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With a little help from my friends: And nothing about politics, something about family

I need some ideas.  Regular readers know that my sixteen-year-old son Michael suffers from Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome.  I won't go into details, but he has relatively limited activity.

But he also wants to be able to earn some money this summer, and he's more than willing to work for it, if we can think up what he can do.

Here's what's out:  mowing lawns or delivering newspapers (anything with really steady exertion is physically a problem)--that would also rule out things like lifeguarding or becoming a bag boy at Acme (he would miss an inordinate amount of time at unpredictable intervals).

Here's his skill set:  he's done babysitting, and does especially well with boys in the 5-10 age span.  (Unfortunately, last year's steady job in that regard moved away).  He is very very good with computers, with fixing technology (although he makes it up as he goes along, it usually works by the time he's through with it).  He could do online work if there were online work to do.  He could possibly tutor.

He is capable of about 8 hours a week spread over several days in 2-4 hour increments.

Anybody got any ideas?  I know he has a tough row to hoe with the CFIS, but I also desperately want to see this child work if that's what he wants to do.

Comments

pandora said…
How about tutoring? My son tutored throughout the school year. (He's working in a restaurant this summer as well as tutoring.)

Also, your "I'm not a robot/type these words test" is getting impossible to read. Isn't there something you can do?
Dana Garrett said…
Is he good with social media...posting tweets and stuff on Facebook? How about setting up websites? If so, I'll talk to someone who does that for a living. Maybe she could refer clients to him that she can't take.
Yes, Dana, he could do that, He would be best working with people who wanted her services but didn't have (a) extreme time pressure and (b) were on a budget that made using somebody brand new a good idea.

Thanks
tom said…
A friend of mine has a Computer Repair shop in Trolley Square. He might be willing to hire someone to
watch the counter and/or fix systems on a very part-time basis as long as your son could reliably show up for the few hours that he committed to. He also has a Web Design/Hosting company and might welcome a low-paid part-time intern.
kavips said…
Ebay. It's exciting. Have him first sell stuff from the house you are taking to Goodwill anyway, and then have him turnover the cash into buying what he thinks he can sell.

If another job opens, he can do both, quite easily. If it doesn't, he has learned some basics about economics.
Pencadermom said…
If he is good on computers, I agree that Ebay is fun and can be very profitable. My teenager has made a lot of money from Ebay, mostly upgrading his own phone, ipod, etc. but I have also given him things to sell on commission. With a little experience, he can advertise and sell for other people on commission. (an example that made my kids all 'giggle' was when they sold a broken nintendo ds for @ $40.. broken!! people buy that stuff for 'parts' I guess. Best wishes to him whatever path he takes for summer work (but I actually think tutoring might be the most rewarding personally and would look great on a resume)
Dana Garrett said…
Steve,

I'll contact her today about it.
Dana Garrett said…
Steve,

She told me that he should use the services at this website to get clients. Also advertise in Craigslist. After that it's word of mouth.

http://www.guru.com/
Thanks Dana, that's number two on our list of things to do this afternoon

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