Home or Hotel?

The next time your teenager doesn’t want to help out around the house, you’ve got an important decision to make. Do you want your child to live in a home or a hotel?

You see, a home is where a family lives. It’s where moms and dads and sons and daughters all contribute together to the running of the household in whatever way they’re capable. A hotel, on the other hand, is where people are waited on hand and foot and their every need is met.

Hotels are nice on vacation, but allowing teenagers to bask in the lap of luxury in their own home is no way to prepare them for adulthood.

Here’s how to fix that. Expect your teen to give back to the family by doing things around the house. That can include all the usual household chores, like taking out the trash, doing the dishes, and keeping their room clean. But consider more adult tasks as well. Require them to make their own appointments, for example. Or expect them to pay for their own car payment, gas, and insurance. And try this: let them help you pay your household bills – with your oversight. Be wise, of course. Don’t reveal passwords to your bank account, but give them an opportunity to learn skills that prepare them for real life.

You’re not raising a child but an adult. And that can only happen in a home with parents – not a hotel with a maid.