“The Cashmere Granny”
Everyone in the neighborhood knew Mrs. Lila Bennett — the most glamorous grandmother on the block. With her silk scarves, designer heels, and the scent of vanilla and crisp hundred-dollar bills, she wasn’t your typical cardigan-wearing MIL.
When Jenna married Lila’s son, Ryan, she wasn’t sure what to expect. Lila had a reputation: not for being strict or overbearing, but for being fabulously rich and fabulously involved.
The first time Lila offered to babysit their kids, Jenna was hesitant. But she and Ryan needed a night off, and Lila insisted: “Darling, I raised a CEO, didn’t I? Your children are in capable, and manicured, hands.”
When they returned home, the kids were in pajamas, full of giggles—and holding what looked like… cash envelopes?
Jenna raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, it’s just a little game we play,” Lila said with a wink. “For every chore they do, they earn a dollar. Clean-up? One dollar. Say something kind? Another dollar. Learn a new word in French? Five bucks.”
Ryan burst out laughing. “You’re turning our kids into tiny entrepreneurs.”
“They’re learning responsibility,” Lila replied, sipping her lavender tea. “Also, inflation is real.”
Soon, “Grandma Lila Days” became a weekly thing. The kids learned to fold laundry, make sandwiches, and even invest their chore money in toy stocks on a pretend app she built just for them. One afternoon, their five-year-old proudly announced, “I diversified my portfolio!”
Jenna wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.
Years passed, and the kids grew — polite, clever, and strangely savvy about compound interest. And while Lila’s methods were unorthodox, Jenna couldn’t deny it: her MIL wasn’t just taking care of the kids.
She was setting them up to run the world.
