Chapter 7

Mary, Laura, Nellie, and Willie were asked to comment on their way of living.

Mrs. Oleson is very different from our mother. She is more lenient and always wants us to be happy. It is nice of her to look out for our best interest, but because of her lack of rules, I noticed Laura and I tended to slack off and not fully live our potential. Maybe she will learn a few tips of how to balance both fun and work.

Mary Ingalls

Mrs. Oleson has many unseen qualities. Most people see her as a mean, selfish, woman, but they are wrong. I used to think the same thing about her, and when I was told she would be living at our house for two weeks I was scared. She did not portray the role of Ma well at all, but after she formed her own rules things changed. She let us get away with a lot. I've learned that's not always a good thing. But when the rules changed, I noticed a change in Mrs. Oleson that no one saw, not even Mrs. Oleson. Maybe someday she will become the person she wants to be.

Laura Ingalls

Mrs. Ingalls is very strict and I feel sorry that Mary and Laura have to put up with her. She did show a kind side, but I could never have her as a mother. Not doing someone's homework for them when they don't understand the work is mean! She turned my father against Willie and me and that makes me really angry.

Nellie Oleson

Mrs. Ingalls is scary, but she listens well and no one has ever paid as much attention to me as she did. I hate writing essays in school so what makes you think I want to write something now?

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Charles walked in the door. "Is breakfast ready?" He asked.

"No, actually, I haven't started cooking." Harriet informed him. "By the way, did you know that today we get to go home? Actually, I get to go home and Caroline gets to come back here."

Charles smiled. "You're right this is the last day! You could have at least cooked me a decent breakfast."

"Mr. Ingalls, I have been cooking for you and your family all week. I can't wait to tell your wife how selfish you are."

Charles laughed. "How selfish I am? You are the one that makes Nels do all of the housework."

"He does all of the housework because I am busy running the Mercantile. If he ran the store all day and I cleaned we would make no money because he would give everything away for free to people like you who can't afford anything!"

"Mrs. Oleson how dare you say…"

Just then Charles was interrupted by a knock at the door. It was William Brick.

"Good morning Charles and Harriet. I am here to take you both to town."

Charles and Harriet rushed out the door and headed for the buggy. To them the trip to town seemed like forever. They finally arrived and entered the church. Nels and Caroline were waiting inside. After everyone had said hello the meeting began.

Charles spoke up first. "Nels, I would just like to let you know that I admire you greatly for putting up with a wife like Harriet. She is next to impossible to live with."

"Now, Charles, my wife may be a little intolerable at times, but she is not impossible to live with. We all can't have perfect wives like yours."

"Mr. Oleson, I would hardly say I am perfect." Caroline said shyly.

"Oh, I didn't mean it in a bad way. It's just that you seem to have everything together, and I admire that. Harriet, do you realize if we enforce rules with Nellie and Willie that they might not turn out so bad?"

"Who says our kids are going to turn out bad?" Asked Harriet.

"Well, they might not, but Caroline applied rules to the house and we saw improvement in the kids studies, and they have also been more helpful and kind."

"I am sorry, but I would rather my kids have no rules than to be bossed around by a slave driver. Poor Laura and Mary hardly have any time to be kids. They have to go to school, do chores, do their own homework, and when they have all that done it is their bedtime. Now, that is unfair."

"Mrs. Oleson, you have to understand that we live on a farm and it takes the whole family to run the place. Kids need discipline. Mary and Laura have plenty of free time. Do you know how many times a week Laura goes fishing?" Caroline asked.

"She goes to catch your supper, not to have fun!" Harriet shot back.

"Mrs. Oleson, you may let your kids do as they please, but how much time do you spend with them? While Willie was sick he told me that you never pay him as much attention as I gave him. He said that you only cared about Nels and Nellie."

Harriet started to cry. "How dare you try to convince my son that his ma doesn't love him. You tried to make me look like a bad mother."

"No, Mrs. Oleson, I really didn't."

Nels came to Caroline's defense. "She really didn't try to win them over Harriet. Willie just liked her on his own. I think he really enjoys having rules."

"No kid likes having rules!" Harriet said angrily.

"Why don't you ask him for yourself?" Suggested Nels.

Harriet gave Nels a harsh look. "I will. I will also ask him if he thinks he is ignored."

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The families were reunited and each won the money promised by William Brick. They were featured not only in the Philadelphia newspaper but also in several other major papers across the country. The article was so popular that William Brick decided to do a follow up on the families.

This is the follow up:

"I allow the kids to stay up thirty minutes later now." Explained Caroline Ingalls. "They do go to school all day and then come home and do chores and homework. There really isn't time for play, so we figured thirty minutes extra would give the girls some free time. However there homework always has to be finished first."

"I've also realized that my wife does so much. I think I took her for granted. Now I am helping around the house more. Maybe not as much as I should, but I am working on that." Added Charles Ingalls.

Even bigger changes have been seen in the Oleson home.

"I've realized that we spoil our kids way too much." Said Nels Oleson. "We are starting to punish them more often. They need to know right from wrong."

"I am not doing Nellie's homework anymore. She isn't happy about that, but she needs to learn for herself or she won't become a successful business woman like me." Harriet paused for a moment. "I am also trying to spend more time with Willie." She wiped a tear from her eye. "I never realized how much I excluded him. When Caroline told me what he said I didn't believe her, but I went home and talked to Willie about what she had said and he said that it was true. I felt so bad. So now I try to spend time with him everyday."

The Ingalls and Oleson families are glad they took on the challenge of Wife Swap. They both said that it has changed their lives for the better, and the swap has also made them realize how important their families really are.