Nine-year-old Alyosha came home from school in a good mood, and after waiting for his parents to return from work, he declared:
— Mom, Dad, starting today, I will only do the household chores if you pay me for it!
— Who put that idea in your head? — asked Mom, Sveta.
— No one, I came up with it myself! Just in our class, Vitalik’s parents pay him for it, and why should I be left out? I need money too!
— Hmm, — Dad Vadik pondered, — so how much do you want to get paid for helping around the house?
— Well… I don’t know, — Alyosha hesitated. He hadn’t thought this through yet and hadn’t made a price list.
— Alright, then let’s say you’ll start earning tomorrow, not today, — Mom suggested. — Think it over tonight and in the morning, you can tell us your rates.
— Okay, — sighed Alyosha and shut himself in his room to write a list of chores and what he thought would be a fair payment.
— What do you think? — Sveta looked at her husband.
— I think it’s worth a try, — Vadik replied, — cash incentives have never let anyone down. Let’s see what comes of it.
And that’s what they decided.
In the morning, Alyosha placed a lined notebook paper on the kitchen table, divided in half. On the left was a column of household chores, and on the right — the price.
— Wow! — whistled Dad. — Washing dishes — one hundred rubles! Taking out the trash — fifty. Vacuuming — also one hundred. And washing the floor — two hundred? Well, my friend, you’re going to be a fine businessman!
Alyosha blushed at the praise, not noticing the irony.
— This isn’t the whole list. I probably forgot something, but I left space there, — he proudly lifted his nose.
As he was getting ready for school, he shouted from the hallway:
— Give me the trash! I’ll take it out. And pay me right away!
— Alyosha, but Dad took it out yesterday, — Mom disappointed him.
— Damn it, I said, give it to me! I’ll start today, not tomorrow, — grumbling to himself, Alyosha, upset and disappointed, left the house.
— Don’t forget the dishes, — Vadik reminded his wife when they finished breakfast and Sveta, by habit, stood by the sink. — Otherwise, the kid will end up without money.
She chuckled and turned off the water.
— I’ll write up some tasks for him for the whole day.
When Alyosha returned from school, he rushed to the kitchen. To his delight, only two cups and a plate were sadly waiting in the sink, and there was a note on the table:
“Son, wash the dishes, vacuum the room, clean your shoes, dust the furniture. We’ll check it and pay you when we get home. Love, Mom.”
— Hooray! — Alyosha mentally calculated his earnings for the day, dropped his school bag, and got to work.
Two hours later, everything was done, and he, with a clear conscience, buried himself in his phone, sharing his accomplishments with Vitalik.
— Dude, you’re awesome! — his friend praised him. — Now I ask for money for everything! Going to the store, wiping the kitchen table, making the bed.
— Wow! — Alyosha marveled and then got a little sad. — Well, I probably won’t get paid for making the bed.
— Why not? That’s your work too! And besides, you don’t have to do it, — his cunning classmate taught him. — Read the “Family Code” when you have time!
Alyosha didn’t know what the Family Code was, so he turned to the internet and started looking up the information. An hour later, he was well-versed and ready to defend his rights.
When his parents came home from work, they noticed that their son had been busy. The sink was empty, his clean sneakers were neatly arranged on the shoe shelf instead of being thrown in the hallway, and the vacuum cleaner was sticking out from behind the door, indicating that at least it had been taken out.
— Mom, Dad, I did everything! — the joyful son came out of his room with his hand outstretched.
— Well, you earned it! — Dad counted up the amount based on the price list, and Alyosha, satisfied with the amount, with shining eyes, disappeared back into his room.
— Vadik, look, — Sveta called her husband to the kitchen and nodded at the paper with the list.
The list had grown. Now it included: making the bed, wiping the kitchen table, going to the store.
— Our son has gotten carried away, — Vadik chuckled, — he’s caught the scent of money. Well, let’s see how this plays out.
That evening, after dinner, the sink was full of dirty dishes. Alyosha looked at it with sadness, and then, an idea struck him — what he thought was a brilliant one:
— You guys should pay me more based on the amount. It’s not fair — one hundred rubles for two cups and a mountain of dishes for the same amount. No, that’s two hundred rubles now!
Mom and Dad exchanged glances.
— I think that’s fair. What do you think? — Vadik winked at his wife.
— Hmm, — she frowned, but agreed.
Alyosha, overjoyed, even jumped up and went to tackle the dishes. But from then on, he started raising his prices: washing shoes — one price, putting everything on the shelf — another; gathering dirty laundry — extra charge, loading the washer and turning it on — you’d better pay up!
— Don’t you think our son has gotten a bit too bold? — Vadik picked up the price list by the corner with two fingers and shook it in the air in front of his wife’s nose.
— I think so, — she agreed. The list of paid household chores now didn’t fit on two pages. — It’s time to stop this business idea.
The next day, the parents called Alyosha for a serious conversation.
— Alyosha, — Dad began, — you’re already an adult, you make your own money, you should know that from every income, you have to pay taxes to the government. Right now, your government is me and Mom. So, kindly give us thirteen percent of everything you earned.
— And also, — Mom continued, — you’ll have to pay for the computer and TV rental, which isn’t cheap, I’ll tell you.
— What? — Alyosha blinked in surprise. — What percentages? What rental? What’s rental even?
— Well, how else? You use the computer and the phone, and you have to pay for using them, — Dad smirked.
— But according to the Family Code, I have the right to manage my own income. And you have to take care of me until I’m eighteen! — Alyosha blurted out. — Feed me, clothe me, treat me, teach me.
Alyosha finally had a chance to flaunt his knowledge. But Dad immediately cooled his enthusiasm.
— Of course, you do. We’re not against it. But you still have to pay taxes. And you can only use the property of your parents with our consent, and the computer, the TV — that’s our property, and we haven’t given our consent, neither I nor your mom. That’s also the Family Code. The phone — that’s a gift, so it’s your property. We’re not claiming it.
Stunned, Alyosha went off to calculate his earnings and figure out how much money he would need to return.
The lack of the computer and TV was softened by the presence of the phone, but it wasn’t the same, and Alyosha started to feel bored. He didn’t yet know what was coming next.
In the morning, instead of his favorite pancakes, Mom placed a plate of porridge in front of him.
— Mom, where are the pancakes? — Alyosha asked, surprised, and pushed the plate aside.
— Pancakes are extra. The Family Code doesn’t say that parents have to feed their child what he wants. It just says they have to feed him. I’m feeding you, aren’t I?
Alyosha poked at the porridge sadly, but didn’t eat.
— I’ll eat at school, — he muttered and went to get ready.
— Mom, where are my new sneakers? — the confused voice of the boy asked.
Sveta went into the hallway and looked at her son, surprised.
— You still have your old good sneakers. Parents are supposed to clothe their children, but it doesn’t say they have to buy their child new sneakers just because they’re in style right now. You can perfectly well wear the old ones.
Alyosha ran out of the apartment, tears in his eyes. Sveta’s heart ached for her son, but she had to stick to the lesson and see it through.
Alyosha returned from school in an upbeat mood. He hadn’t given up on trying to earn money at home. That evening, proudly puffing out his chest, he brought his father his open diary. It proudly displayed two A-grades.
— Here! — he declared. — Each A-grade is ten rubles!
Vadik almost choked on his tea from the audacity of his son. He took the diary and flipped back a page. There, glaring back at him, was a big red two.
— Looks like you still owe us for that swan, huh? — Vadik raised his eyebrows and looked at Alyosha. The boy blushed, grabbed the diary, and ran to his room. Half an hour later, he came out with his school bag.
— Mom, can you sew this, please? — the broken strap was hanging on a thread.
— Three hundred rubles, — Sveta replied seriously, looking over the job, — it’ll be more expensive at the tailor’s.
— Oh, Mom! — Alyosha exclaimed. He had already realized that he had lost this battle for independence.
— Well, if you don’t want to pay, sew it yourself, — Mom shrugged and went back to her business.
— Okay, I understand. Mom, Dad, I won’t ask for money for household work anymore, I’ll do everything for free. Please forgive me. But let’s just make everything go back to normal?! — Alyosha tried not to cry, but his nose betrayed him, and tears welled up in his eyes.
— It’s good that you understand, — Dad took his hand, pulled him close, and hugged him, — freedom and rights come with great responsibility. And we take care of you not because we have to, but because we love you. The most important thing in a family is mutual help and respect. Don’t forget that, son!
Alyosha, with rosy cheeks, nodded, and repentance tears dripped onto his father’s shoulder.
At school, Vitalik approached Alyosha.
— Can you imagine, my parents now even pay me to find the TV remote! And I hide it on purpose, — he shared his latest business news with Alyosha, delighted with his ingenuity. — Soon I’ll have enough money to buy a new phone!
— I don’t need anything, I already have everything, and my parents love me just the way I am, — Alyosha declared to the young “businessman” and sat down at his desk, leaving Vitalik in total amazement.