We were listed on the chart by age The columns on Dad’s chart looked something like this Only Dad’s chart had two more columns In the fifth column he listed the ingredients And finally in column six were the cookbook and
page number 3 I studied the chart Being the fourth child I did not get to cook until Thursday I couldn’t wait to get in the kitchen and start brewing something up Dad worked his kitchen counter like a chemist works his bench I was hoping I would get to mix together some liquids and solids and create a chemical reaction 4 I would get to be a helper starting on Tuesday Every good engineer Dad began and scientist he said looking at me has to learn to work with a team Looking at the chart I wondered about the teams I also wondered how the teams would work together
Charlotte was chief cook on Monday That was easy for Charlotte She is used to being in charge But what about the rest of the week when Charlotte is not in charge I figured she was probably mad about that Then I looked a little closer at the chart Charlotte was not a helper all week I thought that was pretty clever of Dad He probably knows that Charlotte could not be on a team without taking charge I’ll be home early on Friday to help John Glenn with the pizza I have a new recipe Dad said Every adult in the world thinks John Glenn is an angel Every adult in the world is wrong John Glenn is trouble So having Dad in the kitchen
with John Glenn is a good idea I hoped that Dad would remember to change out of his suit And here is the list of chores for the week announced Dad He put a second chart next to the first Wednesdays were chore nights But with Dad being gone all week we would apparently have to do chores every day The second chart looked like this
