Starting at McDonald's

Ask a parent if they think kids should work and you get a variety of answers.  Our philosophy is that as soon as the kid is old enough to get a work permit (14 in our state) they should be working.  I'm not talking a full time job, I'm talking about a few hours on the weekend at a fast food restaurant. 

Last week was our daughter's turn to join the rank of file of employees, very grudgingly.  We have connections at the local McDonald's so that's where both of our kids work.  Belle did quite a bit of complaining up to actually starting work.  I'm not going to have any time to hang with my friends, the uniforms are ugly, I don't want to have to work........ The list goes on.  This is the same little girl who tries to get out of her chores as often as she can.  She was suppose to clean the bathroom yesterday but she turned her sweet little smile on daddy who ended up doing it for her - ugh!  She didn't get off scot-free, he assigned other chores, they just weren't as hard.

Here is a list of some of the things what we hope our kids will actually get out of working:

• The value of hard work and the necessity of doing the job right the first time
• The value of money.  When the kids have to pay for things the items suddenly aren't that important
• The affect your actions can have on others (not picking up after ourselves, etc)
• Getting along with others, even if we don't like them
• Managing your time wisely
• Planning your schedule in advance so that you don't have to work for an important event
• Money management.  We set up a personal account for the kids at the bank next door to McDonald's.  They are responsible for cashing their check, saving half and managing their money.  Their account is connected to mine so I do some monitoring

The kids do learn these things at home, but sometimes getting the lesson from someone who isn't your parent sinks in a little better.

Here are her observations from her first few days:

• Working is much better than she thought it would be, she's glad she has the job
• Working is very tiring, especially such a physical job as cleaning the lobby at McDonald's.  She wishes I could understand how working 4 hours at McDonald's is so much more tiring than my 10 hours in the office.  I do sit on my hinder all day you know!
• Spending money that you've actually worked for can be very rewarding.  She gets to blow her whole first paycheck at the shopping mall today - all $23.64 of it.  Future paychecks have 50% going in the bank.
• The uniform really isn't that bad, even though her pants are a little short :)

Do your kids work?  What lessons have they gotten out of it?

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