Lucy was overly excited when their next door neighbor, Mrs. Carpenter, asked her to babysit her kids. She knew the kids are naughty, but she found that job challenging and was happy to do it. On top of that, she was promised to be paid $11 an hour and she could finally take that art course she was saving for.
So, after five days of babysitting, having toys thrown at her, and losing a lot of nerves with the little ones, Lucy was anticipating to have the money she was promised for the job well done.
However, Mrs. Carpenter refused to pay her a dime. She said Lucy should have had the agreement about the job in writing and that she taught her a life lesson.
Disappointed, she headed home as tears rolled down her face. When she entered the house, she told her mom that the neighbor refused to pay her. Her mom’s heart broke into a million pieces. Her daughter was enthusiastic about the babysitting and now that enthusiasm was wiped out by the rude neighbor.
In order to calm her down, her mom gave her $200. Lucy didn’t want to accept the money, saying it wasn’t her mom that needed to pay her but Mrs. Carpenter. But her mom urged her to take the money because she deserved it and promised to handle the issue with the neighbor.
The following morning, Lucy’s mom knocked on Mrs. Carpenter’s door. She tried to hide her anger by forcing a smile on her face. “Hi, neighbor” she said. Mrs. Carpenter was stunned to see Lucy’s mom at her door. “What brings you here?” she asked. Lucy’s mom, still smiling, said, “Well, I wanted to thank you for teaching my daughter a lesson.”
“Thank me?” Mrs. Carpenter asked. “Yes, about contracts and trust,” the mom continued. “It’s so important for kids to learn about that.”
Mrs. Carpenter sighed in relief. “Well, I’m glad you understand, because some parents wouldn’t,” she said.
“Like those in the mom’s group on Facebook?” the mom asked. “What moms, what group?” Mrs. Carpenter was puzzled.
Lucy’s mom then told her that she shared what had happened on the group where all the mom’s from the neighborhood were. She explained that Lucy babysat the kids but wasn’t paid anything.
Mrs. Carpenter was shocked. “But what do they say?” she asked as her face went pale.
“Here, take a look. Melissa said it’s disgraceful, and Janet from the PTA? She’s thinking of bringing it up at the next meeting. Apparently, it doesn’t reflect well on our community,” the mom said. “Most of the moms seem to be upset with your act,” she added.
Mrs. Carpenter couldn’t believe the comments. She asked from Lucy’s mom to take the post down and promised to pay Lucy what she owed her.
Lucy’s mom said, “Perhaps next time, you’ll reconsider before giving someone else’s child a ‘life lesson,’ because some mothers don’t hold back.”
That afternoon, Lucy came home with a huge smile on her face and an envelope in her hand. “Look, mom. Mrs. Carpenter called me and gave me my money. She said it was all a misunderstanding and apologized for making me cry.”
Lucy’s mom was glad an injustice had been righted.