Your Kids In The Trades?

goose134

Hey all, this is not something I will have to worry about for a while as my twins are almost one year old. My friend and I were discussing whether or not you would encourage your kids to get into the building trades or not. Now don't get me wrong. I'm proud of what I do, and I love my job. But we all know that sometimes it's a hard way to make a living. Hard on your body, and if it's slow, hard on your wallet. On the other hand, if you love what you do, you can be happy doing this sort of work. I am. So if your kids want to follow you into the trades, do you steer them into a different track? Just some conversation.

aWorkaHolic

I really hope neither of my two kids follow in my footsteps. I love my trade but I would steer them away from doing it.

I would encourage that they pursue a profession that is stable.

RobertCDF

My daughter will probably go to college and then take over the company. At that point it will run itself without any labor intensive work needed from us/her.

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Teetorbilt

No way! Why would I want them to be as physically beat up as I am? It's really catching up to me now and I'm not finding anything good about it.

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A W Smith

don't think my son has the mechanical aptitude for the trades although hes brilliant. I asked him to plug in my compressor and chop saw on a local weekend window job i was doing. I tossed him a three way. he said the cord of the compressor still wouldn't reach the outlet as he held the extension cord in his hand. I just sort of gave him a look. A moment later he says Oh Duh!

Chris Johnson

I'm first generation for my family, I won't encourage or discourage either way. My kids can make there own choice much like I did. I certainly hope they choose something easier, more stable and less cut throat then what we do.

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A W Smith

boy I certanly hear you there. After an hours drive home i get out of my truck and walk like Walter Brennan

The plumber

Plumbing has been good to me, but I do stress how important it is not to be a plumber to my kids. I do teach them a little, and I think it would be interesting for them to be a lawyer that has a plumbing license.

POOLMANinCT

mams don't let yout babies grow up to be poolboys....

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Tmrrptr

Our boys have done power tools since I got over constant fear of them having an accident with a 77... That was the last thing I allowed them to use.

I've taken them on as many jobs as possible, mostly to encourage them to do well in skool.

Our oldest is now in demand as a precision welder.
Middle son is a dedicated gamer and unfortunately he's very slowly learning to prep and paint. He was smart enough to graduate 2yrs ahead of time.
Our youngest thinks auto mechanics is great stuff so he'd rather make $20/hr doing repairs than go to skool.

In my opinion, learning something is better than fishing.
I wasn't able to convince them of it.
r

CaliDesigns

My oldest daughter filed her first tax return at age 13. She can out wheelbarrow most new hires. Based on the work force we get to choose from, there are already enough pussies out there. Wait 20 years, There will be a higher demand for skilled tradesmen, than lawyers. You'll be able to hire someone to file a lien, but there will be no one needing to.

Teetorbilt

AW, I'm old enough to remember Walter Brennan in his prime. I'm walking somewhat like him today, in his later years, on occasion.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

Floordude

By the time my kids get old enough to actually make money, doing something crafty, all the construction jobs, will be jobs Americans don't want to do. I'm running them down the road to be a Rock Band!

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neolitic

Thought that was just me I think, you're walking like a crippled up old man, then I think, you are a crippled old man!

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BuiltByMAC

My boy will start working with me during the summer months starting next year. Unless he finds something better (better pay, apprenticeship in a lab, etc), he'll do that until he graduates from high school.

It will toughen him up, keep him from playing video games 8 hours/day and teach him to take pride in doing a job well, no matter what the job is. My job as a parent is to give him a stable home to grow in and education about the world at large. When he leaves, hopefully he'll be able to accomplish much because of those two things.

The trades are something I decided on in my 30s. I was a computer geek in my 20s. I'll probably be something else in my 50s. If he wants to get into the trades at some point in his life, who am I to say no? I make a good living and I'm my own boss, nothing wrong with that!

Mac

woodmagman

Too late, the bait was out and the hook is sunk. Nothing wrong with being paid from the neck up or neck down, it is up to them to make the right choices and affirm their own place in this business.

A W Smith

I almost had a career change and became a computer geek about nine years ago when I took my MCSE NT classes and went to work for the summer on Broadway as a computer tech for an architectural firm. I got board after my work was done setting up their somewhat small office with a simple network
and i spent the days mostly staring out the window at the empire state building. I also never took my certification tests to follow through. I needed to get back to my passion as the trades were something that i decided when I was 7 years old when I sawed my first sheet of plywood in half with dads dull hand saw. It took two days IIRC. I was probably the youngest sidewalk superintendent watching the builders in the neighborhood do various additions and alterations wearing their felt dick Tracy hats and pocket overalls of the era. I was amazed when i saw a chalk like snapped for the first time. (it was red) . It didn't help that my next door neighbor was guide a skilled weekend warrior considering he worked the GM assembly plant 9-5. at 8 I helped my dad finish our suburbia basement around that time using a circular saw attachment that fit on a drill. In my childhood I assaulted many trees not to have tree forts just the pleasure of building them. When i was in my youth people asked me if my dad was a carpenter. He wasn't. He was a credit analyst with Dunn and Bradstreet and they tried desperately to dissuade me even preventing me from attending Vo tech. As a result I performed poorly at school as I was very unhappy with the way my parents were career steering me. I know from this experience to let my son decide what career would make him happy. No matter if the outlook is bleak or promising. Whatever his passion I will encourage him to chase it.

silvertree

Yeah, I'm beat after 35 years in the trades. But I would let my daughters do it if they want. Be proud actually. But then again, anything is fine by me if they are happy. The trades are way better now than when I was a kid.

copusbuilder

I am a 50 year old father of 5 and have never encouraged my kids to get into the trades.
I see it getting more and more difficult to make a decent living. Mostly due to illegal immigrants.
We did encourage our kids to attend college and so far the 3 old enough have done that and are doing well.
If my kids did not have the mental capacity for college I would encourage it.

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oldfrt

AW, I'm old enough to remember Walter Brennan in his prime. I'm walking somewhat like him today, in his later years, on occasion.
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Yes, the bones ain't what they used to be .I hope my son sees how this business can catch up to you and make a decision from there.If he gets off the computer long enough to bring in five pieces of firewood, that's an accomplishment for him now.
At eleven years old,I'll let him have fun for a couple more years,and then the hammer comes down!!!Reality is going to hit hard after High School,so I better get him started on something physical so he can decide which way he wants to go.