One of the best things my kids ever did was to hold a lemonade stand. They were about ages 10 or 11 at the time. The younger ones sort of tagged along as support crew! They would do this nearly every summer afternoon while they were growing up - I fronted the cups and lemonade mix (they paid me for these out of their profits), and they had to do the rest, from creating signs, carting the table and cooler to the street corner,and dividing up their profits at the end of the day. On a busy Saturday of neighborhood garage sales and a heavy traveled street corner, they would sometimes pull in $40 - $50 in just a couple of hours! During the cooler months of the year they would rake leaves for the neighbors for cash, shovel snow for cash and by the time they were 13 years old they were refereeing soccer games for our local leagues earning upwards of $20 an hour! The point is, they were earning their own money. The Bible teaches us that "All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." (Proverbs 14:23)
I have seen so many positive outcomes (profit) for my children from learning this work ethic early on, and those outcomes far exceed the dollars that the clutched in their hands. Earning their own money helps them feel
*capable
*capable
*worthwhile
*trusted
*responsible
*entrepreneurial
*creative
*able to give to those in need
*grateful
*resourceful
*a team player
*business smarts
*money management
These are things that many adults do not possess in their adulthood, and for whatever reason they have spent their whole life trying to become these things. We are doing a tremendous disservice to our children if we do not raise the bar for them and expect more from them in terms of them making their way in this world.
While we DID have our children on an "allowance" when they were very little, it was always tied to chores and household work they were able to do, and never given as a hand out. At age 5 or 6 they could unload the dishwasher. At age 7 or 8 they could take out the trash.
As parents we are entrusted with teaching our children about the real world, and the real world does not hand you money for doing absolutely nothing. You must work for it. I am amazed that some of my children's friends continue receiving a hand out from their parents even well beyond college, with no corresponding responsibility on their part. They begin to think that somebody owes them something. They become the entitled generation we've all heard about, and their parents bank accounts seem forever bled by their adult children.
Some great places to get started (Do it TODAY!):
http://ways-kids-make-money.com/
http://christianpf.com/ways-for-teens-to-make-money/
In the Bible, we find the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).While we usually think of this passage as one that speaks to the grace and mercy of a loving father, it also illustrates for us the concept of what happens when someone is given wealth they didn't work for. If you know the story, then you also know that the son who was given his inheritance early, squandered it until it was gone and did not care for it as he should have. I'm not saying that this WILL happen, but is more likely to happen than not. Our human nature is just this way, and our children are no different.
Some great places to get started (Do it TODAY!):
http://ways-kids-make-money.com/
http://christianpf.com/ways-for-teens-to-make-money/
In the Bible, we find the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).While we usually think of this passage as one that speaks to the grace and mercy of a loving father, it also illustrates for us the concept of what happens when someone is given wealth they didn't work for. If you know the story, then you also know that the son who was given his inheritance early, squandered it until it was gone and did not care for it as he should have. I'm not saying that this WILL happen, but is more likely to happen than not. Our human nature is just this way, and our children are no different.
This concept is one that carries over into our next chapter called "The Entitled Generation", concepts in your children having some ownership in the luxuries of this life, everything from the purchase of their high school yearbook to paying for college.
