[Father_0f_7]

Well, I dont have a 17 year old foster child, so I dont really know what to say.
I do have a 14 year old adopted son that came into our family about a year ago.

I have a 17 year old son and here are the rules we have for him.

1) What is the bedtime for your teen on school nights? Weekends?

Doesnt have a bedtime on weekends, he can do whatever he wants as long as it's safe and we know what he's doing. As for School nights midnight curfew, in your room at 12:30, being quiet. No matter what, he know's he has to get up at 6:45 in the morning and get good grades.

2) Not counting meals and driving them to appointments, how much of their "free time" does your teen spend with you in a week's time?

Not much, he's a teenager...teenager's dont generally like their parents.

3) How many nights is your teen home in a week?

Sunday-Thursday he must be at the house. Sunday because we go to church and he WILL be there. He can have friends over to the house sunday or go over to a friends house sunday afternoon but we would prefer him to be at the house by 4. But that's only because we have family time on Sundays.

Monday-Thursday obviously because it's school nights. Sometimes we will allow him to stay at a friends house on school nights, or have a friend over on school nights as long as he actually makes it to school the next morning. Friday and Saturday night, whatever he's almost an adult and we wont be able to control every move he makes. As long as he's at church Sunday morning...I dont care.

4) Do you let your teen have a computer in their room? In a common area of the house?

This depends on the child. Can you trust her with a computer in her room.

We have a computer in a place in the house where all the kids have access to it. But then again, we have 7 kids, so some of them do have computers in their room.

5) How many times a week do you have some kind of family activity? (If you do have a family activity, I'd love to hear what it is to try and get some ideas.)

Well, we have dinner every night together, but we also have game night on Sunday afternoons at around 4 (which is why we like him home at 4). Play board games, we have a Wii. We have the kids rotate weeks and they choose what we do.

6) How much allowance do you give your teen a week?

We dont, they have jobs. That's how they learn the value of a dollar. If we give them money every week for just sitting around the house, or playing video games with friends that doesnt teach them anything.

If they do something we didnt ask them to do we will give them some money. (Dylan mowed the lawn for me because he wanted money, Dane prefers to wash our cars for money)

Now, that being said. The younger one's do get allowance because they cant get jobs...they arent old enough. But they only get an allowance if they do their chores without being asked and if they dont complain about it.
Once they hit 15 or 16 they are able to get jobs. So we dont really do an allowance unless they do something our of the ordinary.

Again, it all depends on the child. You decide what she is responsible enough for, but still remember that in a year, you can't control her...she'll probably be on her own.