written by a disgruntled mother

Remember the story of the little red hen? Now that I'm a parent, something is very obvious!...

mama hen: "oh look at all this work that needs to be done for dinner tonight. Who will help me plan dinner?"

children: "not I"..."not I"... "I've got homework"

mama hen: "who will help me set the table?"

children: "not I"..."not I"... "I've got stuff to do"

mama hen: "who will help me peel these potatoes"

children: "not I"..."not I"... "not me either, mom"

When the delicious dinner aroma spreads throughout the house you can guess who starts showing up for the meal. Suddenly all the un-interested, "busy" or otherwise occupied parties are happy to volunteer assistance...as taste testers!

...So back to what is now so obvious to me. This story was written by a disgruntled mother! One who was only trying to teach her children the value of hard work and probably never had the heart to send her moochy slackers to their room when they would not chip in. Perhaps by threatening them with this story that mother did get a little bit of payback while she slaved solo over the hot stove.