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Manny went straight to bed, even though it was only 4:30 in the afternoon. So that left just me and Grandpa. Grandpa made grilled cheese sandwiches with the crusts cut off for dinner, which I haven't had since I was really little. We watched some TV, but then at 7:00 Grandpa shut it off and asked me if I wanted him to read me a story. I haven't had a bedtime story since I was in kindergarten, but I didn't wanna hurt Grandpa's feelings, so I just went along with it.

Saturday Since I went to bed at 7:30 last night, I woke up really early this morning. And when I came downstairs, I saw a big white binder sitting out on the kitchen table. TAKING CARE OF Gregory & Rodrick A TO Z All of a sudden the grilled cheese sandwiches and the story and the early bedtime all made sense. Grandpa was using the manual Mom made for him the LAST time he took care of us at home, eight or nine years ago. I flipped through the pages, and sure enough, it was filled with instructions for how to take care of us

when we were little kids. And at least 95% of it was totally outdated. Some of the stuff in there was actually pretty embarrassing. I'm just glad I found the manual before Rodrick did, or he'd never let me hear the end of it.

I flipped to the page with "T" on it, and here's what I found— I don't think I'm gonna survive a whole weekend with Grandpa if I'm not allowed to watch a lot of TV, so I ripped out the page and drew up a new one. Then I realized that the "S" page was on the back of

the "T" page, so I had to replace that one, too. is for spanking It's what you should do to Rodrick if he ever leaves the house with- out asking first. Monday Unfortunately, Mom and Dad got home before Rodrick did yesterday, and Grandpa went back to his condo. Which is a shame, because I was really keeping my fingers crossed on that "S" thing. Mom said that she and Dad did a lot of talking over the weekend, and they agreed that things have started to slip around the house ever since she started going back to school. I figured Mom was gonna chew us guys out for not doing our share, but she actually said she was gonna

HIRE someone to help with the cleaning. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The words Mom used were "domestic help," but I knew that was just code for "maid." I guess Mom was pretty embarrassed about having to hire someone to help out with the household chores, because she asked us all not to mention it to anyone. Well, I'm sorry, but opportunities like this don't come around too often for me, so it was a little hard to keep quiet at school. WE'RE GETTING A MAID! Chirag Gupta said his family doesn't NEED a maid and that he was glad his mom is there when he comes home from school every day.