AIBU - child labour? *lighthearted*

[hellosunshine5]

Hope everyone’s surviving lockdown!

A lighthearted one for you all...

I pay my DS (he turns 8 next week) to do little jobs for me, such as washing my car every couple of weeks (£5) and mowing our very small lawn when needed and obviously supervised by me (£10).

I’ve probably been doing this for about a year now and he loves it - he really thrives on saving the money he’s earned, seeing it build up and then choosing what to spend it on.

He obviously also does the usual basic things around the house that I don’t pay him for like keeping his room tidy, setting the table and helping clean up after dinner etc - I only pay him for jobs that I see as over and above what he should be doing as standard.

He’s also very recently started to do a few extra little jobs for neighbours etc - one of them asked him to wash their car after seeing him do mine and it’s just sort of gone from there. He feels so grown up and loves it!

Anyway I’ve been speaking to my sister today who thinks this is equivalent to child labour and I should be letting him enjoy his childhood while he can! She certainly doesn’t agree with him starting to do a bit of work for other people and said I’m exploiting him...

I really don’t see anything wrong with this - he enjoys it and is being paid!

She is known for being very melodramatic so I’m sure I’m not, but...

AIBU?

Sounds like a good idea to me- crack on I say!

My sister and I went around our little village chapping at doors offering to wash cars, pull weeds and do shop runs for them for pocket money. Think we were only about 8 and 10.
He’s learning to earn! If you weren’t paying him it would be slavery, surely?

Chores are great for children. They teach them valuable life skills and also provide a sense of self worth. Carry on by all means OP.

It's a good idea. DS has been getting pocket money for doing the washing up, setting the table and putting the bins out for a couple of years.

When your child is grown you will not be worried about him moving out and looking after himself, when your sister's children are grown they will not be as good at adulting as yours. If I had your DS instead of my lazy eleventeen yo I'd be telling him regularly how proud I was of him. Get your smug on.

I’m pro child labour.

My son is only four but he does do a few things (with a bit of supervision of course).

He can
Strip his bed
Put his dirty washing in the right basket
Tidy his toys away
Help load the lower shelf of the dishwasher
Help with cooking
Feed the cat
Hoover (he thinks this is a fun game)
Put his washing away
Get bottles of beer from the fridge (most important skill)

I don’t pay him, no one pays me to do it.

Get them working asap, one day he’ll be a grumpy, smelly lazy teenager so I’m taking care of his work ethic while it lasts.

It would be exploitation if he didn’t want to/was manipulated into doing it and you were keeping the cash he made...

As it is, that sort of stuff is great for kids! They learn loads of skills and the value of hard work, earning your own money. It’s brilliant imo, well done young man!

Kids should definitely have to do chores. I’m not sure about paying them though. I’d be worried that it’s teaching them that a chore is only worth doing when there is a financial reward at the end. I’d much rather teach mine that chores are something that all family members should be doing anyway because it’s part of being a team.

100% agree! He does basic chores around the house without payment - I only pay him for bigger outdoor jobs.

I used to love washing the car for £2 when I was a kid, and always hoped a neighbour would hire me too sounds great!

Ignore her. It is great for self esteem. One tip I was given was 3 pots!

One for spending now, one for spend later (ie save for a bigger item) and one for savings.

We used to get paid for bigger jobs. It's teaching value of money.
Your sister and 8% of voters here are massively unreasonable

It's great encourages work ethic and learning about saving - he can still be a kid and enjoy the playing with soap and bubbles washing the car!

Thanks all