What do you think about this?
I get what the parents are doing in theory. Their kids broke a window and they want to teach them a valuable lesson about actions and consequences. But is sending them out alone, knocking on the doors of strangers the best way? Do I really want to eat the homemade baked goods of two kids? There are so many reasons why I think this idea might not be the best idea. I think teaching your kids that windows are expensive and even though it was probably an accident, there are consequences to accidents, is a great idea....but maybe they should have to earn the money by doing chores around the house...not baking goodies for neighbors.
I don't know. Does this sound like an odd punishment to anyone else? As I stood in my driveway, I watched these kids move on to the next house. Young kids soliciting for cookies. I'm not feelin' it.
Hmmm... I say to each their own. Would I send my 9 year old door to door alone to sell baked good in order to teach a lesson? No. Would I accompany her door to door to sell baked goods in order to teach a lesson? No. I'm with you that making her do chores around our house to earn money would suit our family much better. However some families are quite obviously different. Would I allow my daughter to sit outside supervised and run a lemonade or Kool-Aid stand to make extra cash? No. It is in a sense the same type of thing. While it's not teaching a lesson it is still selling things to neighbors for money. I know parents who do the whole drink stand thing and they have no issues with it. I also know people who would think that selling baked goods door to door as a lesson is a good idea. So really it just depends on how you run your home :) BUT as a neighbor I also have to say that I would definitely not be buying up homemade baked goods from two kids being forced to learn a lesson LOL
ReplyDeleteUh...sounds to me like the parents wanted the neighbors to pay for the window. Sure, chores would have taught them the same lesson but the parents wouldn't get any money out of it. Just my opinion!
ReplyDeleteIt actually sounds pretty negligent. I totally understand that they are trying to teach their kids a lesson.. but there are many other ways to do it. I would definitely not be sending my kids to strangers doors to mooch of of them.
ReplyDeleteI think the parents need to sack up and pay. Kids are going to break things all the time. Especially when they are young; they didn't mean too.
ReplyDeleteSomething about this scenario rubs me the wrong way, and I'm not sure what. I'm all about enterprising kiddos, whether they're trying to earn money to purchase a new bike or to fix a broken window. You mentioned the 2 immediate reasons I would be wary- one because the kids were unsupervised; two because I have no desire to eat cookies baked by an 11-yr-old.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I would be much more inclined to pay them for small services, like weeding my garden, or scooping dog poo in my backyard, rather than paying for cookies. Guess this means my big issue is with the cookies themselves...?
PS: Matt says the Conservative Mommy should applaud children of any age trying to make a buck (regardless of the reason). Capitalism is the name of the game. Buy the cookies, pay for the neighbor's window (obviously liberals), then congratulate the kids for a job well done... but only if they choose not to report their earnings.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't buy homemade cookies from 2 kids, let alone unsupervised. I do think they should do chores around the house. I understand the lesson they may want to teach them but they can't expect their neighborhood to pay the bill for the window their own kids broke. When I was younger I accidentally broke the window in our garage. My parents paid for it themselves because I was the one who broke it. It's part of being a parent.
ReplyDeleteWhen Kensington breaks a window. Send her over here to sell your strawberry pies or those cakes you talk about. ;)
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