apprentice woes

[CJ]

My boy wants to join the Army..........can't until he's 18.

"I'll come and work with you for a year"...........he says

"Chuffing won't"..........................................I say

He thinks wot I do is boring.

Kids today don't really show much interest in the building trade................or anything else for that matter.

If he could get a job testing PS3's............he'll be as happy as a pig in poo

 

[Grace'sDad]

When I was 16 I turned down an offer from my Dad. He was a partner / sales director in a large firm of Engineer's merchants.

Turned him down for two reasons:

Had a strange relationship with my Dad at the time - looking back it was down to me being like Kevin from Harry Enfields TV. The other reason was he expected me (quite rightly) to start as a picker in the warehouse and work my way up.
When you're 16, two or three years seems like a lifetime, and I was impatient.

I was the classic "Prodigal Son". I turned into a real waster and it took me 5 years to get myself together.

Turning down that offer was a real mistake. Alright, it didn't sound like much - working in the warehouse for not much money, but it would have been a real springboard and because my Dad was involved, I would have been "coached" through the company pretty quickly.

Your son's 16 and impatient, also young people today expect everything all at once. Show him this thread - he's throwing away a good opportunity.

Why not offer to set him some targets - once he reaches them he gets more cash?

Hope it works out well either way....

 

[tiler burden]

hi gary

you say he might not be cut out for it but i think anybody is cut out for anything if they have the right attitude and WANT IT!! enough..

you lad is typical of a lot of 16 yrs olds. he's growing up now and wanting to make his own mark on the world and he will 'rightly or wrongly' be influenced by his mates opinons. hes got alot to go through yet!!! if i recall some of the things i did at 16 then i cringe. if i recall some of the things i did last week i cringe lol

just let him do his own thing. let him find out the answers to his own questions. he will get hurt along the way but he'll learn much faster!! dont we all that way. be there to give him a shoulder to cry on when hes down and dont get into arguments over his decisions. i wish my dad at 16 would have done what you have done for your lad. the sad thing is, most kids have it easier now than ever. they have higher levels of comfort now and they expect the money to go with it.

anyway. let him go and see if he can make the money he expects, if he cant well he''l learn and then come to respect what you have tried to do for him.

its better to lose an apprentice than to lose a son !!!

'youth is wasted on the young'.......george bernard shaw

regards
ed

 

[Spud]

thanks for all the post guys really good advice from you all i had achat with him over a pint when i gave him his wages this evening and told him that if tiling is not for him to go out and find something he enjoys as he will be sucessful at anything if he likes doing it
thanks again
gary

 

[bj F]

Spare the rod and spoil the child. to much carrot not enough stick these days.