Tough Love - I Made My Daughter Think She Got Me Fired

In February of this year, I opened my yoga studio.

(There I am teaching a session with some of the ladies in the gardening group I'm in. We had a plant and seed swap + yoga meet-up.)

Soon after, I applied for a job working for Amazon as an at home customer service agent. I spent so much money getting my studio together (new wood flooring, paint, deposit, etc.), and as a business owner, I already knew I wouldn't profit just yet. So I got the job with Amazon to help put some of that money back in my pocket and cover costs for things like yoga mats, signage and marketing.

Anyway, the walls in our home are thin and the living room is in the center of the house. I had my work laptop set up in the bedroom because I had to be hooked up to the landline. We weren't allowed to use the system on WIFI. So when it was time for me to work, Janya would watch the kids for about an hour or two until Dwight came home from work.

(Janya)

The kids don't listen to Janya much because they know she's not an adult. When they're making too much noise and she tells them to be quiet, they get even louder. Now, that's not her fault. However, her job was to take then into the room on the other side of the house when they're being too loud. Then bring them back into the living room once they simmered down. But instead, she made it worse by being just as loud from telling them to be quiet. Mind you, I'm in the room taking customer calls. You're probably thinking, why didn't she just watch them in the other room? Well, because there's more space in the living room and they don't like being in the room for too long.

They were so loud one day, a customer said "did I just hear a baby?" Face palm. I was so embarrassed. I said pitifully "yes, sorry." Thankfully, he was understanding, and even said "it's ok, I get it. I have a two year old son and he's a handful." The next incident happened while on a conference call with my manager. The kids were literally outside of the door making noise and she said "are those the kids?" Face palm, AGAIN! My heart started beating as if it was gonna jump out my chest. Luckily, she thought it was cute and said she could barely hear them, but the point is, she heard them.

This pissed me off, because Janya allowed them to play in front of the door knowing I was working. Me being able to hear the kids while I was taking calls was happening frequently, and knowing the calls are recorded made me nervous, because it made me wonder if they could hear them on every call I answered. This position was seasonal, only for 9 months. And my time with Amazon was coming to an end. So I used that to my advantage. Dwight warned Janya multiple times that I could be fired if she couldn't simply do what she was told. Which was take the kids in their room or her room until they piped down.

I had 3 days left, and I told Janya she got me in trouble by not doing what she was told to do with the kids, and that my last day of work was in a few days. Then I said "you're always asking for something. A laptop, sneakers, whatever. Now, I won't have any money." Which is not true of course, because I have other businesses that bring in income. But, she doesn't know much about that. Her jaw dropped. She started apologizing and looked like she lost a puppy. I wanted her to realize that there are consequences to not listening or doing what she's told. And this isn't the only situation. Not doing the dishes, playing video games for too long, not cleaning her room...

I want her to understand how the real world is gonna handle certain situations. Especially when it comes to a job. I can't fire her from being my daughter. But other people can and will fire her for not following instructions. And I can only hope that these lessons make her do better as an adult.

Oh, I don't plan on telling her anytime soon that she didn't actually get me fired. I think I'll hold off on telling her for quiet a while.