As a kid, how often did your parents tut at you for treating them like a taxi service only for you to roll your eyes at them over your pricey, new birthday present Game Boy?
I must say, it didn’t even occur to me as a youngster to act grateful about being ferried back and forth to my mates’ houses or to the swimming baths, and I now feel kind of bad about taking their selflessly given free time for granted.
Luckily, the Veruca Salts of today may learn a valuable lesson about hard work thanks to an innovative new parent taxi app from Skoda, which will allow mums and dads driven round the bend to give their kids lifts in exchange for chores.
This free app tracks completed miles in a similar fashion to a real taximeter, allowing parents to allocate domestic tasks worth a certain amount of mileage.
For example, feeding the dog might be worth a trip down the road for a sleepover, whereas a cinema outing further afield may warrant a higher payment such as a room clean or a weekend’s worth of washing up.
You can even have a receipt delivered over to your kid’s smartphone to remind them of the payment they owe.
If you’re feeling super mean, you can share the receipts on Facebook.
This super clever parent taxi app was released earlier this week, and is capable of tracking past trips as well as the total number of journeys taken.
Blogger Jo Middleton, who tried the app out with her teenage daughter Belle, has expressed her delight at the results:
This is the app I’ve been waiting for! It’s true that kids generally have a better social life than adults and as result that can mean a lot of car journeys each week.
Although I love encouraging them to get out and do more, I think it’s a great idea to swap miles for some help around the house in return.
Recent findings from Skoda reveal just how much precious time is lavished on funnelling children back and forth from their various social commitments. No doubt other child free adults will feel just as baffled by the following figures as I do.
Each year, British parents drive an average of 1,648 extra miles to help their children out. Parents in Northern Ireland drive the furthest at the behest of their pride and joy, averaging out at an annual 2,142 miles.
Each week, British parents will spend an average of three hours chauffeuring their little moppets to sports clubs or friends’ houses. Three hours. Parents of the UK, you have more than earned this taxi app…
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.