Earning Your Way...

My pal Lu, over at A Family Affair is talking about what she can possibly give her youngest in the way of chores-to-earn-a-bit-of-pocket money. Like me, she has two kids who are pretty much grown up, and a younger one who still needs a lot of parental input. Giving him chores is not always as easy as it sounds.
My ten year old, despite the fact that he seems to have more money than me, is also angling for chores. For some reason, he wants to clean the windows. Not quite sure why, unless he's looked at them up close, but that can only end in tears - and not because our house has four floors! Last time he cleaned the basement windows he seemed to have used some combination of furniture polish and washing-up liquid. Took me weeks to get the streaks off. I don't clean them that often, but when I do they are bloody well streak free.
I could suggest he washes my car, but as Lu reminded me, that means hiding all the Brillo pads beforehand. It also means setting the hose up, finding a bucket and sponges that don't do any damage to the paintwork. This car (so far) is free of teenage dents and I intend to keep it that way for as long as possible. (There - jinxed it.)
The Man-Child (who desperately needs a new nickname) is about to embark on a week's worth of full-time work which will also render him richer than me. Given that he has just lost/damaged-beyond-repair my car keys, I am wondering whether to ask him to hand over his pay check/cheque as soon as he gets it.  (Long story involving a rock festival, a mosh pit and a poorly attached key which somehow fell onto the ground and got stomped on. Or so he says.) It's one of those remote car keys, that every car has these days. Did you know Volvo keys cost $300 (200 quid) to replace? Well, you do now.  Seriously, who thinks to check the cost of a replacement key when buying a car? (You might want to check the replacement cost of your car keys and take out insurance, pronto.)
Anyway, despite the fact that I'm always complaining of the growing to-do list in our house, I'm scratching my head to come up with kid-friendly chores. Anyone?