Lacy occupies the small town of Savannah, GA and as a young 12 year old she had begun to attempt to take some of her mothers matters into her own hands. She recently overflowed the tub when generously trying to wash the dog, colored the whites pink when she threw in her favorite red sweater to make for one less thing for her mother to wash, and went to school in all colors of the rainbow so her mother wouldn't have to waste time picking out outfits for her in the morning. Lacy had noticed the new dullness of her home as she was walking to get the mail one day in late October and did not appreciate the negative effect it had on her beautifully carved Halloween pumpkin. With some speculation she came to the conclusion the white picket fence was the culprit. Over the years the old thing began to yellow and rust and she knew her mother would enjoy coming home to a bright new fence.
It was a Monday morning and Lacy was home from school on a teacher work day, after breakfast with her parents they left for work and she was left home alone with her big sister, 18 year old Leslie, to watch over her. When the cars drove off, and Leslie locked herself upstairs in her room, Lacy threw her long blonde hair up into a ponytail, shielded her bright blue eyes with the most stylish of her mother’s sunglasses and trudged outside to plan her good deed. The fence obviously needed a good coat or two of paint, but why repaint it that boring old white? Her father kept leftover paint in the shed out back so she made the journey through the cobwebs and yard tools to find quite a few shelves containing partially filled paint gallons in all colors she could imagine. There wasn't enough of one color to repaint the entire fence so the only logical answer was the use them all. Her parents wouldn't have to house the the old paint gallons anymore and their home would look more beautiful than ever! One by one the cans were lined up along the sidewalk beside some old brushes she found in the shed. One baby pink, one navy blue, one forest green. Each post was painted a different color and before long the fence resembled an Elementary school playground.
Like clockwork, at 4:30 her mother and father pulled in the drive. Lacy ran outside with a grin from ear to ear with a great eagerness to show her parents what she had done for them. She mistook her fathers dropped jaw and her mothers gasp for happiness, her joy lasted one more moment while her parents gathered themselves and set her straight.

“What have you done Lacy?!” her mother rang out with terror in her voice.

Lacy was taken aback by the apparent disapproval from her mother. Her efforts were true and she had good intentions! Was that not enough? Apparently not because within a minute she was grabbed by the arm, slung inside the house, and yelling from both her parents rang in her ears. She was sent to her room to do her weekend homework and was not allowed to come out until they said so. Her parents conversed and she could hear them arguing over whether to fix it now or just cook dinner and worry about it another day. Lacy’s door soon opened and her mother walked over to sit on her bed next to her.

“Lacy you have to know that these chores you’ve been helping out with are my chores and you have your own. I appreciate you trying to help me but how about from now on we each do our own chores and if I need any help I will be sure to ask you?”

Lacy understood. She couldn’t take her mothers matters into her own hands, she could offer to help yes, but she can’t do things for her. After their discussion Lacy and her mother made a trip to the store for white primer, new brushes, and paint aprons and spent the remainder of the evening repainting the fence together. Lacy felt more grown up than she had doing her mother’s chores and knew she had learned something that day.