English
日本語
한국어
简体中文
繁體中文
Italiano
español
Deutsch
Русский
Photo byTracey Hocking onUnsplash
Earlier this year, I went into the kitchen after dinner and found that the dishes had been washed and the kitchen cleaned. I commented that the “kitchen faerie” must have done it. My wife agreed that this was the case, and we left it at that. The whole “kitchen faerie” thing caught on, though, and whenever my wife or I wanted the other to clean the kitchen, we would simply wonder aloud whether the kitchen faerie was coming soon.
Fast forward a few months and my apartment is now full of faeries. Kind of. There’s a faerie that takes out the garbage and another that does the laundry. The faeries take care of all sorts of household chores.
Last night, when my wife got home after work, she found that the dinner faerie had left something for her to eat. After that, while I was checking my emails, the floor faerie came and cleaned the floors. When I mentioned what a nice job the floor faerie had done, my wife wondered if the bed faerie would come to make the bed soon (of course, knowing how badly she makes the bed, the bed faerie did indeed take care of it). After that, I went to take a shower, hoping that the kitchen faerie would come, but I guess I forgot to say the magic words. When I got out of the shower, the kitchen faerie had not come, and I was informed that the kitchen faerie was off duty, so I had to put away the leftovers myself.
I guess it’s getting a little silly, but hey, if it helps us to avoid arguing about household chores, maybe it’s a good thing! I find that the faeries are motivated by fairness, so when one pulls its weight, another is more likely to show up and help out, too. Think it would work with your partner? Or maybe with your kids? Give it a try!
Vocabulary notes:
we left it at that (to leave it at that) = we didn’t say anything else / we left the issue alone
The whole “kitchen faerie” thing caught on (to catch on) = the “kitchen faerie” idea became popular and we used it more and more
wonder aloud = to ask a question but not directly / to ask a rhetorical question
Fast forward a few months (to fast forward [amount of time]) = a few months later / skipping ahead to a later time in the story
off duty = not on duty / not working
pulls its weight (to pull one’s weight) = does it’s fair share of the work / does an equal part of the work
Think it would work with your partner? (informal question omitting auxiliary and subject) = Do you think it would work with your partner?
Comments (0)