My kids work for their food because I can't afford to keep feeding them

"You got a bunch of parents up in arms over this..." Would you do this to your kids?

As parents, we understand that regular mealtimes often disappear during school holidays, only to be replaced by constant snacking. 

Which, these days, is a major cost-of-living pressure!

Worried about being eaten out of house and home, one mum has created a snack aisle in her pantry with all the classic treats kids love to devour. But there's a catch: they need to pay for it by working for it - yes, that means doing chores.  

She captioned her now-viral Facebook post, "If the kids think they're about to eat me out of a house and home these holidays!"

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"Welcome to the Chore Store"

Aptly called the "Chore Store", the mum explains, "Let’s see how hungry these kids really are. I'm teaching kids what the price of inflation looks like, early!"

When users questioned the high prices, she wrote: "And I'm taxing."

The "chore store" coming to a home near you these school holidays. Source: Facebook

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She adds tax and inflation

While she didn't share how much she would pay for chores, the mum added a massive tax and inflation on the price of each item: 

• Soft drinks: $20
• Juice: $10 
• Chips: $20
• Cookies: $10 
• Lollies: $5 

It's likely that she also wants to ensure that these snacks last for the entirety of the school holidays - rather than being devoured all at once.

"My kids would get the 5-finger discount"

Naturally, there were strong reactions to this mother's extreme measures to reduce snack consumption.

Some parents rushed out to implement the system in their houses. 

"Lol, my kids would get the 5-finger discount," one mother said. 

"You got a bunch of parents up in arms over this...lol," added another. 

"And no IOU’s…cash on delivery," a third wrote. 

One 80s kid shared this: "My mum tried that with us in the early 80s. The problem was we would sneak them treats, and she never took inventory. She finally figured it out, and the Italian Ma came out of her.

"She said, 'Okay, from now on, you will do chores for the love of the family whether you like it or not! Look at the switch if you even think of questioning me!' Never got an allowance again."

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"My kids eat free"

However, others couldn't believe how harsh the mother was on her children, with this person writing, "I can't ever imagine denying my child food. Seriously?! And making money off of them is just a new level of bad parenting. Poor kids..." 

Another added, "Nah… my kids eat free. They save up chore money for fun things. Let kids be kids before the stress of life and inflation." 

And this mum laughed, "With prices that high, you won't get anything done! If we don't want to pay, what makes you think they would?" 

Finally, there was this hilarious but realistic comment: "Some of these prices are more than minimal wage? This chores store is going out of business fast unless mummy pays $100 per chore."

Originally published as My kids work for their food because I can't afford to keep feeding them