Why Don't Kids Do Chores Anymore?
In article .com, fgoodwin
says... David Hare-Scott wrote: "fgoodwin" wrote in message ups.com... Why Don't Kids Do Chores Anymore? They do round here There are kids in your neighborhood who still offer to mow yards? I've lived in Dallas, Austin, Denton, San Antonio, Dallas again, Austin again, Washington, DC, and San Antonio again, and I've never seen any kids offering to mow lawns, tho I have seen a few cases of kids mowing their own lawns. There are kids in the neighborhood who offer to mow yards (for pay, of course). As there are who offer to shovel driveways in the winter. The difference I see from when I was younger is that, I'd take on a chore like that as a committment. That is, I have x customers counting on me to shovel their driveway when it snows. So I'd be out the door when the snow stops, with three driveways to do. As a homeowner, though, I find that it was more, my driveway will get shovelled OK, but only if there aren't a bunch of kids putting together a ski trip that day. In the latter case, the driveway stays snow-covered. Not good. So I have a contractor with a truck who picks up a lot of cash on snowy days do it - it gets plowed every time. But then I'd have to turn away the kid that does come to my door. Except now my son has enough muscle to do it - so, yes, some chores do get done by kids. I ran into similar things getting babysitting. I arrange babysitting for my bowling night. Back when I was babysitting, such an arrangement meant that Thursday nights are spoken for, period. As a parent, I found that I'd get calls from my regular babysitter if there was a club meeting or something that night. So anymore, before my son got big, I'd hire kids for one-off chores or single babysitting nights, only. Can't make any continuing arrangement. Disappointing. And, yes, it was coming from the parents. I've had all of three conversations with parents about this pattern, and the response is along the lines of "you don't expect them to give up THAT ...". So I'd go elsewhere to make arrangements I could count on. But then the kid's parent would be disappointed. Oh well. Banty -- |
Why Don't Kids Do Chores Anymore?
"Banty" wrote in message
I ran into similar things getting babysitting. I arrange babysitting for my bowling night. Back when I was babysitting, such an arrangement meant that Thursday nights are spoken for, period. As a parent, I found that I'd get calls from my regular babysitter if there was a club meeting or something that night. So anymore, before my son got big, I'd hire kids for one-off chores or single babysitting nights, only. Can't make any continuing arrangement. Disappointing. My oldest daughter would love to babysit, but today's mommies don't tend to leave the baby's side for a minute. So finding customers has been rather hard for her. She has a news paper route though. -- Sue (mom to three girls) |
Why Don't Kids Do Chores Anymore?
"Sue" wrote in message ... My oldest daughter would love to babysit, but today's mommies don't tend to leave the baby's side for a minute. So finding customers has been rather hard for her. She has a news paper route though. I don't tend to want highschoolers. I'm sure some are very mature, but I prefer older babysitters, as I know many other moms do. |
Why Don't Kids Do Chores Anymore?
"toypup" wrote:
"Sue" wrote in message My oldest daughter would love to babysit, but today's mommies don't tend to leave the baby's side for a minute. So finding customers has been rather hard for her. She has a news paper route though. I don't tend to want highschoolers. I'm sure some are very mature, but I prefer older babysitters, as I know many other moms do. My sister babysat a lot in hs - I didn't do as much. Mostly New Years Eve as a last resort kind of thing. I didn't use babysitters much as most of the time I would take the children to the base nursery instead of getting sitters. I didn't much care for the older ladies because I wasn't sure they would do things as I wanted, because things changed since they had their children. Also they cost more. DD#1 was babysitting by the time she was 11 - at least with her own siblings for short periods (half an hour) and a little later for the lady down the street. So after that I almost never had sitters. grandma Rosalie |
Why Don't Kids Do Chores Anymore?
"Sue" wrote in message ... My oldest daughter would love to babysit, but today's mommies don't tend to leave the baby's side for a minute. So finding customers has been rather hard for her. She has a news paper route though. My oldest daughter turns down babysitting jobs constantly, and only occasionally babysits for one family down the street. She started sitting for the when she was 14, and is now 16. They are now 7 and 12. Her friends who like babysitting are overwhelmed with offers. However, these aren't diaper aged kids, they are 4 and up. |
Why Don't Kids Do Chores Anymore?
"toypup" wrote in message
I don't tend to want highschoolers. I'm sure some are very mature, but I prefer older babysitters, as I know many other moms do. My preferable age for a sitter was 13-16. Any older than that and they are interested in boys, being on the phone, and/or having more of a social life than sitting. I have had great experiences with sitters of this age group, as they love to sit and play with the kids and will do stuff with them, rather than sitting them in front of the TV. Then if you go any older, then it costs an arm and a leg to have a sitter come in. -- Sue (mom to three girls) |
Why Don't Kids Do Chores Anymore?
"Cathy Kearns" wrote in message
My oldest daughter turns down babysitting jobs constantly, and only occasionally babysits for one family down the street. She started sitting for the when she was 14, and is now 16. They are now 7 and 12. Her friends who like babysitting are overwhelmed with offers. However, these aren't diaper aged kids, they are 4 and up. Too bad you couldn't give some sitting jobs DD1's way. She is getting frustrated. She did have one family that had her sit, but they moved away. There are some new families moving in the sub behind our house, so maybe there is hope. It certainly isn't like it used to be. I was very much in demand in my babysitting days. -- Sue (mom to three girls) |
Why Don't Kids Do Chores Anymore?
"Sue" wrote in message news:15OdnVWV0stWHMrZnZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@wideopenwest .com... "toypup" wrote in message I don't tend to want highschoolers. I'm sure some are very mature, but I prefer older babysitters, as I know many other moms do. My preferable age for a sitter was 13-16. Any older than that and they are interested in boys, being on the phone, and/or having more of a social life than sitting. I have had great experiences with sitters of this age group, as they love to sit and play with the kids and will do stuff with them, rather than sitting them in front of the TV. Then if you go any older, then it costs an arm and a leg to have a sitter come in. I don't know if I have a preferred age other than I want an adult. We have a college age sitter who is great with the kids. She's not as you describe. She gets down on their level and plays with them. They totally love her and they beg to see her. She charges $10/hr whether for one or both of my kids. We often give a little more. I think she's very much worth it. |
Why Don't Kids Do Chores Anymore?
"Rosalie B." wrote in message ... I didn't use babysitters much as most of the time I would take the children to the base nursery instead of getting sitters. I didn't much care for the older ladies because I wasn't sure they would do things as I wanted, because things changed since they had their children. Also they cost more. We don't use sitters much, either, just one college age one who fills in. We do have a dcp who is a mother with grown children, but being that she is professional, she does respect our wishes WRT the kids. |
Why Don't Kids Do Chores Anymore?
Sue wrote: "toypup" wrote in message I don't tend to want highschoolers. I'm sure some are very mature, but I prefer older babysitters, as I know many other moms do. My preferable age for a sitter was 13-16. Any older than that and they are interested in boys, being on the phone, and/or having more of a social life than sitting. I have had great experiences with sitters of this age group, as they love to sit and play with the kids and will do stuff with them, rather than sitting them in front of the TV. Then if you go any older, then it costs an arm and a leg to have a sitter come in. -- Sue (mom to three girls) I think it's a combination of age, interests, and temperament. You are probably most likely to get that mix in the 13-16 age, however! I remember when I was growing up. We had a favorite babysitter would always play with us. When she got too old (I forget how old - probably when she went away to college), her younger sister starting babysitting for us. She was probably the same age - but wasn't as interested in playing with us, and preferred to watch tv and/or do her homework. My problem finding a babysitter is that the girls I wanted to babysit were also active on the basketball team, and didn't sit during the season. I'm really looking forward to when the two girls down the block turn 12 - they are planning to team-sit together. One of them is better with kids than the other (she has already shown aptitude - one day last summer she had 4 3-4 year olds practicing Stop Drop and Roll by rolling down the hill next to her house, for instance) while the other I think mainly wants to hang out with her friend. Irene |
Why Don't Kids Do Chores Anymore?
In article ,
"Sue" wrote: "Cathy Kearns" wrote in message My oldest daughter turns down babysitting jobs constantly, and only occasionally babysits for one family down the street. She started sitting for the when she was 14, and is now 16. They are now 7 and 12. Her friends who like babysitting are overwhelmed with offers. However, these aren't diaper aged kids, they are 4 and up. Too bad you couldn't give some sitting jobs DD1's way. She is getting frustrated. She did have one family that had her sit, but they moved away. There are some new families moving in the sub behind our house, so maybe there is hope. It certainly isn't like it used to be. I was very much in demand in my babysitting days. When my kids were in high school and babysitting, they got most of their jobs through church -- after they volunteered to help in the nursery or preschool classes. The kids liked them, and the parents got to know them a bit, so THEN they'd ask if they did any babysitting. (The youth group also sposored a babysitting class, which they took together over several Saturdays, so that helped, too.) It worked out pretty well -- for a time, there were people who would call here to ask which of the three was available; they might have a preference, but would accept any of them. -- Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care |
Why Don't Kids Do Chores Anymore?
"Irene" wrote in message
I think it's a combination of age, interests, and temperament. You are probably most likely to get that mix in the 13-16 age, however! That's very true. I was generalizing too much with just my experience. My problem finding a babysitter is that the girls I wanted to babysit were also active on the basketball team, and didn't sit during the season. That is a problem too. Kids are very busy these days. DD1 is not able to play any sports, so she isn't as busy as most kids, but she still has choir. I'm really looking forward to when the two girls down the block turn 12 - they are planning to team-sit together. You can do what I did, if your interested. You can have them start coming over now and just be a mother's helper to you. I trained my friends daughter this way. When she was 13 or so, she came in the summer while I was working at home and play with the kids and then as she got older, I was able to leave her here on her own and then gradually worked up to more hours, when I needed her. One of them is better with kids than the other (she has already shown aptitude - one day last summer she had 4 3-4 year olds practicing Stop Drop and Roll by rolling down the hill next to her house, for instance) while the other I think mainly wants to hang out with her friend. Yes, temperment of the person definitely the key. -- Sue (mom to three girls) |
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