I declared last week as “Get Your Kids off the Couch Week,” as a way of acknowledging the frustration many parents are now experiencing since their newly minted graduates have returned home. In today’s posting, I’ll unveil some of the secrets your kid isn’t ready to share with you yet.
I don’t really want to be a __________.
You fill in the blanks. After all, you are the one that has just gotten done paying for beauty school, college or heaven forbid, law school. Yes, that’s right. Johnny or Stacey has decided this field really isn’t for them. You see, this generation has been raised by parents who have told them they are special. They now believe this. So when they say they no longer want to be a lawyer and now they think they’d like to go to medical school, they expect it to be okay. Oh, and they expect that you will fund this venture as well, just like when you sent them to circus camp for the summer.
This thing called work is really going to cut into my social life
Yes, sooner or later they will have to come home before 1:00 AM in order to make it to work the next day. But right now, they simply aren’t willing to trade their social life for a paycheck. What they don’t understand is that eventually their friends will find employment and their new friends will be those people they’ve met at work. Therefore, it is really in their best interest to find a job and friends before they find themselves friendless.
I don’t want to give up my flexibility
Not every job requires that you be there from 9-5. In fact, many will let you start at 10, but you’ll need to stay until 6 or 7. If your child doesn’t want to be stuck behind a desk from 9-5 then perhaps you can suggest they take two part-time jobs so they can break up their work day.
If you are tired of fighting with your child about this then perhaps it’s time to take a new approach. In honor of “Get Your Kids off the Couch Month,” (see, I’ve decided this is such a big deal, that we should extend it to a month,) I am offering a 10% discount for anyone who signs up for the Job Search Mentoring Program by August 31st. Just mention this offer.
Don’t delay, as space is limited.
