by Maria Rogers

Created on: August 27, 2009   Last Updated: August 30, 2009

I grew up during a time when you went to school, studied hard, made good grades and went onto college. After that you got married, raised a family and started your career. It all seemed pretty clear. Whether you were male or female, those were the ideas supported by your family. It was unheard of to work while going to school in my house. My parents wanted us to direct all our attention to thriving in school, so that we could go to a good college and get a great education.

Not so today. Kids don't seem to give school much thought anymore. They're okay with working after school and making their little money for things that they want. However, they expect us, the parents to buy them their cars, continuously put gas in it and pay the insurance on it, as though we had that much money just laying around. Imagine that times five. That just won't do. Kids have this idea that money grows on trees or that parents have a bottomless pocket of money at their disposal.

I watch kids today and it scares me to think where they will be in ten years. my children have always been hard working in school and at work. They learned early how to save money and what the value of the dollar was. I decided when they were in high school that I would allow them to work, so they could appreciate everything they got from us. This, by their own admission, did wonders for them and today they are doing the same in their families.

Having three boys was a joyful, though sometimes trying experience. Boys tend to want bigger toys than girls do. Cars were a big issue on our house. Each of my sons needed (their words exactly) a car to get to school. They were no longer happy just taking the school bus because it wasn't cool enough. Besides, all their friends had cars...really mom! Thus began our experience with preparing for the future.

I allowed both of my older sons to work on the condition that they gave most of their earnings to us, to put away for a car, an apartment, or even college. Everything began very smoothly and they worked part-time jobs after school, then for the entire summer. After the first summer, we looked into buying them cars with the money they had saved. These were exciting times for them because they felt as though they were growing up and would soon be independent.

There was however, a very rude awakening at the time as well. After purchasing their vehicles, they were both given gas cards and the responsibility to pay for that gas every month, out of their salaries. At first,

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>