Quote:
Originally Posted by cam_calderon
This discussion is starting to go down a philosophical path, though. Haven't you already bought cars for your kids? You've already given them so many advantages in life. To what point do you mouthfeed your young'uns before they have to go and hunt for their own food?
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Yes, I have. I basically have the polar opposite approach of what I was raised with. Started working at 12 for my dad's landscaping company. No summer vacations, no spring vacations...school ended on a Thursday and I was at work 7am on Friday, six days a week, 12-14 hours per day. Did that into my early 20s. It was madness - and - super illegal, apparently. Bought all my own stuff and my own cars, but WGAF? I don't see a point in making kids work so hard while they make basically minimum wage. I've let my kids put their energy into school, social activities, snowboarding, fun, etc. I've still made them get jobs, but I limit how many hours they can work.
It's nonsense to think they won't succeed because they're well supported. At my age, it seems my peers who were well supported as teens are the ones generally doing the best in life now. The guys that were raised by sink-or-swim parents? Meh, I truly believe they have a lower rate of success by most measures. I think of it as giving them a launch pad or runway from which they can take off versus just kicking them out of the nest.
If I could write a cheque to my younger self for all that money I would have made in a summer of working my nuts off so he could enjoy his time as a kid right now I'd do it in a heartbeat. I could probably make a summer's worth of money in two days. It makes no sense to make a young person work so hard for so little when they'll catch up those funds once they're an adult like it's nothing. They have an entire life to make money...let them put in the long hours when it's more lucrative to do so.
I will say grade 11 and grade 12 is a touch soon to make them hunt for their own food lol. They have the time to work on their grades to get into university right now. They have 80s and 90s, which is required to get into the programs they want. It would be moronic to make them work a bunch of hours at McDonald's right now and jeopardize their grades. Plus, my daughter is in track and my son is in rugby. That's rad. I'm way happier watching them be part of a team and get fit instead of working like I did.
One other thing on cars...I wouldn't want my kids in a POS Chevette like I drove as my first car. Cheap cars are generally unsafe. They wouldn't be able to afford better, but I can so I put them in cars with airbags, etc. to keep them safe. They're the most important thing to me; why TF would I not want to invest in their safety by getting them into vehicles no child could afford on their own? I could put that money into my own selfish fun/material goods, but for me setting them up to increase the probability of them doing well and enjoying life is its own reward.