So my boys mow a few lawns in the neighborhood. The woman across the street from us has them mow once a week and do other odd yard chores. In the past she has told them that she prefers them to give her an invoice every few months rather than paying them every time, which my boys have agreed to. Unfortunately, twice when they have requested payment her checks have bounced. The balance owed has been about $200 each time.

This last time was about a month ago. My boys took her a new invoice with the returned check fee added, and she said she'd get them cash instead of a new check. It's been 4 weeks. Meanwhile the boys have continued to mow since they figure they'll get paid eventually. But when the neighbor was talking to my wife on the phone yesterday the topic came up and she said she wouldn't have time to get the boys paid before she left on vacation next week. She'll be gone for a month. My wife didn't let her off the hook and just told her that she thought they would need the money soon.

Anyway, the reason I post this is I wonder about someone who would string out a couple kids over lawn-mowing money. I would be mortified if I didn't pay the neighbor kid what I owed. Who does that? And I wonder if I should tell my boys to quit doing any work over there. Actually, I've already done that. It's just that they are the only ones that make an effort and I have to stare at an unkempt lawn if they don't do it.