At your service

Earlier this school year, I tried to help Owen improve his penmanship by offering him a challenge. He was getting B's in penmanship, but only because he would rush his work. Whenever he took his time, his printing and handwriting were fine. So I offered to him that if he finished the year with an A in penmanship, I would be his servant for the weekend.

After B's in both the first and second trimester, it wasn't looking good. But he persevered, worked harder at it, and with the help of some mystery "bonus points" (I know for a fact his teacher knew of the challenge), he got an A in the last trimester and somehow managed an A average for the year.

So, of course, he called me as soon as he got out of school this morning (half-day for their last day), advising him that my servitude was about to be called upon. Since I'm on call this weekend, I told him it was in his best interest to wait a few weeks to call in his winnings, so we'll do it sometime soon.

He's proud, I'm proud, and the way I see it, it saved me from paying for grades. Only problem is, Brendan's now trying to come up with some scheme to indenture me. Maybe I'll offer him Molly.