Chapter 1

Janet grew up as a spoiled little girl. Her parents gave her most things she asked for and expected nothing in return. She could get all of her toys out and her mother would put them away, without chastising her for making such a mess. She was never asked to help around the house, even with the simplest of tasks, such as making her bed in the morning.
Janet would only do the things she wanted to do and she had a whole list of excuses not to do things.
She hated PE at school. She could not see the point of running around after a ball. She persuaded her mother to write a letter to her teacher to excuse her. The letter explained how Janet had hurt her back lifting a heavy shopping bag out of the boot. Janet had never been anywhere near a shopping bag! She only went shopping if she thought there was something in it for her.
On the other hand, she could be very persuasive at getting other people to do things for her.
If her mother went into the kitchen to put the kettle on, she would call after her and claim her younger brother fancied a bacon sandwich. Could she have one too?
The answer was always 'yes'. When she was asked if she wanted red or brown sauce on her sandwich, she would say something like 'oooh, I'm not sure, could I have both?' The answer was always 'yes'.

As a result, Janet grew up into a chubby teen who rarely exercised and ate just a little bit too much. She never did her homework, sometimes she came up with an elaborate excuse, other times she admitted that she 'couldn't be bothered'. She would be punished with detention, but then she didn't bother turning up. She was given lines, but did not bother writing them.
During lessons she only paid attention if she wanted to, she only did any actual work if she was interested.
Some days, she didn't even bother coming in to school. She would tell her mother she was too tired to go to school in the morning. Her mother would smile and allow her to have an extra couple of hours in bed.
She learned many of her tricks off her father who did the same. If her mother thought Janet needed chastising for being lazy, her father would tell her mother off for wanting to chastise her. He would laugh at her excuses, encourage her to do as little as possible. No one got thanked for doing extra, so there was not much point in doing it in the first place. On the other hand, her younger brother was treated like a doorstep, forever being trodden on.

If the four of them were sitting watching the telly in the middle of the day and the doorbell rang, she would comment on hearing it, but make no move to stand up and answer it. She would ask if anyone else had heard it, wonder who it could be, until someone else gave in, or her father told her younger brother off for being so damned lazy for not answering the door.
If her mother got up to make tea, she would ask to have one too, but she would never make the tea herself. As her mother got up, she would say "while you're in the kitchen, mam, can you make me a bacon sandwich?"
Her mother would agree to this, no matter how close it was to another meal. Others might chip in and ask for a sandwich too. Janet never offered to help.
Before serving the hot sandwich, her mother would ask if she wanted red or brown sauce with it. Janet could not decide, so she'd ask for two, one with red sauce and one with brown sauce.
Her mother would groan because she had not cooked enough bacon for her to have two sandwiches, but did not complain and put on another batch.
When the sandwiches were ready, her mother would have to carry in numerous cups of tea and sandwiches. No one offered to help.
They would thank her for making the sandwiches. They would tell her how delicious they were, then they would leave their empty plates lying about for someone else to pick up.
The only person who helped their mother with anything in the house was Janet's younger brother. He got told off for not helping, while everyone else lounged about doing nothing.