Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Let Them Be Big: My Hardworking Boys

When I think back over my childhood into becoming a young adult, I think the biggest lesson I learned was to work hard.  My parents didn't necessarily preach this all the time, but they were always working hard and we had a family ice cream shop, so we all had to work hard too.  I was only a 1st grader when I would wipe tables in the shop, fill spoon and napkin containers, wash buckets.  My "pay" was an ice cream cone at the end of my time there.  But I didn't do it for that.  It was just understood, expected, and necessary.  All of my older siblings were there scooping, and me and my little sister would help out however we could.  I *couldn't wait* until I could serve customers, which I was allowed at the age of twelve, and my pay turned from ice cream into cold hard cash.  I loved making my own money, and when I eventually managed the store at 16, would schedule myself in to work six days a week.  Working hard at the shop translated into working hard at school, and in our future careers, and it is really the one thing I wish my kids could experience.

But, since we don't have a family business, we are doing the next best thing, and making sure our kids understand the value of a dollar, learn how to talk to people, and equate hard work with success in life.  How do we do this?  We let them get jobs as soon as possible.


No!  Not that young! :)

Let them be Little, for sure...
but then also, Let them be Big.

Our boys started working the boards and book at our basketball league when they were 13 (they get paid very little but it's in the form of cash and food!) and it's a fun job that gives them a little spending money while letting them watch their friends play basketball.  


In Massachusetts, you can get a work permit at age 14, but most companies don't hire kids until age 16.  One of the families from our church, who owns a great ice cream shop, hired JP at age 14 to wash buckets.  It was so nice of her, and he did a good job which made his momma proud.  Since that was only a summer job, he wanted to find something that was year-round and we did find a great company that believes in giving kids jobs at young ages.  The CEO of Market Basket says:
  
"It’s one of the greatest pleasures of what we do, hiring people and getting to work with people of all ages and particularly we hire 14 and 15-year-olds... It’s such a pleasure to get them into the work place and serving the public, good work discipline and get them started at a young age.”

I love the way he thinks!  John-Paul (15) and Andrew (14) are both happy employees of Market Basket now, bagging groceries and pushing carts until they can train to be cashiers at age 16.  Minimum wage is $12.00/hour here and they get paid time and a half on Sundays.  JP works 8 hours each weekend and Andrew works a 4 hour shift, so they don't get much time, but they get loads of experience, and they start padding their savings account for future expenses.  Phil and I strongly believe everybody benefits from having a customer service job in their life, and we want our kids to be able to experience that training.  Plus, we can't afford to pay for college/car insurance/gas and we also don't want them living at home until they're 30 ;)  So far, so good.  


We love our handsome, hardworking boys!

11 comments:

  1. That's so wonderful. We have a local ice cream chain and they primarily hire high school age kids so hopefully my kids can do the same.

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    1. ANd then they can bring you home a pint of your fave flavor :)

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  2. Cutest and I love the philosophy you guys have developed. My parents did a similar thing with all 7 of us, and we all turned out particularly hardworking - the younger siblings were eventually getting hired purely on the basis of "being a Senour" because they knew they'd have a good and dependable employee on their hands.

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    1. Yes, that's my hope! The big kids will do a good job and the littles will be in demand :)

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  3. Amy in OregonFebruary 05, 2019

    yeah for boys at work!! I have been trying to help my soon to be 14 year old son a job, but we have had little to no luck. :( maybe when summer comes we can find him a seasonal job in our small coastal community.

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    1. It's so hard to find that first one...also check with your church, our kids have done some landscaping. They also serve funerals and weddings at $10 each. IT's not really about the money at this point, just the experience and getting them used to it :)

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  4. I have to start with the photo...your boys are growing up! And, how handsome they are all dressed up for work. I'm proud of them and they aren't even mine. lol.
    I enjoyed reading this because it was a good little encouragement that I needed to read. Lily is 16 and doesn't work (yet!), but has been off and on eager to find employment. Our trouble is that the drive to suitable employment would be anywhere from 9-18 miles away. Then comes the whole vehicle dilemma, another bridge to cross at some point I suppose. Jonah took on a paper route almost a year ago and while it only requires Saturday deliveries of 120 papers, it does include bagging every Friday afternoon after they are delivered to our house and then the Sat. morning delivery. He also doesn't get paid very much, but it has boosted his savings account a bit and honestly, he's lasted 11 months longer than I thought he would. HA!
    I do find that in our circles of friends and teens in our area, it seems a lot of kids aren't working as teens. I didn't realize this until the last few months when I don't see teens really working anywhere I frequent and instead see so many just "hanging out" around town. What's with this generation?! Seeing this makes me more determined to get my kids to see the value of hard work ethic and discipline even more.
    Again, thanks for the post!

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    1. Yes! I know so many teens who don't work also and I just don't understand it! Watching kids play video games for hours or lay around on their phones literally makes me crazy. Get them up and out and moving and learning life skills, ya know? I hope you can find a good fit for Lily that isn't too hard on the family life...our grocery store is only about a mile away from our house.

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  5. I started working when I was 11, serving food at big Polish Catholic weddings. I also started in the Church Nursery (we were paid), and worked after school at 16 at a dentist office cleaning up. It was the best lesson for life I could have received, even though I was pretty tired in HS. You're doing it right mama!

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  6. It's such a disservice to kids for them to not work! My friends' graduating almost 19yo can't make a sandwich for himself. My kiddo is 2 going on 3 and she "empties" the dishwasher (puts away silverware and stacks plates, cups and bowls), fills the dog food bowl and "sets" the table (plates, cups, forks and butter knives). Contributing is a part of life.

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