Chores

In addition to cleaning their rooms, I need my teens to help with other things around the house, too. We don't really have an organized chore schedule, but I do ask them to do things as they are needed. They do complain, but they usually get it done--eventually. And sometimes they even surprise me by doing something without being told! My son did some yardwork the other day that no one told him to do. Of course, he had an angle--he was trying to earn more cell phone minutes. I was glad that he pitched in and did his part, but we really can't go out and buy minutes every time he does one thing around the house! We made a deal with him that after a certain time period, and after doing SEVERAL chores, he could earn some more minutes. He was hoping for a quick and easy way to earn money, but he has to learn that sometimes we have to work very hard for an extended period of time to earn a significant amount of money. Those cell phone minutes are not cheap--he has to work a while and put in a lot of effort to earn them. This also applies to my daughter--she was hoping that doing the dishes one time would earn a $50 refill--um, no. It takes more work than that--how many dishwashers get paid $50 for 10 minutes of work? So we are working on building a good work ethic and a reasonable expectation about how much work is expected in order to earn a specific amount of money. I know sometimes, in the real world, this does not compute. Some people work very hard and work long hours, but still get paid very little. And some people hardly work at all and get paid a LOT of money for very little work. Still, the general rule is that working hard pays off, and putting in only a little bit of effort won't earn very many rewards. I hope they get this--I want them to grow up with a really strong work ethic and NOT feel entitled to be paid a lot of money for doing very little. I hope they get the idea behind working hard for the money and feeling good about earning their way in life. I want them to get the idea that hard work pays off. Keep working, guys--it WILL pay off in the end! :)