Photo: Courtesy Shaketha Marion McGregor
A Dublin, Georgia-based single mom of three just set the parenting bar super high with her creative method of teaching her kids the value of money and hard work.
In anow-viral Facebook postshared on Aug. 13,Shaketha McGregorexplained that she planned a “surprise” for her children — daughters Serinity, 6, and Takeia, 10, plus son Jahkeem, 13 — for when they got home from school, only for their faces to fall a bit when they learned what she was up to: a “hiring event.”
“When they came through the door it was kind of like a, ‘Yay!’ to an ‘Ohhhh. Really?’ ” McGregor, 30, toldGood Morning Americaof her experiment, which saw her set up a “job fair” for the siblings where they’d need to “apply” for jobs at home to earn the money they’d been requesting for things like cell phones and social activities.
“I was like, ‘I don’t want to just give it to them,’ ” added McGregor, who now works for theGeorgia Department of Juvenile Justicebut faced two big money-related challenges in the recent past: She battled cancer in 2016, before a 2018 house fire where the family lost most of their possessions.
“I want to do something differentto make them work for [the money]this time around so they will appreciate it more,” she said in herGMAinterview.
Shaketha McGregor’s “job fair” for her kids.
Shaketha McGregor’s “credit union” for her kids.
Shaketha McGregor and her kids.
The three jobs up for grabs, alongside a clever ad for an offer to teach them how to build their credit? Kitchen Manager, Lead Housekeeper and Laundry Supervisor. And despite the kids’ initial reservations, things suddenly turned competitive in the application pool.
“I’m so sorry, son. I love you though lol,” read an Aug. 14post on McGregor’s Facebookpage, which displayed a rejection e-mail to Jahkeem for a job that ultimately went to his little sister Serinity.
“My 6-year-old, I was more impressed with her application and her interview than my 13-year-old,” McGregor toldGMA(and yes, she had them fill outactual paper applicationsand interview with her!). “And she said she could start immediately, and he needed a few days before he could start and she was a cheaper hire.”
That didn’t mean Jahkeem didn’t have another opportunity. As his mom explained in the letter, “We still have the Kitchen Manager position available and we arewilling to negotiate a higher payif you are willing to accept.”
Shaketha McGregor.
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But as the working mom andMirror Mirrorauthor explained toGMA, she was just looking to get her kids “a little bit familiar with the process” now, so they’ll be prepared when they grow up and are entering the workforce.
“Whether they’re applying for school or a new job or something, they can look back and say, ‘I did this with Mom all those years ago,’ ” McGregor said.
“Adulthood happens and it happens hard and sometimes you’re just not prepared for it,” she added. “As a parent you want to protect your children from as much as possible but you know that eventually they’re going to have to go through it on their own and that’s why life’sgreatest lessons are through experience.”
source: people.com
