My daughter, who is 11, was recently given a “job” looking after a neighbor’s children while the neighbors were having a lavish birthday party. Her responsibility was only to show up at the neighbors’ house and keep their two young children out from underfoot and occupied for several hours while the dinner segment of the grown-up party was underway. (There were no other children at this party — a very adult affair.)
She came home with $100 cash. We were astonished. That’s more than 10 times the minimum wage in our state. We once did something similar, a few years ago, and paid the “mother’s helper” $30. How do we handle this? Is it right for an 11-year-old to be so dramatically overpaid?
— Parsimonious
