My daughter never worked a minimum-wage job. I think she missed out on some important life lessons.

The author said she learned a lot by working in the service industry when she was younger.

Maria Korneeva/Getty Images Unlike me, my daughter never worked low-paying, menial jobs while growing up.

Instead, I steered her toward prestigious internships and resumé-building opportunities.

Now I wonder if I deprived her of lessons that only service work can teach.

At 27, my daughter earns more than I did at 57.

But she still can't properly clean a coffee machine or remove sticky spills from her kitchen countertops.

One of the few regrets I have as a parent is not encouraging her to work a minimum-wage job during her formative years.

Rather than scooping ice cream or scrubbing toilets, she spent her early teen summers at sleepaway camp with friends.

In high school and college, she landed internships at prestigious financial institutions, including BlackRock and Dow Jones.

Thanks to those internships, she graduated from college with an unpadded résumé, and by her final semester, she had secured a full-time job with a Manhattan consulting firm.

While I'm genuinely impressed with how much my daughter has achieved in her 20s, I can't shake the idea that she missed out on some important life lessons by not getting some dirt under her fingernails.

The author said she pushed her daughter to go after impressive internships instead of hourly service work when she was younger.

Courtesy of Michele Shapiro.

Making the most of the hand I was served My work experience as a teen couldn't have been more different than my daughter's.