We were getting ready for an eight-day family trip to Spain with our two kids, ages 12 and 14. My 15-year-old stepdaughter had already started packing when I told her, “I need you to stay home to water my plants. I’ll pay you!”

My husband stayed silent—he knows how much I love and care for my plants. He also knows there’s no one else who can tend to them. My mother could’ve helped, but she’s elderly and lives fifty minutes away; it just didn’t make sense for her to drive back and forth every day for that.

So, my stepdaughter stayed behind. The arrangement was simple: I’d pay her $30 a day to water the plants.