Work is Good!

We may be doing too much for our children. Many have so much they

are never satisfied. As parents, many are struggling too hard and

spending too much to make things easier for their children. Easier

is not necessarily better.

It’s good for children to work.

There should be little jobs for little people.

Then, more responsibility as that child gets older.

We should allow them to know the satisfaction of a job well

done and be rewarded accordingly.

At our house, one of the best agreements we ever made went like this:

When you’re old enough to work, you get a part-time job. The money
is yours to spend. If there are special things you want to buy or do
that don’t fit into our budget, you pay. If you want a car, we help you
find a used one, and we pay for half. You pay for the gas, and we pay
for the insurance.

Work builds character. Take away the challenge of work and the

attitude changes. Every child understands the value of money best

by learning to manage their own. I also believe there is nothing

wrong with telling children that “we can’t afford that” or “we don’t

have the money for that right now.”

Effective parents teach children how to earn, how to save, and how

to spend—even more, the best parents know something else. They

know that children need more than material things to be happy.