, drying the last pan as fast as he could.
“Me, too!” said Becca. She carefully set the flowers on the table and ran after Papa. “I want to help you!”
In less than ten minutes the kitchen was clean and the surprise was ready. Ronald and Hannah hurried outside to find their bicycles all lined up in the driveway. “We are going on a bike ride!” squealed Becca, as Papa buckled on her helmet.
“Yipee!” said the others, as they dashed to get ready.
“It’s a good reward for bossing yourselves,” said Papa. “Ready to stick together and be a team?”
“And use our own brains?” added Hannah.
“Right!” said Papa with a grin. “Helmets on, ready, steady, go!”