Reply to Goal as a parent for DC to never work non-prof jobs?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I grew up middle class in an UMC town. As a teen my brothers & I worked lots of nothingburger jobs (cashier, waiter, mowing lawns, shoveling). My UMC DH also did those jobs but his parents paid his rent during the summer he had an internship that led to his (v successful) career. I definitely noted that he had a pathway that I didn't. So, although we both think you can learn a lot about life & people by doing people-focused low wage jobs (especially waiting tables) we will likely work pretty hard to ensure our kids get college internships that track with their career interests. [/quote]

It’s not your job to get your adult son or daughter an internship.   What does that say about your child that he needs his parents to work “very hard” to get him an internship?

I had an internship at the state attorney general’s office.  I interviewed for it and got it on my own.  It wouldn’t have been the same if my father had called his friend and got me the internship.

I also worked part time as a waitress in a large family owned restaurant.  I worked in the pub section and it was one of my best summers ever.    
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You misunderstood - we are not "getting" our kids internships - they are proud & don't want our help (which I might disagree with; most networking is useful & pretty widespread, but we are respectful of their drive). At no point did either my DH's parents or mine secure us any type of internship or job. I don't know if I think that's as much of a badge of honor as you do, but congrats on your AG internship! I am "working pretty hard" to ensure that our kids can DO internships by paying for rent/expenses if the internship is unpaid, etc. Our oldest this summer is working both a low wage job for their college & an unpaid internship. We did not require this & would likely have emphasized the latter as it might lead to job prospects. But, we have spoken to our kids about how much we both valued our time in service jobs as a way of learning people skills. So our oldest has surprised us (and their peers, very few of whom work for the college) by choosing this work.

One other thing I would note - I grew up in a wealthy Boston suburb & as a teen in the 80s, all of my friends had jobs from the trust funders to the kids who needed to hand their paychecks over to their parents. As a lot of other folks have commented, it was a blast to work together & very social. We would close the grocery store or restaurant & then go party together every night. I worked from the time I was 14 (which was the earliest you could get a job in MA at that time) through college, although of course I babysat from the time I was 10. I also worked part time throughout grad school. Hard work does teach you time management & aforementioned people skills; however, I do think kids these days have many more commitments than we did in the way back machine. All about balance.

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