Teens and Jobs and Money...

Eric Patterson

Eric Patterson

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Earlier this summer a friend who owns a custom millwork shop wanted to hire Thomas (now 16) for summer work. I thought it was going to be a neat job because he'd be learning a skilled trade, working with wood, using his hands, and getting paid instead of goofing off with his friends all summer. Plus knowing how to hang crown moulding would mean he could always find summer work while a student.

Well it turns out the Dept. Of Labor frowns on anyone under 18 using anything that remotely resembles a power tool. Not so much as a nail gun can legally be used by minors. It seems like the only jobs allowed are fast food, retail sales, life guarding, baby sitting, lawn mowing, etc.. My friend couldn't hire him so for the past month Thomas has been cutting grass a few times a week and almost always broke. Times have changed since I was a teen as landscaping services have displaced "the kid down the street with a mower" so there isn't much opportunity for kids who don't want to work retail or fast food.

Now his 4Runner needs new tires and the street radials I'm willing to buy are not what he wants. He wants to lift his 4Runner and put on bigger tires. I basically told him sorry kid, I'm not buying that stuff because you and your buddies like it. You want those things you have to come up with the money. He didn't like hearing that but I'm not a parent who spends money to buy "cool stuff" simply because my teen wants it. I wasn't brought up that way and I guess I parent like my parents did. You want it, you earn it.

Now having said that I recognize summer jobs for 16 year olds don't pay very well and given his summer HS baseball demands finding the right job wouldn't be easy. So rather than be a hard ass dad who refuses to give him money I decided to help him with his financial situation and try and instill some things in him like a hard day's work can be satisfying and if something is worth having it's worth working for.

So what we came up with is a small job for him to make money for his 4Runner. The landowner next to our hunting property mentioned a few months back he needed to buy a tractor to bush hog his small farm. With that in mind and knowing he didn't buy one I called him and asked if he'd be interested in Thomas bush hogging his property. He responded with an immediate "Yes, how much?" Thomas now has his first customer and he'll make $40 per acre before expenses. No fast food or retail job can touch that. He starts this weekend.

Knowing this day might come I recently went to a salvage yard and bought a used Roll Over Protection System (ROPS) to make my tractor safe. In fact I installed it just this past weekend. What timing.

It looks like Thomas will be able to afford those bigger tires for his 4Runner and truth be known the ROPS probably cost more than the difference between the cost of the tires I was going to buy and what Thomas wants, not to mention the time I'll spend helping him get the tractor over there. But I just look around and see so many of his friends being handed money whenever they want for whatever they want. I'd rather invest my own time and money in teaching him how to do things for himself and get one step closer to being independent.

Just wanted to share my thoughts as I go though this journey of parenthood...

Eric
 
Eric,
I applaud what you are doing for the lad. You are teaching him valuable things that someday he will appreciate. I went through a very similar journey with my son Kyle a few years back. He started working at a local farm picking corn and beans for their vegetable stand and then worked at a local hardware store which really gave him some good practical exposure to fixing things around the house which will serve him well for the rest of his life. He has paid for his own things like car, phone, gas etc since he had a job at 16 years old and has learned to appreciate the value of "things". It's tough sometimes to not just give in but you are on the right track.
 
We are completely on the same page. My 15 year old understands that if he wants something "cool", he better save his allowance.
 
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I'd rather invest my own time and money in teaching him how to do things for himself and get one step closer to being independent.
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That in a nutshell is what parenting is,,,,,,,,,,,or should be.


My two girls got X number of dollars each fall for clothing allowance. It was entirely up to them how it was spent. They had to choose between buying a single pair of high dollar designer jeans or go with something less expensive, allowing them to purchase additional items on their wish list.

Thomas now being "in business for himself" will learn many more life lessons and skills than he ever would working "fast food" and the like. (not to disrespect those folks who do make a career in the fast food industry)
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I'm with you Eric. A friend said the goal of a parent isn't to raise a good kid, it's to raise a good adult. You're doing just that.
 
Great he is willing and able to work. Kids can mow lawns, but not use shop tools or meat slicers???? Guess the regulators never saw what happens to digits that stray into a lawnmower blade. I would have been a great experience for your son to work in a millwork shop. Very few young folks getting into that kind of work around my way. My kids have worked since they were 15 and they pay for their own "fun things", those items not essential to life. We have always encouraged them to get and maintain employment hoping to instill a strong work ethic. I have even gone so far as to leave a job and lose money to take my daughter to a minimum wage job. Thank god they are both old enough to drive now.

I hope this bush hogging job goes well and translates into more work down the road. Keep up the good work and before you know it you will see a man where once a boy stood.
 
Too bad the shop job didn't pan out. It's a great place to be fr a teen. We always had one or two apprentices sanding and cleaning up during the summer. Most of those have gone on to well paying jobs.

Anyways it sounds Like the land clearing job will be worthwhile and a good fit. Kudos for trying to do right on the hardest job we face as parents.....
 
This is a great topic and thread. My daughter is 14, and that is just a little too young for a real job. So she is painting our house this summer. She brought up the painting idea thinking I would do it, and I would have, then I had that brilliant idea. so she started on Monday. And I am also doing what Carl speaks of. I'm giving her $ for her school clothes, and she can decide what she wants and learn how to smartly spend her budget.
 
You're doing the right thing Eric. It's good for kids to get some work experience.

Ben is 17 and in his third summer working in construction full time. He's even picked up some other part time work in the evenings. Ethan is 15 and just started working this summer, mowing lawn for the neighbor and babysitting for friends and family.
 
Great idea Eric! A buddy of mine did something like that for his kids. They had a snow shoveling business to begin with, and the kids went halfers with their dad on a used Bobcat loader. Then they were making $90/hr clearing parking lots in the evenings, if it snowed.

I'm with the kid on the lift and mud tires, he's got his priorities on straight!

Mike
 
Good morning, Eric~

Great thread - and great jobs by both you and your son!

The theme really gets the mind swirling - it warrants books, I suppose.

I'm glad we kids played real sandlot ball with no adults whatsoever. No Astroturf for us. Bare dirt infield and the cherry tree in center field was a foul pole - no hitting long balls to right. Our backstop was the trunk lid from a 50's sedan propped up with a 2x4 .

Our daily adventures were limited only by dinner time and how far our bikes would take us.

As for work - I'm glad I was able to "graduate" from my department-store stockboy jobs starting at age 13 - to trailing and launching my own garvey every day at age 17 - to dig clams on Great South Bay.

But now, living in dairy country, I happily watch the kids on farms. I marvel at the 5-year olds who can boss the cows around with mighty smacks to their flanks - and the 12-year olds that drive machines as tall as my shop.

All the best,

SJS
 
Another option if jobs are not available is to have them volunteer their time and then as a parent you "help" them with the purchase of non essential stuff. We've done this with both our kids when they did not have a job. Turned out OK as it kept them busy, they learned the value of helping others and the were able to purchase some of the small wish list items as well.

We don't let our kids work during the school year as getting grades is their responsibility during those times. Sure they could probably work but I want them to do well and have some time for the fun of being away from home at school.

So far so good. Daughter is out on her own and Son will be a Junior. He working at the local golf club in the pro shop this summer and enjoying himself. He has met many folks already this summer who are engineers which is his dream. Many have offered help and much advice. Nice to hear others tell him the same thing his old man has so at least he thinks I do know a little of what I speak.

Mark W
 
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It was a long hot weekend, mid 90's, but Thomas didn't complain and I think he enjoyed it other than the sunburn on the back of his hands and sinus allergies. After 10 minutes into it with dirt swirling around him and sticking on his face and neck he said, "Mowing lawns is a walk in the park compared to this!" I told him most people don't realize just how dirty cutting tall grass on a tractor is. The only mishap all weekend was he let the tractor run out of diesel. Usually you have to bleed the fuel lines to get them going again and they can be a pain but since it was a good hard field we used my truck to tow the tractor until it pumped enough diesel into the injectors to run on it's own. Bleeding fuel lines not needed thankfully.

With $500 in his pocket, minus $40 he owes me for diesel, he's all over the internet looking for the best set of tires he can find.

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great stuff Eric. I used to love the peaceful hum of the tractor making circles in a field where no one can reach you. Never really minded the fact that my eyes burned from allergic reaction to the ragweed.
 
Great post Eric!!!... and thanks for sharing the update with pics. Our children are much younger but we are trying to teach them as well. Our 8 yr old daughter really wanted an "American Girl" doll (those of you with girls know what ridiculous prices they bring). We said if she could save up half, $60, we would buy the other half for her birthday present (and even that is outside our normal budge of $30/child)... well, 7 months later, she hasn't spent a dime, even passing up on buying lots of smaller things at yard sales, and saved enough money to fulfill her end of the bargain.

If you really want to get him thinking and make a future engineer or business owner, start teaching him about the "other costs": your truck gas and truck & trailer rental to haul tractor, your "consulting fee" to manage the project, finders fee for getting the job, business license, state and federal taxes, maybe even throw in social security and medicaid, liability insurance for use of property, and looks like the tractor has a few yrs on it so any depreciation from use is negligible... then again, if I had known all that at his age, I might have tried to find out how to live on the government like a lot of other folks have the past 6 or 7 years in this country.
 
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