As blokes, do we ever grow up?

GPWM.

Well, thats a parenting issue, my children were self sufficient when they left education because we made sure they were... I know some children never grow into adults and some are being supported by their poor parents till the parents die and financially after... Thats also a parenting issue.

Theres a statistic that says men mature emotionally about 10 years older than women, so always marry 10 years younger than you - which seems pretty common to me...

Ps check the footer:-). No honestly, the above is supposedly true.

I wouldn't know. I've only tried the marriage thingy once. 45 years ago.

How many times have you tried?

Thrice! They were/are all younger, but i seem to see a lot of it, of course here the open marriage is very common and acceptable, guys quite regularly have to check dates to make sure they arent related... My wife has 3 brothers, 3 sisters, 3 half brothers and possibly a half sister.

I do believe that many wiser women choose a level of maturity because at the age of 30 something, many men are boys.

I rest my case.

LOL. That's old school !

As a child I was expected to earn my pocket money (little that it was) by drying dishes or cleaning silver, cleaning shoes etc. Christmas or birthday cash had to be saved. I resented it bitterly at the time - however, I think it did me good in the long run as I am much more responsible, financially, than some I know.

On the reverse side, I didn't expect my son to do chores, apart from keep his bedroom relatively tidy. Once he got to 14 I told him it was his room and if he wanted to sleep in a pit, so be it - I wasn't touching it again. If clothes weren't put out for washing, they didn't get done. He did his own ironing (by choice) and was doing his own laundry at 16.

He now tells me that if he has children they will be made to do the washing up, cleaning etc., as he says he never got into the habit of it and has struggled as it's not routine to him to do them - though he's a dab hand at laundry and ironing!

I wouldn't touch your childrens bedrooms at all - make them do their own laundry and ironing - and if they don't then they leave the house in dirty, unironed clothes. They will soon make the effort to do it.

As to money, from 13 up to the age of 17 my son had to put 10% of any money he earned or received into a savings account. He had a clothing allowance (other than for basics like underwear, socks, school uniform etc.,) which he had to augment if he wanted something more expensive or 'brand name' items. His sports equipment and fees were paid by me, as was his travelling expenses. I bought him a cheap cell phone at 13 (BT) so that he could call me in an emergency.

I didn't ask him for 'rent' or a contribution to the household expenses when he started working but did expect him to pay for all his personal expenses, including cell phone plan.

I would suggest that you tell your children you will not be renewing their cell phone plans unless they give you the monthly payment in advance - and only sign up for a prepay one where they can't do 'overages'.

Prepaid phone plans | Pay as you go | Mobility | TELUS.com has a monthly paygo plan.
https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/plans

Or else go with Freedom Mobile, unlimited data (but at reduced speed once you have used your allotted amount) https://www.freedommobile.ca/back-to...FQe4wAodKqAOug

I personally believe that if you don't help them to be fiscally responsible now, they may struggle later.

Edited to add, I know several people who asked their children for a percentage of their income as 'rent' and placed it into a savings account which was given to them when they got married / purchased their 1st home. Quite a good compromise, I feel.

I knew I had read something along these lines when I was studying. There's been shift in the way childhood is conceptualized and in fact (according to Philippe Aries) it didn't exist in medieval times. It's something invented by modern societies to fit in with schooling etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Ari%C3%A8s

http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/c...2002chap01.pdf

This thread has turned into a great discussion. I am enjoying reading people's views!

When my dad found out my mom was going to start giving me an allowance he said he'd double it, my mom then up'd it again, well you can see where this is going. Having divorced parents who had a fractious and at times a hostile relationship was amazing for pecuniary gain.

Nope, sorry, i dont get it? One died and the other wanted to persue her pro golf career, we only divorced so no 3 could be a legal wife and are still the best of friends.

Does that mean you have two wives (unofficially)?

No, no legal parallelism, just friendly management of wishes.

TMI.