Opinions? I have a "minor" dilemma.

[NutmegCarrera]

Okay-
So we're going on vacation next week. First "big" one with our kids (ages 4 & 7).

We're in a decent subdivision, everybody gets along & trusts one another. Nice semi-rural area. Neighborhood consists of engineers, realtors, self-employed, business owners, yada yada....

Segue-
When I was a kid (I'm 40 now), I spent my summers mowing other people's yards, doing miscellaneous work, etc... I was 17 when I graduated, so had done a bunch of this type of stuff when I was a "minor".

Back to the question:
The neighbor across the street (he's the realtor. really nice guy.) has a son thats 15-16. I want to call the kid to come over and get our mail, take a look at the house, bring the garbage cans in, etc... So I start describing my plan for snow removal (absent the 10-14" stuff) to my wife. I figure the neighbor kid can come over and blow out the driveway if it snows. Figured I'd give the kid that option (and frankly, was using the gig as "mail pickup boy" to prime the pump for the situation where it would snow).

My wife goes ape*****, and makes it sound like I'm relinquishing all future assets and giving the kids away for adoption because she thinks the kid is going to hurt or maim himself in the process of clearing snow.

Am I really out of my mind - or is it reasonable to think that you can hire a respectable, mature high schooler to do some chores (using low end power equipment) at your house? I really need to know if I've lost it or not.


Thanks.

[Dan J]

Sounds reasonable to me BUT I'm a husband

[A930Rocket]

Talk to his dad first and see what he says. I was working in a at 15 washing dishes until midnight, then school in the am. Work is good for kids.

[VroomGrrl]

Sounds reasonable to me AND I'm a wife, albeit a P-car owning one...

[exc911ence]

The liability of him hurting himself with the snowblower could be a worry. Therefore, throw the kid a big shovel and a $20. Problem solved.

[stomachmonkey]

That's whats wrong with this country. Not enough young kids with opportunity to be responsible and earn some spending cash.

Do it, your wife is wrong.

[vash]

i still do it! my neighbors cover for each other now. and we are all old.

[notfarnow]

Go for it. Talk to the father first, just in case he has reservations. That's what I did when I got my neighbor's son to mow my lawn, rake leaves etc. I pay his father the lump sum and he pays out every time the son works.

Hmm... Come to think of it you might want to go to the boy directly. The father will probably charge a 6percent commission

[kaisen]

Maybe have him use his own equipment. That way if anything happens, it's his deal. If all he has is a shovel, oh well. If he can use his family's snowblower, great! He'll know how to operate his and if he doesn't it's not your problem. If he accidentally severs a finger or two on yours, things could get ugly. Esp if it was an equipment failure and not (clearly) operator error.

Just my 2 cents

[legion]

Do it.

We pay the neighbor girl to watch our cat/get our mail when we leave town. We've been very happy with her. When we told her we were expecting the first words out of her mouth were "I babysit too". Nice to see a motivated teen. Oh, and her dad is a cop, so we're glad to have a key to our house at their place.

When I was a kid, we'd often pay my friends to mow the lawn/feed the animals when we went on vacation. I never felt threatened.

[Hugh R]

I'm soon to turn 57. When I was a kid I used lawnmowers, snowblowers mine and theirs for some extra coin. Times have changed, lawyers are everywhere. I wouldn't hire a gardener or contractor without workmen's comp these days. Yeah, it screws the kids, but I want to retire owning my house and 401K. I've been sued twice or BS stuff, and it cost you lots of $, and you eventually end up giving them something to go away. Sure, it's easy to say "I won't settle" until it happens to you and they start pulling out their expert witnesses at $350/hour plus your attorney at the same or higher hourly rate. A four hour deposition will easily cost you $700/hour because you have to pay the expert witness so your lawyer knows what he will be saying in court. So a 1/2 day deposition will cost you, up front about $3-4,000! Multiply that by how ever many "experts" he will trot out; mechanical expert, loss of revenue for future earnings expert, pain and suffering expert, psychologist expert for the amputation, public code expert, employment expert, and on and on. Its really very, very nasty and a rude introduction to the legal system in this country.

Check with your insurance carrier. I have a $1 million umbrella policy with a clause that protects me for "occasional" work liability. The cost is a few hundred per year above and beyond my homeowners and vehicle insurance.

Your wife is absolutely right, protect your assets first, think about tossing a few $ to the kid second.

[MT930]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

That's whats wrong with this country. Not enough young kids with opportunity to be responsible and earn some spending cash.

Do it, your wife is wrong.

15-16 Year old kids here run Kubota's with blower on them. If the kid's squared away it should be fine.

How are you going to learn a work ethic with out a chore?

[Hugh R]

I'm not saying don't hire him, I'm saying make sure you are protected first.

[Jrboulder]

When I was 14 my neighbor showed me how to use their snowblower. They left for all of January. I was so excited to use a snow blower on my own and you guessed it, it didn't snow all of that january. I was crushed.

[NutmegCarrera]

Thanks for weighing in, fine gentlemen and ladies!
I'm glad to not be the only one thinking it's perfectly natural to expect that you can get some work done while helping foster responsibility in neighborhood kids. BTW, if going for the power equipment - yes, I'd ask dad first.

While I love my wife dearly, and she's my best friend - I'm not crossing her on this one (the snowblowing part). However, she can get a bit difficult at times. We did hire the kid for the "easy stuff". We agree on that part of it. Don't expect any problems, and it's nice to have a set of eyes here.

Final commentary-
Too darned bad we can't have a simple way of life. Worrying about getting sued is just no fun.

Thanks again!

[M.D. Holloway]

Looking at it from an outsider with no sense, your mistake was not making it her idea. You will gone for a week right? Well, there are a few things that need to be taken care of also there is an opportunity to start farming out some of the life tasks so you can spend more time with the little ones.

The kid next-door is a good opinion if the kid is interested/motivated to do it. Then again, he might be getting pressure from his dad to do it as to make nicey nice. If this kid isn't into it then it will turn into a serious hassle.

[NutmegCarrera]

Lubey-
Thought it was going well, and we had been discussing for some time. Thought we'd even talked about the snow removal part. That's the only problem here - snow handling. Rest of it is a done deal.
The kid is great. We know him. Dad has no need / reason to make nice with us. Good guy, and we all get along.
Wife's only issue was possibility of an insurance type problem if kid gets hurt. Completely caught me by surprise. Out of left field.
In fact, she's been wanting me to hire a guy to plow (all the time), instead of me doing it. We have to do that when I travel, and it really burns my buns! When the snow is deep and heavy, that's the only option (I have to throw it about 30' in order to get driveway clear). When the (adult) plow guy comes, I get chunks of concrete removed. Wife doesn't understand why that bothers me. Oh well...
In any case, would much rather have kid do it, and if he needs to cry uncle - he could then call the professional. Didn't seem like that much of a stretch to me.
Just going to try to unwind so's we can enjoy being away. Lots of work upon return, so this is as good as it's going to get for a while.

Ranting is nearly done

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by NutmegCarrera

Back to the question:
The neighbor across the street (he's the realtor. really nice guy.) has a son thats 15-16. I want to call the kid to come over and get our mail, take a look at the house, bring the garbage cans in, etc... So I start describing my plan for snow removal (absent the 10-14" stuff) to my wife. I figure the neighbor kid can come over and blow out the driveway if it snows. Figured I'd give the kid that option (and frankly, was using the gig as "mail pickup boy" to prime the pump for the situation where it would snow).

You are going to let the kid use YOUR snow blower?

[Rick Lee]

Glad I live in a place where I only see snow on the mountain tops in the distance.

[azasadny]

Our 19-year-old son has been taking care of the neighbor's lawns during the summer and snowblowing/shoveling during the winter since he was 14. He earns spending $ this way since I don't believe in paying an allowance. He has learned a lot along the way and the neighbors know and trust him. I think this is a great way to teach responsibility, work ethic, etc...