Child Contracting

June 25th, 2022
kids
The kids came to me with a contract dispute: they disagreed about what the deal had been. After some talking, and hearing what they each thought they'd agreed to, it turned out that the contract wasn't just metaphorical:

"Anna rents the living room from Lily in exchange for Lily's use of bedroom. And Lily will do free cleaning."

It turned out that Anna signed it after hearing a rough paraphrase. I told Lily that she would need to read any future contracts aloud, word for word, before Anna signed. I also explained about interpretation against the drafter, and how Lily should be careful to avoid ambiguity in writing down agreements.

I'm not sure what "free cleaning" means here? Generally they both do very little cleaning, free or otherwise.

Cleaning up this evening I came across a second contract:

"Anna will let Lily use bedroom and bathroom. In exchange Lily will let Anna use the living room and Lily does free cleaning. If furniture is moved or added please put away".

This one wasn't signed, so perhaps they couldn't agree?

Comment via: facebook, lesswrong, substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

Food Fridays: The Joy of Vegan Baking

My secret to delicious vegan baking is the book The Joy of Vegan Baking.

via Thing of Things December 26, 2025

Opinionated takes on parenting

This post is a collection of parenting takes that sometimes go through my head, based on my experience raising our two boys (5 and 2 years old). All of this is based on my experience and might not apply to others (see the law of equal and opposite advice)…

via Victoria Krakovna December 16, 2025

How to Make a Christmas Wreath

Yesterday, I made a Christmas wreath. Here's how to make one. First, find an evergreen tree near your house. Clip off a few branches from the tree. Try to have as many leaves or needles on the branches as possible. Next, bring them home. What I usu…

via Anna Wise's Blog Posts December 6, 2025

more     (via openring)