Doing chores and contributing to the household is just a part of being a member of the household, especially as you get older. The harsh reality is that when you're a teenager, soon the gloves are going to come off, and you're going to be faced with the harsh reality that surviving day to day as an adult requires 10x as much effort just to maintain functional normality as you anticipate when you're a kid at home. Plus, your parents are doing these things daily just to keep the family (what often feels) precariously afloat, and any contribution the kids are making can go a long way. Besides, not learning some of these important foundational lessons on how to prepare for this leads to some disastrous results in your twenties, and frankly, it can take years to figure it out, if ever. We all know this person, have this friend, or have had this roommate.
Still, as with anything, there are limits. And it's possible to take things too far and cross lines—even as parents. It's important to be fair to the older kids and not treat them as a third de facto parent, making sure that you're not taking their contributions for granted and expecting them to contribute to levels that actually impede their own prospects and development.
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This teen hit his limit with his parents over their refusal to pay them an allowance for his chores, which included caring for his younger siblings, while the siblings themselves received a weekly allowance. Wanting some income of his own, he got a job, which most parents would be stoked about, but his parents took issue with the fact that it would interfere with their child-caring responsibilities and generally just keep them from being at the parent's beck and call. Frustrated, the teen shared their experience with this online community to get outsider's thoughts on the situation.
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