Summer job for my 7 year-old daughter.

awww that is really cute. i am glad that she is motivated to do the chores because there is something she wants to get. that is a good training for her while she is young. it is like working for something you really want and it feel much better if you get it out of your hard work. that's okay, but just guide her so she doesn't hurt herself working in the house. when i was small, i would usually break the dishes accidentally and would cut myself.

Yes..~! little things like this prepare people for real life and how to do things in their own place the payment is good to because she may learn the value f money this way due to fact she will do all work for what (1 toy) approx... so she will know what has to be done to earn her toys and maybe u'll luck out she will understand that 1 toy costed money and apprecaite it more kkind of thing .. great idea keep us posted hope it works out for all of yas!!! Low~!

Your husband is right. It is good for her. My daughter does the same with her kids. They learn good things about life that way.

If it's a summer job then it shouldn't be done at the house because I'm afraid that when she gets older, she will no longer do household chores without any pay. I have said this because my wife's cousin who is now 13 years old will not do anything if no equivalent money is given to him. When he's young, his parents pays him money for any house jobs or anything that they told him to do like buying something or getting a haircomb. In my opinion, that plan should be stopped.

For me, it's not a good training for there is a payment. I am not yet a mother, but the way I see it, your daughter will be trained to do household chores with pay. She will always expect payments for everything that she'll do for you.

Your husband is right. It sounds like a very healthy situation. You're teaching your daughter that it's important to earn so you're teaching her how to adapt in the real world. It sounds like she's motivated, ambitious and has wonderful work ethic. I'd like to applaud her...and...you for the way you're handling the situation. The only thing I would do different is to teach her that you will pay her on a specific day that YOU choose. It could be once a week or bi-weekly. That way she will learn how to trust you to pay her and how to patiently wait for pay day. Congratulations...on doing some wonderful parenting.

I think that is an excellent idea, especially as your daughter herself suggested it. She should be rewarded for enterprise, if nothing else, but also for setting sensible and realistic rates. That girl should go far! As her 'employer', make sure that you introduce her gently to the principles of employment. Be ready with praise and don't be too hard in criticising her work. Make sure that she derives satisfaction from doing the work well, not just from earning money, because, sure as eggs, when she gets to run her own household, that will be the ONLY reward she will get for keeping it clean!

It will be good for her. It will help her realize the value of a dollar. I always kept a list of odd jobs on the fridge with an amount that each payed and a date they had to be done by. I did not give them a certain day to do them. If for some reason, they chose not to them, we did them as a team, for no money after that date. They were still responsible for cleaning up after themselves for no money.

dont stop her from doing it...its her training which she can use when she growsup and she will know the real value of money so that she wont waste it in the future...

I think it's a great idea! She is learning responsibility AND learning a valuable lesson of working to earn things & that things aren't just handed to you on a silver platter! Good job for you and your little girl!

40 or 50 cents and a dollar? Is your husband american? In my opinion its fine to let the kid know the value of hard work while differentiating that with household chores. You have to give her guidance that its like make believe and training all in one. Kids who have been exposed to work from a young age most likely become easily successful when they grow up because they already are used to it. My grandmother is half chinese. The chinese let their kids work in any of their businesses as part of their training, specially doing the math part which vital to a business. When they grow up they become independent and know enough to face the challenges ahead of them. To me that is not child abuse as long as they have fun and like what they are doing. I thought my kids to work too. I made it all like a game so they would enjoy it everytime. Now my eldest is hardworking and independent. A proud father I am.

Wow...a parent who actually doesn't give into their child. Kudos to you! Keep her working for things she wants, and she may turn out better than the rest of upcoming generations. As long as you have chores around the house for her that she doesn't get paid for along with the extra chores she will get paid for, the message should get across perfectly. I did this with my parents, too, because I had goals set for myself at that age for my career and future (I wanted to invest in real estate, and I wanted to buy my own first car at sixteen, so I started working for friends and family around your daughter's age). I had chores that I had to do anyway, since I was a part of the household (dishes, trash cans, cat litterboxes), but I would pick up more chores and such for money. I never liked my parents spending money on me, since I could work for it myself. I had my first (external) job at fourteen, and $10,000 saved by fifteen that I put immediately as a down payment on my first real estate rental property. If my parents hadn't allowed me to do extra work and such, I doubt I'd have the work ethic I do now, nor would I even have my business. Even if your daughter doesn't have career motivations or anything like that, at the very least she's already thinking about saving up for toys that she wouldn't get otherwise. The fact that she immediately thought of working for the money is a good sign for you...most kids these days would simply whine until their parents gave in. Your daughter's mindset is rare; please encourage it and let her know it's admirable for a child to want to work for something they can't yet have.

Hello chicgale, my parents always taught me to earn if I want something, it is like no free lunch for the luxury things and if I want it badly then I need to work and earn it by myself. I help my parents since I was a little kid but not the kind of job like your daughter did, I help my dad or my mom's to organize their file or anything related to their job because if I help them to do the house chore it wont considered as a job but as a duty hehehe. Im a student and I dont have a part time job but i help my dad to handle emails and other stuff related to his job and this is how i get my extra money aside from the weekly allowance i get every monday. I think it is a good training to your daughter to teach her responsibility and to earn money. My 14 years old brother also saves money to buy what he likes so it is so rare to ask parents to buy him something and he also helps my parent to get extra money. Because Im such as a secretary for my father so my brother is an assistant for my mother

For me, it's a good start to train her at an early age. Like making her do chores and errands. It's a good training for her so that when she gets older, she's more independent. But don't exhaust her with a lot of chores. hehehe She's only seven years old.

If your daughter is offering to do the house work for money then its not child abuse. Your not forcing her to do it. I think it is good house training skills for her but she has to understand that there will be some jobs she will have to do without pay as otherwise she wont do things unless she gets a 'reward'. It is nice that she has offered to do housework for you in order to save money for a toy that she wants. That is teaching her life skills of having to save for things and knowing she can not have everything she wants when she wants. Maybe ask a few friends or family members and see if they have any paying jobs your daughter can do for them as it will make it seem that she is working (depending on the age of your daughter. Your daughter can come and do my housework as I hate it lol x

I think that it is a great idea to start making your children aware of the fact that they can't just get the things that they want all of the time and that they should be able to work for them. I used to work for things when I was her age, and it actually made me have a fantastic attitude towards money in the end. You should make sure that you are not making her do too much though. Maybe you could make a list of jobs with how much each of them is worth, so that she knows exactly the things that she should be doing. As she gets older she will probably want to start doing other jobs so that she can earn more money, and I think that this is a great way for her to be able to earn more money.

When my children asked for payment for doing household chores I did not complain I just asked them to pay my as well for the job I did and they always owed me money...so that took care of that! household chores should be done as a family and children should not expect to be paid for it...yes sure give your child some pocket money so she can learn to save at an early age...but house chores should be done without pay!

all 4 of my kids have chores to do and they get points and at the end of the week they get money based on how many points they got my kids are 3 6 9 and 13 , i will not pay them for the chores they did not do its good for them to teach them how to earn and save there money

I don't really see a problem with this unless she starts refusing to do chores if you don't pay her. I grew up getting a weekly allowance of usually $5 and then around report card time if I did good I would get extra money along with my allowance. I think I wanted a gameboy as a kid so my parents told me to save up for it and I did. I don't think they actually believed I would do it because when I had enough for it and gave them the money to go buy it they were surprised. I think getting an allowance as a kid and having to save up for things I wanted really helped me because now I still save money and know how to spend it wisely. Now my parents tell me they could probably learn how to manage money from me lol.

I think a reward would be good if she does her chores. I grew up exactly the same. I turned out fine. And I love my parents. Now that I have a job, I'd always give them what they ask if I can afford it. So, it's just letting her realize that money is important that it is not easy to earn money. Also, she won't demand for expensive toy in the future. However you should always teach her the right values. This is actually not a bad Idea. =)