what is wrong with modern kids and no motivation to shovel?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What age did child start shoveling home driveway and sidewalk with parents?

Age 9 or 10. My 16 yr old did all of the shoveling this time. I had knee surgery a few weeks ago. I felt bad but since he’d been doing it for years, it’s just what he does.

[Anonymous]

The only shovelers we had were ironically the kids from the Chinese family who don’t talk to anyone ever. Admire their moxie.

[Anonymous]

Shoveling sucks and it is bitterly cold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are being given too much money, whether a debit card, allowance, cash, etc. Give them less, they'll work more.

This. Our problem is that the money comes from grandparents. "Oh I heard you breathed yesterday, here's $100 of apple cash!"

All of that money goes into longterm savings. It's not free money to play with now.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:College age kids went out with a group of friends (6 in total) and shoveled Sunday/Monday. They each made over $250/day.

There weren't many other offering so they had to decline several jobs due to time/cold/difficulty.

If your kid wanted to, the money was sitting there.

BS - the money is on the easy snow removal. This is hard work and maybe they were actually paid an appropriate wage by some homeowners, but the people complaining want to pay well below the market rate for some random "local kids". I know because I shoveled my long driveway myself over the course of 2 days.

Lol. Ok, you can call BS all you want. It WAS hard work (DH and I did our house while they were making money.) They came home exhausted both nights. But $500 is a lot to college kids. They got rave reviews on our neighborhood listserve and their phone was blowing up with people wanting to hire them since they could walk to homes. Our neighborhood is big on hiring 'local kids' and supporting kids who have grown up in the neighborhood.

Your teen is capable of more than prom, homecoming and beach week. Let them surprise you.

You live in a rich community that is actually paying a fair wage. Most of the people complaining want the neighbor next door to do it for $20

This x1000. If they are boomers, they will pay even less if the kid is younger. My aunt was complaining that the boy Nextdoor she hired to water her outdoor plants, sweep their porch, bring in mail, take trash cans to the curb etc was not reliable and she was paying him a full dollar! A dollar, a cold buck!

My poor kid had an elderly neighbor who asked him last year to shovel, and for an hour's work for a fairly large house/driveway, he was paid 10$. I told my kid not to complain and paid him an extra 20$. But he didn't shovel for that neighbor this year again.

A decent teen would do an elderly neighbor for free. Mine did. One day you will need the help.

Actually, a decent family would shovel an elderly neighbors walk together. A decent family is not sending their teen out by themselves to do charity work to feel good about themselves. They take a few hours off of work and they do it with them.

+1 Why would you send a teen alone on these icy days to work for free to do work you have deemed charity? If you are so rich that it’s beneath your dignity for your child to accept pay, you’re probably in a wealthy neighborhood. I wouldn’t send my kid out to work for free for a neighbor who probably has a million dollars of equity in their home.

Our homes are about 1000 square feet and not wealthy. Our homes are not worth millions. Of course one of us was out there too. We just teach our kids to do the right thing. Are you so poor you have to have your kids work? Probably not, just lazy and selfish. It’s about helping out others, not a money grab. One day we may need the help. What goes around comes around.

If its an elderly neighbor, sure, do it as a kindness. But not wanting to do charity work for everyone else you don't know is okay too.

I offered to do it for my neighbor if no one showed up on Monday but they declined - I am not that healthy either and it was tiring shoveling out our own driveway multiple times on Sunday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are being given too much money, whether a debit card, allowance, cash, etc. Give them less, they'll work more.

No. How much do you give your kids a week! Our teens rarely spend money and in a rare occasion go to a team dinner for $15 or so. They don’t care about clothes and only ask for reasonable stuff for hobby’s and that’s generally birthdays and holidays. They don’t go to stores. They work summers and that money goes to their Roth IRA. Look at your lifestyle. Get out and shovel yourself. You are entitled to expect teens to shovel for you when you can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College age kids went out with a group of friends (6 in total) and shoveled Sunday/Monday. They each made over $250/day.

There weren't many other offering so they had to decline several jobs due to time/cold/difficulty.

If your kid wanted to, the money was sitting there.

BS - the money is on the easy snow removal. This is hard work and maybe they were actually paid an appropriate wage by some homeowners, but the people complaining want to pay well below the market rate for some random "local kids". I know because I shoveled my long driveway myself over the course of 2 days.

Lol. Ok, you can call BS all you want. It WAS hard work (DH and I did our house while they were making money.) They came home exhausted both nights. But $500 is a lot to college kids. They got rave reviews on our neighborhood listserve and their phone was blowing up with people wanting to hire them since they could walk to homes. Our neighborhood is big on hiring 'local kids' and supporting kids who have grown up in the neighborhood.

Your teen is capable of more than prom, homecoming and beach week. Let them surprise you.

You live in a rich community that is actually paying a fair wage. Most of the people complaining want the neighbor next door to do it for $20

This x1000. If they are boomers, they will pay even less if the kid is younger. My aunt was complaining that the boy Nextdoor she hired to water her outdoor plants, sweep their porch, bring in mail, take trash cans to the curb etc was not reliable and she was paying him a full dollar! A dollar, a cold buck!

My poor kid had an elderly neighbor who asked him last year to shovel, and for an hour's work for a fairly large house/driveway, he was paid 10$. I told my kid not to complain and paid him an extra 20$. But he didn't shovel for that neighbor this year again.

A decent teen would do an elderly neighbor for free. Mine did. One day you will need the help.

Actually, a decent family would shovel an elderly neighbors walk together. A decent family is not sending their teen out by themselves to do charity work to feel good about themselves. They take a few hours off of work and they do it with them.

+1 Why would you send a teen alone on these icy days to work for free to do work you have deemed charity? If you are so rich that it’s beneath your dignity for your child to accept pay, you’re probably in a wealthy neighborhood. I wouldn’t send my kid out to work for free for a neighbor who probably has a million dollars of equity in their home.

Our homes are about 1000 square feet and not wealthy. Our homes are not worth millions. Of course one of us was out there too. We just teach our kids to do the right thing. Are you so poor you have to have your kids work? Probably not, just lazy and selfish. It’s about helping out others, not a money grab. One day we may need the help. What goes around comes around.

If its an elderly neighbor, sure, do it as a kindness. But not wanting to do charity work for everyone else you don't know is okay too.

I offered to do it for my neighbor if no one showed up on Monday but they declined - I am not that healthy either and it was tiring shoveling out our own driveway multiple times on Sunday.

Neighbors help each other out. We don’t ask, we just do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are being given too much money, whether a debit card, allowance, cash, etc. Give them less, they'll work more.

This. Our problem is that the money comes from grandparents. "Oh I heard you breathed yesterday, here's $100 of apple cash!"

So, your kids are spoiled so you assume ours are. My kids grandparents are dead or stingy. My mom wouldn’t give my kid a birthday gift from dollar tree let alone money. Mainly to spite me. Then, she doesn’t get why the kids will not see her except when I force or bribe them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College age kids went out with a group of friends (6 in total) and shoveled Sunday/Monday. They each made over $250/day.

There weren't many other offering so they had to decline several jobs due to time/cold/difficulty.

If your kid wanted to, the money was sitting there.

BS - the money is on the easy snow removal. This is hard work and maybe they were actually paid an appropriate wage by some homeowners, but the people complaining want to pay well below the market rate for some random "local kids". I know because I shoveled my long driveway myself over the course of 2 days.

Lol. Ok, you can call BS all you want. It WAS hard work (DH and I did our house while they were making money.) They came home exhausted both nights. But $500 is a lot to college kids. They got rave reviews on our neighborhood listserve and their phone was blowing up with people wanting to hire them since they could walk to homes. Our neighborhood is big on hiring 'local kids' and supporting kids who have grown up in the neighborhood.

Your teen is capable of more than prom, homecoming and beach week. Let them surprise you.

You live in a rich community that is actually paying a fair wage. Most of the people complaining want the neighbor next door to do it for $20

This x1000. If they are boomers, they will pay even less if the kid is younger. My aunt was complaining that the boy Nextdoor she hired to water her outdoor plants, sweep their porch, bring in mail, take trash cans to the curb etc was not reliable and she was paying him a full dollar! A dollar, a cold buck!

My poor kid had an elderly neighbor who asked him last year to shovel, and for an hour's work for a fairly large house/driveway, he was paid 10$. I told my kid not to complain and paid him an extra 20$. But he didn't shovel for that neighbor this year again.

A decent teen would do an elderly neighbor for free. Mine did. One day you will need the help.

Actually, a decent family would shovel an elderly neighbors walk together. A decent family is not sending their teen out by themselves to do charity work to feel good about themselves. They take a few hours off of work and they do it with them.

+1 Why would you send a teen alone on these icy days to work for free to do work you have deemed charity? If you are so rich that it’s beneath your dignity for your child to accept pay, you’re probably in a wealthy neighborhood. I wouldn’t send my kid out to work for free for a neighbor who probably has a million dollars of equity in their home.

Our homes are about 1000 square feet and not wealthy. Our homes are not worth millions. Of course one of us was out there too. We just teach our kids to do the right thing. Are you so poor you have to have your kids work? Probably not, just lazy and selfish. It’s about helping out others, not a money grab. One day we may need the help. What goes around comes around.

If its an elderly neighbor, sure, do it as a kindness. But not wanting to do charity work for everyone else you don't know is okay too.

I offered to do it for my neighbor if no one showed up on Monday but they declined - I am not that healthy either and it was tiring shoveling out our own driveway multiple times on Sunday.

Neighbors help each other out. We don’t ask, we just do it.

You really need to get off your high horse.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a "you" problem, OP.
My girls were out shoveling and not for money.
They also were able to continue their part time jobs via zoom (usually it's in person) and they cooked a ton, cleaned, organized, created presentations for county leadership, did homework, bonded with each other and connected with us parents.

Sheeesh, OP, you are so judgemental - why weren't YOU cleaning driveways for $200? Are you that lazy??? (See how ridiculous that sounds!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What age did child start shoveling home driveway and sidewalk with parents?

4-5, she had a kid size shovel and would “help”. By 9-10, she was in charge of clearing the cars off. Now as teen, she clears the cars and does the front walk. We have a snow blower so when the conditions are right it’s fairly quick. But in these Hoth level ice blocks conditions the blower doesn’t work.

This. Kids have been expected to help since they were young. Just like cleaning the inside. We are a family and we all help out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of these kids are studying because that is their full time job and they carry heavy academic loads that include tons of honors and AP classes. So let them study OP, they want to work smart and not hard when they grow up. Besides many neighborhoods have crews to come in and do that hard work.

Kids can do multiple things.
And they are not learning to work smarter. They are learning to be lazy and entitled. The results are in a gen x sucks as parents

Yes they can PP. They can do physics, linear algebra, comp sci, chemistry. Instead of going into cardiac arrest on the side of the road shoveling your lowball snow job. They are preparing themselves to be engineers and scientists to build and maintain the quantum computing systems and robots that will handle this back-breaking work in the future. That sounds like working smart and not hard…and is far from lazy or entitled in my book. Stop clocking these kids so hard and let them be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College age kids went out with a group of friends (6 in total) and shoveled Sunday/Monday. They each made over $250/day.

There weren't many other offering so they had to decline several jobs due to time/cold/difficulty.

If your kid wanted to, the money was sitting there.

BS - the money is on the easy snow removal. This is hard work and maybe they were actually paid an appropriate wage by some homeowners, but the people complaining want to pay well below the market rate for some random "local kids". I know because I shoveled my long driveway myself over the course of 2 days.

Lol. Ok, you can call BS all you want. It WAS hard work (DH and I did our house while they were making money.) They came home exhausted both nights. But $500 is a lot to college kids. They got rave reviews on our neighborhood listserve and their phone was blowing up with people wanting to hire them since they could walk to homes. Our neighborhood is big on hiring 'local kids' and supporting kids who have grown up in the neighborhood.

Your teen is capable of more than prom, homecoming and beach week. Let them surprise you.

You live in a rich community that is actually paying a fair wage. Most of the people complaining want the neighbor next door to do it for $20

This x1000. If they are boomers, they will pay even less if the kid is younger. My aunt was complaining that the boy Nextdoor she hired to water her outdoor plants, sweep their porch, bring in mail, take trash cans to the curb etc was not reliable and she was paying him a full dollar! A dollar, a cold buck!

My poor kid had an elderly neighbor who asked him last year to shovel, and for an hour's work for a fairly large house/driveway, he was paid 10$. I told my kid not to complain and paid him an extra 20$. But he didn't shovel for that neighbor this year again.

A decent teen would do an elderly neighbor for free. Mine did. One day you will need the help.

Actually, a decent family would shovel an elderly neighbors walk together. A decent family is not sending their teen out by themselves to do charity work to feel good about themselves. They take a few hours off of work and they do it with them.

+1 Why would you send a teen alone on these icy days to work for free to do work you have deemed charity? If you are so rich that it’s beneath your dignity for your child to accept pay, you’re probably in a wealthy neighborhood. I wouldn’t send my kid out to work for free for a neighbor who probably has a million dollars of equity in their home.

Our homes are about 1000 square feet and not wealthy. Our homes are not worth millions. Of course one of us was out there too. We just teach our kids to do the right thing. Are you so poor you have to have your kids work? Probably not, just lazy and selfish. It’s about helping out others, not a money grab. One day we may need the help. What goes around comes around.

If its an elderly neighbor, sure, do it as a kindness. But not wanting to do charity work for everyone else you don't know is okay too.

I offered to do it for my neighbor if no one showed up on Monday but they declined - I am not that healthy either and it was tiring shoveling out our own driveway multiple times on Sunday.

I don't understand this attitude. The elderly people where we live tend to be wealthier...some much wealthier...than the average family.

Do you suddenly become poor and unable to participate in society when you become elderly? All of us commenting on here will become elderly some day...do you expect to be poor and unwilling to pay a high school kid the going rate to shovel your walk?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of these kids are studying because that is their full time job and they carry heavy academic loads that include tons of honors and AP classes. So let them study OP, they want to work smart and not hard when they grow up. Besides many neighborhoods have crews to come in and do that hard work.

Kids can do multiple things.
And they are not learning to work smarter. They are learning to be lazy and entitled. The results are in a gen x sucks as parents

Yes they can PP. They can do physics, linear algebra, comp sci, chemistry. Instead of going into cardiac arrest on the side of the road shoveling your lowball snow job. They are preparing themselves to be engineers and scientists to build and maintain the quantum computing systems and robots that will handle this back-breaking work in the future. That sounds like working smart and not hard…and is far from lazy or entitled in my book. Stop clocking these kids so hard and let them be.

only the indians and chinese can do that

[Anonymous]

It's basic supply and demand. If you pay enough, somebody will shovel for you. If you don't want to pay enough, you'll have to do it yourself or go without. To try to pay $10 for shoveling in as rich area as the DC is ridiculous and extremely stingy. Seriously, calling out a repairman is >$100 just to look at a problem. Lots of entitlement in these posts. And the one who complained about grandparents sending grands money -- many wish they had your problems!