Mum Holds ‘Job Interviews’ at Home to Get Her Children to Help with Housework

A mum in the US is winning a lot of internet praise this week after her plan to get her children more involved in housework has gone viral on social media.

Shaketha McGregor had enough of her three children constantly asking for money for new phones or to hang out with their friends so she decided to post job advertisements and hold interviews in order to entice her kids to earn their keep.

She explained her plan in a post on Facebook:

“So, my children continue to ask for a new cell phone, an allowance, and to go places. Yesterday I told them that I’ve heard their requests and that I’ll have a surprise for them today when they get home from school. SURPRISE!!! It’s a whole hiring event! ? If you want it, work for it, earn it! And yes, I also have an in home credit union lol #ThisMomMeansBusiness #IWonderWhoWillGetFiredFirst ?”

Shaketha, a corrections officer from Georgia, said the wheels in her brain began turning after a recent shopping excursion with her kids Jahkeem, 13, Takeia, 10, and Serinity, 6.

“I gave each of them a few bucks and said, ‘Spend it any way you want,’” McGregor explained. “It was different than me buying them something — they were suddenly checking prices. I noticed they were more cautious because it was their money. They wanted to save.”

The mum of three saw a “fire” in the youngsters for money management and it got her excited. “I started to think of ways I could teach them about credit and how to budget their time,” she said.

That’s when she had her brilliant idea.

McGregor sat down at her computer and began drafting help wanted ads for kitchen manager, lead housekeeper and laundry supervisor. Both Jahkeem and Serinity applied for lead housekeeper. Ultimately, Serinity was the more qualified candidate and just signed her new hire packet.

McGregor also told her kids the family now had a credit union. They would each be given a credit score and have the ability to earn points for things like finishing homework on time.

“I told them the night before that I had a surprise for them when they came home from school so they were really excited,” McGregor said. “When they came through the door it was kind of like a, ‘Yay!’ to an ‘Ohhhh. Really?’”

“My oldest and my youngest both applied for the same position and, unfortunately for my older son, he did not get the position,” McGregor said. “My 6-year-old, I was more impressed with her application and her interview than my 13-year-old.”

“And she said she could start immediately, and he needed a few days before he could start, and she was a cheaper hire,” McGregor added.

The experiment is working well so far, according to McGregor. She said it has allowed for quality family time and that her kids are learning valuable life lessons like when you don’t work a lot of hours you get paid less, and when you play basketball instead of doing your job you are summoned for a talk with your manager (or mum!).

McGregor’s Facebook post now has more than 400,000 likes, comments and shares. She said she hopes it inspires other parents to think outside of the box and let their kids’ voices be heard.

Such a fabulous idea!

Is this something you could do to inspire your family to help more around the house?

Source: Facebook/Shaketha McGregor