is this fair for my mom to do?

Question

Ok so i broke my cell phone cuz i fell off a dock helping a boat get off the dock. so i fell and ruined my phone while tring to be a nice person. well my mom went and bought me a new phone costing 269 dollars. I get the fact it was nice of her to do and that she wants me to pay her back by doing chores. well tonight i cooked dinner then cleaned everything up she didnt have to do any thing and she said thats 5 dollars off. she will barely give me chores to pay off and when she does its maybe a few dollars. to me it's not fair if she barely gives me chores and pays very little for a big chore and wants me to pay her back. the only reason i have the phone is cuz of her and my dad they want to be able to call me when im not home cuz my phone works where i go camping so i can call her. add this too she wont pay me for grades or take them out of my money i owe her. i got a 3.95 gpa and accepted into chemistry and pre calculus as a SOPHOMORE! ugh it makes me sooo mad. any advice out there?

kk a couple of notes i live near nobody so i have no chores for other people to do and i want to get it over with so she wont hold it over my head like she is now!

Answer 1

some kids do chores because they have to. be grateful you are getting paid ANYTHING!

in the real world, when something breaks, even on accident, it still has to be replaced. your mother is showing you how to be responsible.

Answer 2

First of all, you have a phone.
Second, in my opinion, five dollars is quite a bit to pay for cleaning up dinner.
Third, I never got paid for grades... is this a tradition you have in your family? If you never got paid for grades before I don't see why you should be paid now.

It sounds like you are unhappy with the arrangement and perhaps the reason you are unhappy is that the terms of the arrangement are unclear. How about you request to sit down with your mom and make clear arrangements about how much of your debt can be removed for certain household chores or other things. It sounds like you are indeed a smart person so you should be able to do this in a careful and rational way. Keep your temper and your head and your mother will see how adult you really are. When you have a clear-cut agreement you will both be clear on things and then there will be no problems.

The other option is that you can give back the phone to your mother and save up your money until you can buy a phone that you can afford. (There are many phones that cost less than $269.)

Answer 3

Why should you be paid for grades? You don't get rewarded for things you know you should be doing anyway. You shouldn't feel you should be "bribed" to do well in school.

As far as the chores, 5 dollars for what you did is pretty reasonable considering the fact that again, part of what you did, especially cleaning up, is something you should be doing anyway.

I'm sure you use your phone for more than keeping in contact with your parents. What your mother is doing is teaching you responsibility, and the value of a dollar & the worth of items you can purchase with it.

How about instead of waiting for your mother to tell you to do something that you can be paid for, you take initiative and find things to do on your own, like yardwork, or cleaning the bathrooms...get out the vacuum and do the floors without being told...

Answer 4

That sucks!
I do think your Mom is being a bit unfair about giving you $5 for cooking dinner AND cleaning up all the mess.

I would do little things without her asking. Sweep the kitchen, vaccuum the floors, dust, wash windows, mow the grass, etc. just to add up all those little amounts.

I do understand about your grades. I know that maintaining a GPA like that is A LOT of hard work and dedication. You should be proud of yourself for your accomplishments in school.

It also wouldn't be a bad idea to keep a log book of what dates you did chores and the amount you received for each chore. That way you will know when you are paid off.

She may be thinking that you will be more careful with this one, as we are always more careful with things that we buy with our own money, rather than something that was given to us.

Answer 5

I don't believe in kids being paid for grades, so I'm not going to agree with you there. If you want to pay her back more quickly, do chores for other people for money and give your mom the cash. Then YOU control how much money you give her. If she's not charging you interest, though, I don't see what the huge hurry is to pay her back.

Answer 6

I think she's just being a hard butt and doesn't expect you to be anything but sincere, careful and appreciate the fact they bought you a new phone.
We don't pay for grades here either we expect them to be the best you can do - just go out of your way -
and ask if you can be more helpful - instead of being a teen.
That will be a good pay back for her knowing you appreciate them and can help with anything - you sound like a nice kid and eager to please so keep it up - if you don't have a job are they implying you try to get one?

Answer 7

Did you choose the $269 phone? That is really expensive. Tell her you will pay for half, as you would not have chosen such an expensive phone.

Answer 8

Unless you have a job, doing dinner and cleaning up at minimum wage works out to about that much, more or less.

Maybe if you had a job of some kind, you could repay her?

Answer 9

in a way i see that she is fair... shes not all over you to pay her back like any other mother or have you do so many chores also like any other mother....in a way you have it easy.....and she should have to pay you for your grades they are for you and your life not to make her or your father happy.......they are proud of you but parents go out of their way to make you have a good life .......most children dont get life as easy as yours (not saying your life is perfect) just that most parents would actually punish their kids for braking their cell for any reason and not beable to get a new one even to get in touch with them

Answer 10

I think you should probably keep in mind that she doesn't HAVE to pay you for anything. I applaud that your not whining that she's making you pay it off at all. She's just trying to make you responsible and, other than your complaining that she's not allowing you to work it off fast enough, sounds like she's doing her job.