I’ve got a sort of business arrangement with my teenage son. To motivate him to clean his room, I started paying him $20 each time. He liked the deal so much that now he cleans the living room and the...

The boy did not ask to be born. You should clean his room for free! (LOL) Seriously, it is great to pay children to do things. However, they should... not be paid to do those things that are good for them, like brushing their teeth, bathing and cleaning their room. These are essential needs. Children should be held accountable for cleaning their room. They should lose some privileges. The reverse is true, they could be given tokens of appreciation, which could involve cash, but it would be best to take them to dinner or something as a show of appreciation and reinforcement. My amazing son is 8 years old and he LOVES riding the subway here in the city under siege, Washington, D.C. We have great and clean Metro system. I told him today, the last day of his summer vacation that for every week he does not have a meltdown at school or home (getting angry, crying, etc.), I will take him on one of the rail lines from end to end--which is quite a ride (1.5 hours round trip, approx.)  more