<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:8.0pt;
margin-left:0in;
line-height:106%;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Many Hands Make the Work Go Quicker<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Mary Swan buttoned her coat. It was time to leave for her morning shift at the diner. She bent to kiss her 11-year-old daughter on the top of her head. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“I need you to mop and wax the kitchen, hallway and bathroom floors this morning. I will stop for groceries after my shift at work and be home about 4 this afternoon. Send the boys over to Grandma Emma so they won’t keep tracking across the floors until they are dry. Mike is down on the chores list to clean the bathroom and Ryan can dust and straighten the Livingroom. If you all do a good job, we can use some of my tip money and go to the drive-in tonight.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Okay, mama, I’ll cleanup the kitchen after the boys finish their breakfasts. That way, we will get all our chores done before you come home.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Lisa put the radio on and sang along as she worked. She curled up in the big armchair to finish her homework while the floors dried. Mike and Ryan burst through the front door demanding lunch.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“I can make you peanut butter sandwiches you can eat on the front porch. Before she left for work this morning, Mama mixed up a pitcher of milk from the box of powdered milk that she got last week. She used hot water to be sure it would all dissolve. It is nice and cold by now. If you want, I think there is a way you could help me with the floor wax that would be fun.” Smiled Lisa.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Lisa washed the knife she had used to make the sandwiches and the glasses from the milk they drank. She instructed Mike and Ryan to remove their shoes on the front porch. She spread floor wax on the bottoms of their stockinged feet and turned the radio on loud. “Now, start skating back and forth,” she said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>By the time Mary returned with the shopping the floors gleamed. They were so shiny and smooth, everyone had to walk carefully to keep from slipping and finding themselves on their behinds. Mary Swan laughed and tugged one of Lisa’s long braids. “You may have outsmarted yourself my girl. I expect you to scrub three pairs of socks in the bathtub on the scrub board to get all of the wax out of them. Then we will take them and the rest of the wash over to Grandma’s to use her ringer washing machine.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>