Monday, December 1, 2008

A Lesson in Salary Negotiation



Only my son has an allowance so far, and it is a pittance. He manages his money and keeps it safely and he thinks about what it might be used for. My daughter is still at the stage where money is good for pretending things--she doesn't care that it's real.

I realize that my kids don't have a lot of opportunities for earning money. There are no house sitting jobs yet, or babysitting, or lawn mowing or paper delivering. But, it is snowy here. So, I thought about it and decided to offer them a job, with the absolutely explicit understanding that sometimes we ask them to do stuff to help out around here and it's not necessarily an earning opportunity for them--they're just to help as an active member of this group--our family. That's crystal clear and I have no expectation of this blowing up in my face in the future. I am being positive, and perhaps a little naive.

In any case, the kids and I entered into a negotiation about pay. How much to shovel both the driveway and the sidewalks? I made the most generous offer of 2 bucks each. My son countered, explaining that it's a big job, with 3 bucks each. I couldn't argue his reasonableness. I will pay them each $3 upon completion.

So, they are now shoveling out front after making snow angels and stomping around the yard for the last hour. In a little bit, they'll come in all rosy cheeked and fresh and proud of their good job and their ability to earn some money.

I wonder how much a load of laundry would cost me...

3 comments:

miss muffet said...

right now, staying up past bedtime is my son's favorite activity. So, last night I did pay him with 20 minutes extra reading/quiet play time for switching the laundry out of the washer and dryer for me. He was over the moon happy and I was relieved not to have to go back down to the basement.

DoulaMomma said...

First, amazing photo!

My oldest (11) will be shoveling this year too! He's a pretty good negotiator (he and his friend made a little raking business & his friend was ready to cave but my kid shot him a look & held firm), but then this is also the kid who has asked Santa to initial that he got the note with the cookies...oy

Laura said...

Does the note have to be notarized? LOL

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...