Chapter 7 - SOPHIE THOUGHT WORK WAS PUNISHMENT
Children hear more than adults think.
A week after Mom moved out, Sophie refused to help put toys away.
Normal five-year-old behavior.
Then she shouted:
“I’m not a servant!”
Hannah and I both froze.
“Who says that?”
Sophie looked nervous.
“Grandma.”
“When?”
“She says Mommy acts like a servant when she does things wrong.”
Hannah’s face changed.
I crouched.
“Sophie, cleaning up your toys isn’t punishment.”
She frowned.
“Grandma said Mommy had to clean because she lives here for free.”
My stomach turned.
Hannah contributed financially.
More importantly, she was my wife.
Not a tenant.
Not staff.
I asked:
“Did Grandma say anything else about Mommy?”
Sophie thought.
“She says Mommy needs to learn.”
“Learn what?”
“How to make Daddy happy.”
I sat back.
There it was.
The philosophy beneath everything.
Hannah’s job was service.
My comfort was the standard.
My mother was the supervisor.
I felt ashamed.
Not because I believed that system consciously.
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Because I had benefited from it enough not to question it.
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