One day a couple of weeks ago, Joe, our grandson suddenly decides he wants an Emerald Version of something or other for his Gameboy. At about the same time Amber our granddaughter is making a list of all the things she wants from the American Girl store in New York when she goes with Alex for a birthday treat.


Alex tells Joe he can have the game as long as he saves up and buys it himself and tells Amber that she has too much on her list but whatever Amber can save up Alex will double and that will be her birthday treat to spend in the store. Both kids think about this and disappear into a bedroom to get their heads together to discus ways of earning extra money.


Next, they both go to grandma and ask if they can have extra pocket money if they do some chores around the house.

“Of course” says grandma “I will give you a list and price for each job”.

I know this is coming my way so I get out the Black Book which has been under used for a while now and start listing jobs and working out prices. On the list is such as: hang the washing out – 20p, bring in washing - 20p, set table - 10p, clear table – 10p, clean car £2.00, clean windows - £1.00 and lots of other jobs to do with keeping their bedrooms tidy and their clothes put away. I give the list to the kids and they go off to study it.


And just to prove that I get some things right they come back some time later with a book each. They have a page for each day of the week, the jobs are listed down the left hand side and they are each going to tick which jobs they have done that day. At the end of the week I can then calculate their pay. They have created their own Black Books without me saying anything to them. I can’t wait to show them to Christine. As you should know Christine and Black Books do not go together and I see her eyes glazing over as I explain how the books work and that the new system comes into play from the next day. Christine mumbles something about it not working and goes into Beverley shopping with Alex. But I know best, I was a project manager and we have now got three Black Books. How can it go wrong? It’s great to see, it is obvious that the organisation created by the Black Book method has simply missed out with Christine but is back in full force with the grandkids.


Mornings at home usually start slowly, some quiet reading time to begin with, the kids watch Cartoon Network, breakfast is about 8.00am and then on with the day. The first day of the kids project and its absolute chaos, I know there are only two kids but it seems like there's more. Joe is trying to make Amber’s bed as well as his own, the more beds you make the more you earn. They are having a very loud discussion on who is setting the breakfast table as they both are carrying cereal bowls and plates to the table. The washing is being hung out and it hasn’t even been washed yet. It’s not working, Christine looks at me with that same old ‘told you so’ look and calmly calls the kids and asks them to get their Black Books.


The kids' Black Books are now in the bin along with my list of jobs and prices. She sits down with the kids and agrees a weekly rate to cover all the jobs and all they need to do is take turns. One does breakfast today, the other tomorrow and so on. I have my head in the bin trying to retrieve the Black Books to get the project back on track when Christine walks by and says

“it’s all sorted, the books can stay there”.

How can it be all sorted? How do you know how much to pay them? How do you know what each one has done?

“It doesn’t matter” says Christine “I was going to pay them the full amount each anyway. If they only do half the jobs it’s better than watching Cartoon Network all day”.

But this can’t be right. I was a project manager I know we need the Black Books so I retrieve them, remove the prices for each job and give them back to the kids, they now tick each day what they have done. They then compare the ticks each evening to make sure they are each doing their share. Both kids are still using the books even if not quite in the way I intended. I’m proud to watch them ticking the books, not that I mention it to Christine... Much. As I said she would never have made a real project manager!


But what the kids did miss was the item at the bottom of my job list £20 a week for anyone who could keep Alex’s bedroom tidy. Christine looked in one day last week and then checked the rest of the house to see if we had in fact been burgled. She has never, ever changed. All I can say is it’s a good job she has Dawnette, the housekeeper at home.