fair pay for 16 year old son.

[bowtechmadman]

Gents it's nice to see I'm part of a forum that is populated w/ a great deal of people that have very similiar values as I do.
Why is this? I frequent a ATV site that would have had maybe 4 people come up w/ similiar responses to this question.

 

[nametrux]

bowtechmadman!

Gents it's nice to see I'm part of a forum that is populated w/ a great deal of people that have very similiar values as I do.
Why is this? I frequent a ATV site that would have had maybe 4 people come up w/ similiar responses to this question.

How about you C/P the first post and put it on the ATV site and give us an update? Might make for an interesting experiment.

 

[KRS]

In the old days if a father was a deadbeat he got rousted by the local good ole boys and roughed up a little to let him know his responsibilities.

Reminds me of the movie October Sky; about the kid and his rockets. The main character (the boy) has a dad that runs the coal mine. His dad comes across a lousy drunk father beating a kid (the main character's friend) and warns him "he gets a scratch, you get a scar...".

I know of a young married lady whose husband wasn't treating her well and her brothers paid that man a visit and let him know what is expected....

KRS

 

[ropensaddle]

Reminds me of the movie October Sky; about the kid and his rockets. The main character (the boy) has a dad that runs the coal mine. His dad comes across a lousy drunk father beating a kid (the main character's friend) and warns him "he gets a scratch, you get a scar...".

I know of a young married lady whose husband wasn't treating her well and her brothers paid that man a visit and let him know what is expected....

KRS

I will bet it worked or he left too! I don't condone vigilante killings
but a good old fashion azz whoopin can sure make things better
imo. They are not as scared of the law as they are of concerned
and determined citizens.

 

[yetty734]

dont pay him...it keeps him warm...twice. I'm 16, get a's and b's in a hard school, run my own property service, find, cut, split, and stack all of our wood myself, and party just as much as my other friends do. Kids dont know how to work these days...america has become soft. I've got more callus on my hands then the most grown men i know....and it keeps kids in shape to. kids actually work and dont play videogames=good bye childhood obesity problem. feeww...srry if i offended any had to get that out.

 

[spike60]

dont pay him...it keeps him warm...twice. I'm 16, get a's and b's in a hard school, run my own property service, find, cut, split, and stack all of our wood myself, and party just as much as my other friends do. Kids dont know how to work these days...america has become soft. I've got more callus on my hands then the most grown men i know....and it keeps kids in shape to. kids actually work and dont play videogames=good bye childhood obesity problem. feeww...srry if i offended any had to get that out.

Maybe the country is going to be OK after all. Way to go Yetty!

 

[warlock1944]

Chores are chores

I grew up on the farm and here was the rule:

I had a list of things that were my resposibility, feed cows, hogs, chickens, and help with the field work. The list was always posted in the mud room. When i wanted to do something if my chores were done it was ok, if not and I asked anyway then the answer was no foreever.

Dad made me a deal, if chores were done then I could cut wood in the wood lot (no chainsaw) load it into the truck. He would take me to deliver it and I could keep all the money. iT WAS MY JOB TO FIND THE CUSTOMERS.

Same with food, meal was put on the table and that is what you ate. If you did not like it you waited for the next meal, no snacks, however if you ate well then you could have whatever we had when ever you wanted.

Kids are the way they are today because parents do not do their jobs.

A definate no on paying to cut wood!

 

[slofr8]

This reminds me of a story a friend of mine told me about when his son wanted some extra cash. My buddy has a Cedar mill and told his 13 or 14 year old son he would pay him $4.00 an hour for cleaning up around the mill. Not liking the first days effort, he told his son "tomorrow it's $3.00 an hour."
Still not satisfied, wages were dropped to $2.00 which prompted a failed intervention from a teenagers version of an organized labor union. Mom.
Day four came and yet another pay cut to $1.00.
On day five the boy was told that today he was working for nothing and if if he didn't show a marked improvement, then Dad was more of a baby sitter than an employer and it would take the boys allowance to cover the cost of "Daddy Day Care"
It finally sunk in and he became a very valuable asset around the mill. Pay increased with increased responsibility. Well done.
Dan.

 

[Cowboy Billy]

Hmm my nephew is 6. I do bribe him. If he is good he can come out and run the logsplitter He has been running it since he was three. He knows to watch for me to nod before he engages the ram. He also helps stack what he can. For him and my niece 10 it is a treat to come out and help. They usually want a camp fire when they are done. But we work together and its a lot of fun. Rather then telling them what to do I tell them several ways to do it and ask them what they think would be the best way to do it. Then explain why the way they picked was good or bad. Hopefully helping them think things now will help them do so with all their choices as they grow up.

When I was a kid Dad never had much money. But dad would do a A/C job and would get us a old mini bike or something that we would have to fix. And we learned a lot that way.

I started doing firewood when I was 9 or 10 with my grandpa brother and cousin. It was fun then and still is. And its the best exersize I get!!!

Billy

 

[BaldSawRunner]

so my son wants to work so he has money to pay his insurance gas etc on his jeep he will be gettin his license pretty quick wife says he should get paid for splittin stackin haulin etc. i say he sucks up just as much heat as every one else in this family. i say its chores he has to do as part of the family. what do you guys do ??? and if i do pay him it would have to be by the job not hour i get burned everytime i pay him by the hour. when i look out and see him texting with that g&d da%n cell phone i want to put my boot so far up his arse . damn i hate them things ( sorry i had to vent on that) so what do you guys think.

I wouldn't pay him unless you are selling the wood and he helps you in that process. I helped my dad in the summer cut firewood to sell starting when I was 10, and although I am pretty sure I did more playing than working att hat age, I got $5 or so a month for helping. As far as the family wood pile, no one got paid extra for doing that.

Of course, as I got older and actually helped more in the firewood processing for selling, I did get paid more.

Also, it taught me a work ethic for my adult life.

 

[rebel3.0]

i say he sucks up just as much heat as every one else in this family. i say its chores he has to do as part of the family.

Thats what I was told when I was living home. Everyone in the family helped out with the years wood.

 

[HD-tech-NH]

I worked for my money when I was your boys age and younger. I had a paper rout before I was old enough to work then had a job as soon as I turned 15.

 

[streeter]

I wouldn't pay him unless you are selling the wood and he helps you in that process. I helped my dad in the summer cut firewood to sell starting when I was 10, and although I am pretty sure I did more playing than working att hat age, I got $5 or so a month for helping. As far as the family wood pile, no one got paid extra for doing that.

Of course, as I got older and actually helped more in the firewood processing for selling, I did get paid more.

Also, it taught me a work ethic for my adult life.

So very true!!!

 

[milkie62]

My son did not want to work at Walmart or the local supermarket.He wanted to mow lawns while he went to school.Found 0% financing on a mower and trailer.He was only 15 at the time so I had to drive him to his jobs.He makes the payments and only works 2 days a week and makes more than his friends working all week.Plus the new mower gets used on our 4 acre lawn.

 

[stumpjumper83]

When I was 15 I was in the same shoes as your son. So dad said, "here is the saw son, and handed me a 044". And I started my own firewood business with my younger brother.

We lived on a farm so using the tractor was a given, but I had to put diesel in it. If I needed saw gas, I bought it, same with saw chains and files.

I'd get home from school, fire up the tractor and skid tops for an hour or so, then it was time for barn chores.

On weekends I'd cut and split the weeks tow. Then as the snow got to be too deep to move around in the woods, we were selling the wood. Dad used his farm truck for this, but I had to pay him $15 for his gas, and Bro and I loaded and unloaded it.

All in all it worked out good. We could make $10 and hour if we worked at it. I used about 15 gal. of diesel and 3gal. or so of saw gas. Sold 100 face cord of firewood. Blew the money trying to fix a pos of a susuki savage that I sold to another brother for $75... But I had fun...

 

[Illinibrew]

I hesitated to comment when i first read this post as it seems lots of good advice similar to mine was being added. However, I just wanted to share my experience too as I've enjoyed reading everyones stories.

I guess I was about 13 when my dad decided I was the equivalent of a rented mule around our place. If he was working, I was working. As I got older I took over certain chores (mowing and firewood specifically). When I was 16 he said once my work was done my pay was use of his mower, truck and trailer. So I started a lawn business. Dad renegotiated once it took off and I was up around 25 lawns, haha!

Long story short this taught me that opportunity to make more money was much more valuable than spending money. So instead of having enough money for the movies and burgers I learned to negotiate contracts, maintain equipment and be responsible for following through on what I had agreed to. My first summer away from home I started up in my college town. By the next summer I was hiring buddies to keep up!

I'm a year into owning my own home and my dad just came out for a visit. More times than not our stories would circle back around to cleaning up trees after a storm or loading up the barn with the next years wood. Pay, barter or free its fun to read so many of you guys spending time with your sons working outside!

 

[Zodiac45]

When I was a kid we split and stacked wood as part of our chores....and we liked it!


We mowed the grass.........and we liked it!


We washed the car.......and we liked it!


Did dishes........and we liked it!


Painted the house........and we liked it!


Punishment came in the form of a belt whipping........and we liked it!

Can I have another Sir?

I actually asked for a lawnmower as a combined Christmas/B-day gift when I was 12yrs old. It was an old self propeled reel type mower that left those lines from the rear rollers. I probably mowed a dozen lawns that summer and was able too earn money for school clothes and supplies. I also paid my Mom a room and board fee of about half what I made too. We had 5 kids in the family and she was a single parent at that time, so everyone kicked in.

 

[BaldSawRunner]

To the OP, what did you decide to do? How is it working out? Give us an update on this situation