honestly, i don't get having to teach my kid or anyone that any type of work is not "beneath you". that seems like a lesson of the privileged. where i come from, work (service industry work, office work, household work, etc.) is just a fact of life.

I believe I have watched every single momversations episode ever, and this is my first comment: I think part of being a responsible adult in our society is being a responsible consumer. I realize people are going to have a variety of opinions on whether that's a good thing or not, but unless you become a complete hermit it is impossible to avoid dealing with (and living in) the marketplace, both global and local. Knowledge of good "consumer" practices leads to a better life for most people, after all, bad spending habits would lead most people down paths they'd likely regret. To quote an old Everclear song (ah, high school...) "I hate those people who love to tell you money is the root of all that kills; they have never been poor, they have never had the joy of a welfare Christmas." I have worked outside the home since I was 16 years old, not because anyone made me (or even suggested it, really, although I never received an allowance) but because I enjoy independence and I wanted to work. I have two younger siblings (one considerably younger), and since my teenage years my parents have definitely experienced a financial downgrade. However, unlike me, those siblings didn't work. I have noticed they're having a more difficult time transitioning into independent adulthood. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE my little sister and brother, but with my parents in a tight spot, they're in a tight spot too. One of them is 19 years old, just out of high school, trying to find a job to help pay for his life (as he should and must) and with no work experience he is having a very difficult time. I feel like a job is never "beneath you." Honestly, I think teenagers who work learn so much more about people and the world around them than they ever could in a high school environment. I know just learning how to work a cash register seems like a waste of time, but there's so much more to it than that: You're learning to put other people's needs (these are not people you love either, because people will put family/friend's needs ahead all the time...) ahead of your own because that is how work is. If you want to move up, you have to work harder. Working harder/smarter leads to increases in pay/better hours/etc... What you want. A work ethic that is more complex than what is presented in school (A work = A grade) is developed. When I first started working as a busser in a restaurant I thought it was beneath me, I won't lie. But then someone told me something that made me re-think how I was approaching the job. They said: "If your manager sees you can't even be an excellent busser, why would he ever move you up to being a waitress? A good waitress would EXCEL at bussing." So I excelled. And moved up, and so on. A lot of other kids didn't - they were bitter and did a crap job, getting worse the more angry they got that they weren't being promoted. It never occurred to them they had to EARN their place.

So much of this depends on the kid. I was a straight-A, all-honors-classes student who also participated in the band, multiple sports teams, and other extracurriculars. When I got to high school my parents told me they'd prefer I didn't get a job, because they didn't want me to burn out. I occasionally did some babysitting and even cleaned other people's houses for spare cash, but I never took a job that demanded a regular, set schedule. My brother, on the other hand, was less motivated by school, participated in only one extracurricular activity, and had a laissez-faire approach to things like personal hygiene. He was encouraged to get a job as soon as he was old enough. Both of us had household chores as well as a set monthly allowance that we were responsible for managing. Today, we're both productive members of society, with minimal debt and healthy budgets. And both of us say that our parents did the right thing for us as individuals.

I think it's definitely a valuable experience for kids to work. Dealing with coworkers, customers, and paychecks provide real-life lessons about things they just don't learn in school. And kids are much more apt to be careful with things they've earned rather than things that were simply handed to them. That being said, though, I do think there's a fine line between learning these lessons and being overextended. With all the things kids do - school, sports, extracurriculars, jobs, and of course the requisite teenage social life - it's easy to heap more than a healthy amount of activities onto their plates. When they do TOO much, they're spread so thin that they can't devote 100% to any of these things. Jobs are great for kids, as long as they're not overly demanding and leave enough time for other pursuits.

Tithe, household, save, spend was the deal at my house My parents were very active in our church so whenever we got birthday money, babysitting money, outside Job (never go paid for chores that was contributing to the fam.) we had to first pay 10% in tithe to the church then cut the rest in 3rds 1/3 went to mom for household- food ,utilities , rent 1/3 went to saving and 1/3 could be spent. I did learn about budgeting and running a home but I think I will revise it for our kids Tithe, Spend, Save, Give is a great plan My husband and I have decided that money our daughter makes on her own 9 outside jobs and chores beyond her responsibility( cleaning her room, doing her laundry and her bathroom -no pay)will be split and she can choose the Charity she wants to give to. birthday/christmas money will just be hers to spend on whatever. Even now if she is 5 if she gets birthday money we take her to the store and she can buy what she wants but we dont add money to it if she wants somethin that cost a lil more.I wont have her add $$$ to the house hold but if she wants a cell phone(prepaid) or car + car ins. or gas money, a Tv for her room theses things she has to buy for herself. we may do a match program for a car if we can afford it (we match whatever she save). If she wants to go to prom she has to save and pay. I think it teaches children responsibility and as we have seen with this economy too many adults did not learn about only buying what they can afford and proper money management.

I worked in high school and college (though during the semester it was a work-study job with limited hours; in the summer, I worked as much as I could to save money for the year). Not only did it teach me to be responsible, it made me COMMIT to getting an education so I wouldn't have to work blue-collar jobs my entire life (I didn't enjoy it--I worked in a grocery store, sponge factory, secretarial work, pizza shop, etc. for near-minimum wage). I thank my parents for their guidance and help through my teen years, and I plan to support my children in the same way (helping with rides/buying a car to get them to work).

This is the first year that Paige is working around the house for "extra" money. In reality, she's not getting any "extra" money, I am still spending the same amount of money on her ... I just am getting her to do things around the house more enthusiastically than before. In the past, she would ask me to buy her things and I would. Nowadays, she earns the money that I would normally spend on her. I don't think she has made that correlation. All in all, it has made a huge difference in our Mother/Daughter dynamic. She is no longer constantly asking me to buy her things and I am no longer ATM. Just today she was at the store considering whether or not she should buy a tank top and she said, "I am not spending the money that I earn on something I have to convince myself to buy." Just hearing her say something like that makes me feel like she is heading towards a better concept on how/what to spend money on.

"Good responsible adults" or "good responsible consumers"? I think the latter is what you've all implied by this episode. (I know things get cut out so I'm hoping I'm wrong about that...) I worked all through high school and undergrad, and I have to say that all it taught me was how to work a cash register...and take time away from my studies. I picked up more discipline through my music training in public high school band than I did working at a video store and a restaurant. Now, I didn't have a choice because my folks didn't have a lot of extra cash lying around, and I worked my way through college. But I'm pretty certain I learned in school how to show up on time. And growing up in a working class family is pretty good training in how to save money and to learn that people are mean to those that work in the service industry. I started to think a lot about this when I worked in Peru for several years with working street children. They also work because they have to...starting at a very young age. And, trust me, they would rather be doing homework or learning how to cook and sew alongside their mothers or learning how to read and write and play a musical instrument than earn minimum wage and be treated like "the help" all day. So when I see teenagers going on the same way you all have in this episode about taking pride in earning cash to "earn their keep," I wonder what exactly that means. To buy themselves clothes and handbags and to go to the movies? Or to help feed the family and save money for college? Because if it's the latter two, let's be honest, they're gonna have to quit high school and work full time.