Kids........Aaaarrgghh!

[Andy Collins]

Reading this has really got me thinking, I can see where Stevie is coming from, cos it says it under his name! My lad works hard during the week, I'm friends with his Manager and my brother is working with him, so I have no worries about that. But he moans that his apprenticeship salary is so low, which it is. I tried to offer what I thought was a fair amount for "unsocial" hours ie saturday morning, essentially triple time. Yes, I dont want to be spending my time doing menial chores, because I'd rather be out pricing more work, selfishly. I dont want either of my boys to have to work like I did, dont forget this new minimum wage did not exist in my time, but I expect them to learn a few core values, to prepare them for the real world. Part of this is if you want to live on bread and butter, you work a week, if you want jam on it, then you have to be prepared to do extra.

[eggsarascal]

wow, i read that with my dads voice in my head:laugh1:

 

Your right stevie when i wrote that i thought of what my old man used to say to me, saying that i do allright at my business and a guess you do at yours, so it might sound old fashioned but it works, and were living prove of that.

[Stephen Blair]

where i am has NOTHING to do with anyone apart from me. the ups and the downs:biggrin:

[eggsarascal]

where i am has NOTHING to do with anyone apart from me. the ups and the downs:biggrin:

 

Everyone knows where you are it says on your profile:001_tt2:

[Andy Collins]

Well, it seems the carelessly left laying around job ad has done the trick, asked him to lay the table while we fetched fish and chips, and he had seen the ad. This brought the topic up at the table, without awkwardness. He's going to start next Saturday doing maintenance My way works

[Stephen Blair]

Everyone knows where you are it says on your profile:001_tt2:

 

Nice to see there is a child inside you with some fun and humour:thumbup:, listening to all this doom and gloom, when i was a tit lad nonesense on here was depressing me.

[Tom D]

I think 18 - 19 is too old to be starting a manual job, by that age kids are used to lie ins and a cushy life (not necessarily your lad Andy). I think the school system has been letting kids down ever since they abolished the grammar school setup, back then kids were taught skills at 13-14 like brick laying and other useful stuff. Then a bunch of middle class liberals came along and decided that all children, whatever their interests, should have a purely academic education. This made thousands of kids who would otherwise have been inspired and been able to take pride in aquiring a skill loose all interest in the education system. There are thousands of kids who have lost all interest in any form of education by the time they are 14, we then expect them to knuckle down aged 17 - 18 and go to colledge or apprenticeship schemes, by then its too late.

 

My dad made be go out and work aged 14 during the summer holidays,(on a game farm) it was the best thing that ever happened to me, I will always remember paying in my first pay cheque £600 for 5 weeks work at £2 an hour, I thought I was so rich, and that feeling of working hard and reaping the rewards has never left me.

[eggsarascal]

Well, it seems the carelessly left laying around job ad has done the trick, asked him to lay the table while we fetched fish and chips, and he had seen the ad. This brought the topic up at the table, without awkwardness. He's going to start next Saturday doing maintenance My way works

 

Softly softly catchy monkey, well done Andy, hope it works out well for both of you.

[Andy Collins]

The thing is, I want him to want more, I want him to help me and himself, and I want him to want to do it. He is a conscientious lad, gets on with tasks methodically and cares about how its done. I dont want some idiot who couldnt give a damn, thats why I offered him a tenner an hour. I shant be breathing down his neck, checking his every move, the jobs will there to do, and he'll be his own "boss" if you like. He's happy with the whole arrangement now. Our kids want to be needed, and loved, that doesnt change as they get older, but they still need direction and guidance, and above all they want to feel that they are important to you. He's no longer a seedling struggling to grow, or a whippy sapling fighting up through the canopy, but a young tree that needs occasional attention to maturity.

They still frustrate the hell out of you now and again tho

[Stephen Blair]

yes you got what you wanted.