When Danielle (Danny)
was twelve years old, she wasn’t particularly interested in just about
anything, including schoolwork,
athletics, hobbies, computer-driven games, etc. Her parents were frustrated. So, they gave her some
responsibilities that would engender self-confidence. They turned all of their
household budgeting over to Danny. She
was responsible to pay all the credit card bills, the utility bills, take
care of the cash budget and in general be the household’s money manager or the family bills
really would go unpaid and all of them would have to live with the
consequences.
The telephone bill went first. Danny forgot to pay it on time, received a
notice of disconnect, and immediately got it caught up. Next came the gas bill, which went neglected
until the heat was turned off. Danny was
responsible for “finding” the funds to pay that utility’s re-establishment
fine. The family was without heat in the
middle of winter. So Danny became
responsible for hunting, cutting and bringing in firewood so she and the rest
of the family had some heat. Meanwhile, they all wore a lot of clothing.
It was a little touch-and-go at their house for two years
before Danny got the discipline to follow through on obligations.
As things progress in life, the siblings grew up and were
gone from their home by that time, and the parents found work in another town on a temporary
basis. Danny was still in school, so she
lived in the house of their small town by herself while her parents were gone
making a living for the three of them.
She paid the bills, she made her own food, got herself to school and
back, athletics and back, wrote birthday cards to family members, and bought
clothes/shoes on her budget. She slept and ate when she wished, she washed clothing and cleaned house by herself. Her support was a cell phone she paid the bill for monthly to keep in touch with her parents.
Today Danny is the most responsible person, the most
independent person, the most industrious person I know. She found work to pay her way through college
after messing up the first semester and having to start over again. She worked as a path-clearer for the Bureau
of Land Management during the summers to earn school money. Last year she graduated from college.
If she had gone without the responsibility her parents foisted off on her, there would have been a fifty-fifty chance as to whether she'd ever have developed into a productive member of society.
If you don’t mind surprises as to whether you’ll have any
utilities tomorrow, what this family did just might be a remedy for
motivationally-challenged children.
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