My mother grew up on a farm in Michigan. When she was a child, her neighbor occasionally would hire boys to help him. After many years of hiring boys, he could sum up the worth of child labor fairly well. “One boy is worth half a man,” he said. “But two boys ain’t worth nothing.” Experience tells me that the same assessment applies to girls.

If you catch her in a reasonable mood, Day-Hay is a wonderful work companion. She and Mr. Philately painted Kat’s room this summer and he said that she saved him hours of work. Last spring, she and I tackled the basement and she saved me hours of work. If she offers to help with dinner, I get real help. If she offers to sweep, the floor will be clean—as long as no other child is around.

Once in a while, industrious activity occurs even with two girls but you never seem to get quite as much work out of two girls as one. This weekend, Mr. Philately and the co-head of the middle school stage crew were painting the wall on the sides and back of the stage black. (No one is quite sure why it has been off-white for years. No one who knows anything about theater has an off-white back of the stage.) I suggested Mr. Philately take Day-Hay along for help and he enthusiastically agreed. Then Kat volunteered too. I would have told her no but he’s a softer touch. Somewhat surprisingly, both girls worked together fairly well. I would have thought they had just violated the rule but then they “got tired” much sooner than Day-Hay would have gotten tired by herself.

Monday homework proves the farmer’s wisdom as well. Most days, getting homework done is not a major chore this year when Day-Hay is in a decent mood, is alone, and doesn’t have to write any paragraphs. Unfortunately, I pick up both Day-Hay and her friend, Soulmate, on Mondays. They come back to my house where I feed them and see that they get their homework done before they go to dance class. Before Soulmate was a part of the routine, Day-Hay got a lot of homework done in the hour or so before dance. But two girls ain’t worth nothing and only half as much homework seems to get done these days—unless I’m in the kitchen and cracking the whip constantly. Tea, anyone?

So, if you get a chance to hire an industrious girl like Day-Hay to help you, grab the chance—unless she has a friend with her.

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