My kids are younger than yours, Connie, but I was seriously short in the experience department as a teen, so I've decided my kids should have more than I did.

My oldest started earning money for extracurricular activities when she was 7. She sold cookies I made, first paying for the supplies, then keeping the rest to divide among her priorities.

We've kept it up. Our kids and the neighbor kids have opened a candy store for the summer. (Much less frequent "I'm bored," for one thing.) It's open 4 hours a day.

We've also picked up an environmentally friendly hobby as a family: beekeeping.

There's work involved, and patience, and sometimes a bit of pain if we're not careful. Not all the family members love insects, but we'll have honey and bees wax that might be sold or made into other fun stuff to sell.

And my oldest is now just 12. Her resume (a school assignment) included her work supervising and maintaining 40,000 workers. Each season our kids get more experience with employment, and it makes me smile!