When Candace, my sister-in-law, offered to take my kids for a week, it sounded like a summer dream come true. A mansion with a sprawling pool, a trampoline, acres of land, endless snacks—it was everything ten-year-old Annie and eight-year-old Dean could have wished for. Candace’s daughter Mikayla was bored out of her mind that summer, and the idea of having her cousins around seemed perfect.

“Not too much trouble?” I asked, hesitating for only a moment.

“Not at all,” Candace chirped. “You’d be doing me a favor!”

I imagined water fights under the blazing sun, laughter echoing off the wide patio, late-night video game sessions. I packed their bags with swimsuits, snacks, and handed each of them $150 for fun money. I even slipped Mikayla the same amount when I dropped them off, wanting everything to feel fair.

Annie hugged me tightly, whispering, “Thanks, Mom. This is going to be the best week ever.” Dean’s eyes were glued to the pool beyond the glass doors, already asking if he could jump in.

Driving away, I felt nothing but gratitude. I couldn’t have imagined the nightmare I’d just walked them into.

For three days, I heard nothing—not a selfie, not a meme, not even a quick “goodnight.” My stomach churned, but Candace texted back quickly when I checked in:

“Oh, they’re having SUCH a blast. Pool, candy, cartoons—it’s paradise here!”

I told myself it was fine. Maybe they were just unplugged for once. Maybe this was healthy.

Then came day four.

While wiping crumbs off the counter, my phone buzzed. Annie’s name. I smiled—finally. But when I opened the message, my heart dropped.

“Mom, come save us. Aunt took away our phones. It’s my only chance.”

There was no hesitation. No calls, no explanations. I grabbed my keys and drove like a bat out of hell, every terrible possibility clawing at my mind.

When I got there, I didn’t even park properly. I stormed straight to the backyard—and froze.

Dean, my little boy, was on his knees scrubbing the pool tiles with a brush nearly as big as his arm. Annie was dragging a garbage bag twice her size across the lawn, sweat streaking her temples.

And Mikayla? She was stretched out on a lounger, sipping juice from a mason jar while scrolling her phone.

The patio table held a clipboard. I picked it up and read the words through a red haze of disbelief:

Daily Chores (for pool access + 30 min cartoons):

Sweep and mop all bedrooms

Wash and dry dishes

Fold laundry for all rooms

Clean bathrooms

Wipe kitchen counters

Take out trash and sort recyclables

Skim and vacuum pool

Make lemonade for guests

Assist with BBQ if Mikayla has friends over

Smiley faces at the bottom, as if this was cute.

Before I could even process, Candace walked out, smiling like this was nothing. “You’re early! Everything okay? Oh, that?” She nodded at the clipboard. “Your kids offered to help. Sweet, isn’t it? Builds character.”

Annie came up behind her, face pale and eyes hollow. “We didn’t offer, Mom. She said if we refused, she’d take our money and make us sleep in the garage.”

The garage. My babies, threatened with the garage.

I couldn’t even trust myself to speak. I just gathered my children and told them to pack, fast.

Phones? Locked in Candace’s safe. Dean said she claimed they were “too distracted to work properly.”

I sent the kids to the car, then went back inside. My voice was ice when I said, “Phones. Now.”

Candace tried her excuses again—“fun system,” “life lessons,” “structure”—but one look from me shut her up. She handed them over without another word.

We left. No backward glance, no goodbye. Just silence in the car, three souls trying to make sense of betrayal.

The next morning, I invoiced her:
Child Labor Services: $600
(Itemized for dishes, bathrooms, pool, trash, guest prep, etc.)

The note at the bottom read:
“Failure to pay = photos sent to your book club showing your daughter relaxing while my kids cleaned up her lemonade cups.”

Payment arrived via Venmo within an hour.

I used every cent to take Annie and Dean to an amusement park for two straight days. Cotton candy for breakfast, roller coasters until we were dizzy, funnel cakes for lunch. Zero chores.

“Mom, this is way better than that pool,” Annie said, chocolate ice cream smudging her chin.

Dean twirled in the grass, shouting, “And no cleaning!”

That night, with pizza and movies piled around us, they finally told me everything.

Mikayla had friends over daily—pool parties, barbecues, sleepovers. And Annie and Dean were forced to clean up after every single one. “Aunt Candace kept saying we should be grateful,” Annie murmured. “That this was teaching us responsibility.”

Candace called three times that week. I didn’t answer. She texted apologies, excuses, even accused me of overreacting. Deleted, ignored.

She thought turning my children into unpaid housekeepers would go unnoticed. She thought I’d swallow her lies and keep quiet.

But what she really taught my kids that summer was this:

When they call for help, their mom will come running.
Work deserves fair pay.
And no adult, no matter how rich or charming, can ever take advantage of them as long as I’m here.