My father was let out as a hired man at 12 and lived in a different state than his family and sent most of his pay home to support his siblings.
growing up on a farm/ranch oh yeah. kids today have no idea...
when i was 11, i had 6 lawns i mowed every week ($5 per lawn)
there is nothing wrong with having a kid mow the lawn... the WHITE HOUSE lawn is great for him (wonder how much he gets to mow it)
this should be ENCOURAGED... not diminished
of course, the left is opposed to anyone showing any type of leadership or entrepreneurial spirit. they want an entire country sapped of their drive and dependent on govt handouts
I used to go to my Uncle’s farm in Indiana for three months every summer as a kid and through high school and did all the things your kids did...
Those who were never fortunate enough to have spent a working day on a working farm have no clue.
As we view this outrage over enterprising youth, there have to be a dozen "reporters" scrounging the backgrounds of the young man and his family, ever so eager to dig up some salacious 'truth' that ridicules this harmless episode of Americana.
When I was a kid I had to walk barefoot across the living room in order to change the channel on the TV and it did not matter if it was raining or snowing or if there was a hurricane going on outside. Kids nowadays have it way too easy.
I am amazed the libs haven’t yet called child services on Trump or the Kid’s parents...
And take away their iPhones.
FRiends, without folks like us, our parents, and our progeny, this country would grind to a halt in a week.
My late grandfather was a Coal Cracker/Breaker at age 11,lived through the Great Depression and served in WWII. Life was tough. A modern football player does not know tough nor understand appreciation.
My husband drove tractor most days after school from the age of 9.
The number of us who grew up on farms is dwindling. I have made an observation through my live experiences. I am in my mid-60s. Most leaders I have come across grew up on on a farm. Leadership, making a decision, on the best information available, when no one else was around was second nature for farm kids.
Synopsis of my faimily: Dad a returning B24 pilot. Grew up on a farm. Saw his unit receive 70% casualties. Mom a devoted mother and farm wife. Neither had college education.
Raised 5 kids. All kids got college degrees. 3 at Catholic Universities, 2 at Service Academies. All worked the farm. I am talking about the usual chores plus scooping manure for 1000 hogs. All normal stuff to us.
My point: work was a means to an end. All work is noble, even cleaning a waterer for hogs with your hands with manure covering it and you. Our pay, room and board. Our blessing our parents.
All 5 have been very successful : military, law, education social work.
The next generation has exceeded ours for they too understand work is noble: some of their colleges: USNA, USAFA, Vanderbilt, U of Chicago, NYU, U of Miami, Michigan State.......pilots, doctors, teachers, diplomat .. moms and dads raising kids with the work is noble mantra. No one owes you a thing mentality.
They’ve been handed down a saying from their grandfather: it’s a great day when no one is shooting at you and it’s a good when you help someone.
My gosh, I been mowing lawns for 2 years now...my cousins lives on a farm and they work it...Time for kids to grow up, I had a boy who lived near me asking why I mow lawns. I told him that I want to earn money. He looked at me like I had two heads!!
I started working at 15 and a half at a business.
Today that is not allowed.
I wish someone had told my father that I shouldn’t be mowing the lawn when I was 9-10-11.
I hated having to mow the lawn.
Still do.
Learning work skills, and a corresponding work ethic, used to be a part of growing up.
Ha… my first tractor driving job on the farm was at age 6. We fortunately had a Minneapolis Moline tractor… they used a hand clutch which was a good thing because most tractor foot clutches were stiff enough that I’d never have gotten it down with double my body weight let alone release it in any kind of controlled way. The hand clutches were easy even for a 6 year old. My job was just to make sure the tractor was driven straight and centred above the hay windrow… the tractor was pulling a wagon and a loose hay loader. My older brothers jobs were to fork the loose around on the wagon and keep an eye on me.
I was driving tractor, an old ford, and plowing fields, tending watering, pruning, and picking at age 8 on a ranch in central California in the 50’s. Used to stop and swim in that cold stand pipe. Good days.
rwood
I was ll when I was in the 6th grade. I had three lawn jobs and the lawn at our house to mow. My customers let me use their own machines. Every Saturday was lawns to mow. If it was raining, then it was the first clear day after school. What the hell was wrong with that!?