https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 10 Apr 2026 07:11:56 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-work-for-your-kids-or-do-they-work-for-you#post-5887 Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:06:00 +0000 looch 5887@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>awesome, thank you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-work-for-your-kids-or-do-they-work-for-you#post-5883 Mon, 24 Oct 2011 06:59:24 +0000 mrbee 5883@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Found the quote, looch!</p> <p>“Before urbanization, children were viewed as economic assets to their parents. If you had a farm, they toiled alongside you to maintain its upkeep; if you had a family business, the kids helped mind the store. But all of this dramatically changed with the moral and technological revolutions of modernity. As we gained in prosperity, childhood came increasingly to be viewed as a protected, privileged time, and once college degrees became essential to getting ahead, children became not only a great expense but subjects to be sculpted, stimulated, instructed, groomed. (The Princeton sociologist Viviana Zelizer describes this transformation of a child’s value in five ruthless words: “Economically worthless but emotionally priceless.”) Kids, in short, went from being our staffs to being our bosses.“</p> <p>Here is the full article:<br /> <a href="http://nymag.com/news/features/67024/" rel="nofollow">http://nymag.com/news/features/67024/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-work-for-your-kids-or-do-they-work-for-you#post-5877 Mon, 24 Oct 2011 05:30:45 +0000 mrbee 5877@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch I couldn't find the article last night! I think Bee might have the link somewhere... going to ask her today if she can track it down! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-work-for-your-kids-or-do-they-work-for-you#post-5876 Mon, 24 Oct 2011 02:38:29 +0000 looch 5876@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'd love to read the article. Who was the author/where was it published? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-work-for-your-kids-or-do-they-work-for-you#post-5870 Sun, 23 Oct 2011 22:23:03 +0000 Red 5870@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree that the parents work for their kids in most American families. My husband and I joke that we will only allow our LO to participate in extracurricular activities that doesn't involve intensive traveling for practice/games/events because we don't want become chauffeurs, lol. </p> <p>My siblings and I used to have some pretty heavy duty chores growing up and while I don't intend to have our child shoulder as much as we did, she will have more responsibility than just keeping her room clean. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-work-for-your-kids-or-do-they-work-for-you#post-5796 Sun, 23 Oct 2011 05:23:29 +0000 Andrea 5796@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with that author. Now that a lot more people have advanced degrees, the jobs are more specialized so there wil be less situations where the child is going to be able to help their parents out at work. My husband and I both work at hedge funds so there would be no way for our LO to work with us in that capacity. Therefore I guess we will need to make some other substitute situations such as working around the house or volunteer work done side by side. We don't want to run int the problem of entitlement, as discussed in the other thread. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-work-for-your-kids-or-do-they-work-for-you#post-5795 Sun, 23 Oct 2011 03:40:13 +0000 looch 5795@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>IMO, a kid's job is going to school, studying and getting their best possible grades (I think it's unrealistic to expect A's in every subject because kids learn things differently, but it's absolutely acceptable to expect them to do the best they can).<br /> Once that is established, then it's possible to start adding in activities. They have to be earned and the kids have to want to do them. That means there's no quitting mid-season. So they better be sure they want to do it, which means they'll likely be a bit older. In the end, that means that DS won't start T-ball because I decide he should do it. He will have to show an interest. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-work-for-your-kids-or-do-they-work-for-you#post-5780 Sat, 22 Oct 2011 21:33:57 +0000 yin 5780@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I grew up working for my parents -- helping them with the restaurant and taking care of their finances. It made me grow up faster than the rest of my friends, and I was more mature because of it. </p> <p>Now parents are the ones who have to work for their kids. I'm not sure how I feel about that. From the point of view of being a kid, I would love to somewhat be in control. As a parent, I would feel like a chauffeur. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-work-for-your-kids-or-do-they-work-for-you#post-5767 Sat, 22 Oct 2011 20:42:24 +0000 eeh 5767@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think parents absolutely work for their kids. Schedules seem to be made around dance class, soccer games, playdates, etc. When I was growing up we had to fit those things in around mom and dad's schedules. If they were busy, it had to wait. Wasn't a bad lesson for me to learn... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-work-for-your-kids-or-do-they-work-for-you#post-5766 Sat, 22 Oct 2011 20:17:15 +0000 mrbee 5766@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I read an article that pointed out something interesting: kids used to work for the parents, but now the parents work for the kids.</p> <p>This wasn't a metaphorical point: the author meant it literally. Kids used to work the fields at their parents' farm, or work the counter at the parents' candy store. But now parents work for the kids, dropping them off and picking them up from school, classes and playdates.</p> <p>The article speculated that kids can sense the shift, and that this has really impacted the parent/child dynamic.</p> <p>I am not sure if this is true or not, but I thought I'd start by asking you guys. Do you think that kids work for their parents, or do parents now work for the kids? </p>