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.

Anonymous wrote:The reason you can't a neighbor team for labor is that half the houses on your block are occupied by elderly Boomers who won't sell their houses to families who need houses.

Why should people be expected to sell the homes they worked their entire lives to pay for? Young families can find their own housing. They might need to buy a condo or rowhouse (SHOCKING!).

Anonymous wrote:The expectation of child labor seems like a lazy adult

They live in the house too. If your teen is inside online while his parents shovel, you have raised lazy children. That's on you. You're gonna hear all about that from their future wives.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine would rather go sledding and hang out with their friends. It's still a snow day for them and they are still kids. They want to enjoy it. 20 years from now, those are the memories they will remember, not earning $40-50 for two hours of hard manual labor.

They can do both.

Shoveling snow is also memorable, and it builds confidence and character in a young adult learning to be an independent adult..

It's OK to say your kids are spoiled rich kids.

Ha! I don't let my kids shovel for strangers, our drive-way is done and we also helped neighbors for free. Shovel your own snow! Get your coat on and do your own driveway, instead of being lazy and cheap!

Why?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine would rather go sledding and hang out with their friends. It's still a snow day for them and they are still kids. They want to enjoy it. 20 years from now, those are the memories they will remember, not earning $40-50 for two hours of hard manual labor.

+ 1 I agree, theyre kids, have fun, its a snowball day!

Mine (11 and 13) did both. They had fun AND learned how hard it can be to earn money that they can easily spend in two seconds.

Anonymous wrote:The reason you can't a neighbor team for labor is that half the houses on your block are occupied by elderly Boomers who won't sell their houses to families who need houses.

The boomers in my family all WANT to sell their houses (located on acres of land) but their kids insist on them keeping them because they want them someday.
My own parents sold their beautiful waterfront house to live in a condo and my sister will never forgive them. "I'd visit more if you kept that house!"
Now if you're talking about some post war suburban dump on a postage stamp lot, do young families even want those?

Why do you think that teens owe it to you to shovel? They are still people--they can decide what's worth doing to earn money and what's not. Most teen jobs pay at least $17-18 an hour and the work is FAR easier than shoveling pure ice. Why would they work that hard for a few dollars more an hour? I wouldn't.

Also, it's a month after Christmas. They don't need anything.

Anonymous wrote:Mine would rather go sledding and hang out with their friends. It's still a snow day for them and they are still kids. They want to enjoy it. 20 years from now, those are the memories they will remember, not earning $40-50 for two hours of hard manual labor.

+ 1 I agree, theyre kids, have fun, its a snowball day!

Anonymous wrote:If you didn't have teens in your neighborhood shoveling it says more about where you chose to live than it says about teens "these days"... teens and tweens were out all day here shoveling.

It says more about where one can afford to live.

Well, when mommy and daddy are still giving them monthly allowances all the way through college.... My DS goes to college with a lot of wealthy kids and he tells me stories about his roommates whining to their parents that their monthly allowance isn't enough. One of them said his was $300/month and the other one said his way $500. They live in on-campus apartments and have meal plans. They don't understand that my son spends his evenings and weekends working at a PT job and that I don't give him an allowance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine would rather go sledding and hang out with their friends. It's still a snow day for them and they are still kids. They want to enjoy it. 20 years from now, those are the memories they will remember, not earning $40-50 for two hours of hard manual labor.

They can do both.

Shoveling snow is also memorable, and it builds confidence and character in a young adult learning to be an independent adult..

It's OK to say your kids are spoiled rich kids.

Ha! I don't let my kids shovel for strangers, our drive-way is done and we also helped neighbors for free. Shovel your own snow! Get your coat on and do your own driveway, instead of being lazy and cheap!

My kid keeps getting asked by neighbors who see him shoveling houses to shovel their houses. It’s brutally cold today. He’s getting tired of the ice which is tedious and slow to remove and says today is his last day shoveling. He’s getting paid about 30$/hr and some people have tipped-he pretty much takes what is given because they’re neighbors and I told him to do that so we don’t create any bad feelings, particularly with the elderly ones whose perspectives on wages are stuck in the 1970s. I told him I would top up whatever he was paid by the neighbors if it’s less than 20$/hr.

Your local landscaper isn’t doing this work for a reason. If they don’t have a plow attachment it’s hard and slow work.

Motivation is not having money, so if your kids aren't motivated, you are probably giving them too much money for doing very little.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine would rather go sledding and hang out with their friends. It's still a snow day for them and they are still kids. They want to enjoy it. 20 years from now, those are the memories they will remember, not earning $40-50 for two hours of hard manual labor.

They can do both.

Shoveling snow is also memorable, and it builds confidence and character in a young adult learning to be an independent adult..

It's OK to say your kids are spoiled rich kids.

It's also OK to say that you're too lazy to do it yourself and expect someone else's teens to solve your problem for you. But you are still the loser in this situation.

If the motivation is $$$, then the price should be right. You all sound cheap. I'm in the Chicago-area, and the going rate teens charge around here to shovel a regular-sized driveway after a big storm is $80. They get plenty of takers.