Growing up in the country in the middle of Nebraska as a teenager left little availability for summer jobs. Some of my friends worked at the one drive-in that was in town, but mainly the “town” kids did that. We “country” kids were probably expected to work on the farm. My parents rarely disagreed on anything, but they did disagree on one thing, and that was how I was to spend my summers as a 15-20 year old. Mother maintained that I should get a more “lady like” job, being a waitress in a local café. Dad said I should work on the farm, helping him so he didn’t have to hire a hired man. I don’t recall having a lot to say about it, because this seemed to be a parental decision at the time. I do remember thinking I’d much rather work with my father, although that was much harder work. Dad won every year, which meant I got up at 5:00 am to irrigate, dig ditches, mow grassland, rake, stack, fix fence (not good at that!), feed cattle, or whatever. It was very hard work, but the benefits were fantastic: room and board, great company, lots of positive reinforcement, lots of joking around, lots of fatherly wisdom shared. My wages? NOTHING! I knew it from the beginning. There would be no paycheck, work seven days a week (cows need to be fed, even on Sunday) and not even the 4th of July off! I did get a $2.00 a week allowance, though, which covered a weekend movie and snack afterward.
Actually it was wonderful! While it may be argued that I did not get early experiences with earning my own money, it could also be argued that there are great benefits in spending so much time with parents, the main influence in our lives. When we have vacations approaching, spring break and summer, I hope you can spend some extra time with your children, not just following them around in their sports’ events, but time when they can help you, maybe on a lawn project, etc. Children get a great sense of worth when they can be of help to their parents in a special job. Even though they may be reluctant to admit it, children often get bored when they are not in school. Help them find opportunities to be of service to their family or to neighbors. A paycheck can help your feeling of self worth, but there is nothing like the feeling of having been a part of something that has helped someone else.
By the way, I only thought I wasn’t getting paid. Actually my parents put me through four years of college. When you consider that, my wages were quite high! Even though neither of them had a chance for higher education, they saw the value of that for me. THEY were the generous ones!
