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With Lily being our oldest, she oftentimes ends up to be our "lab bunny". We agreed to give her a euro a week for personal necessities like extra candy or, if she decides to save up, a small toy. At the same time, we will probably add a chore to her duties around the house, probably engaging her more in taking care of the dishes (set the table, help loading the dishwasher, etc.).
If you have kids yourself or in your family, when have they first received an allowance? Did the kids have to help out more in exchange or was it a benefit without duties attached? I'd appreciate your thoughts and advice :-)
Well, this is definitely something I will be needing to do this as Emma is starting Kindergarten next week here and she should start understanding the value of a dollar, too. Thank you for giving me the idea :)
ReplyDeleteGladly, Janine :-) Right now, she doesn't need much as we're still buying their clothes, school supplies, etc. for them of course. But the kids definitely need to learn the value of money. They just want stuff way too often when we go out these days, and if they have to purchase those small things themselves, they'll learn that even those little items cost money and that money doesn't grow on trees :-) Let me know how it works for you, Janine!!
DeleteI think this is a great idea! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Jen! We'll see how it goes once we start the experiment :-)
DeleteMy parents tried the allowance thing with us when we were kids. It kind of worked, I guess. What we ultimately ended up with was responsibilities that were ours - each year they grew and changed as we did. When they were done and done well, perhaps we earned something we had been waiting or hoping for. What I feel like I missed, though, was not managing my own funds. Kidzilla is starting first grade and we've been tossing around the idea, too. Her concept of money right now is that Dad always has some and that it comes from the plastic debit card in an endless supply. That tells me we have a red flag to deal with. So maybe we'll both figure this out out together. I like the idea of a job chart or a chore chart - helps with organization and responsibility and gives you a way to track those things and pay up in the end for allowance. I've also seen people do things like full allowance means all chores are completed and there have been no behavior issues. Incomplete chores get a decrease in "pay" and perhaps voluntary extras earn a "bonus." Not sure how I feel about lumping behavior in with allowance, though. To me, behavior is something that should be not for reward, but simply because it's the right way to behave and is expected from a decent human being.
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of just thinking out loud here, though.
Thanks for reminding me that we need to decide what we want to do - school starts Tuesday!
I agree with you that behavior should not be part of earning the allowance. The girls also have chores we simply expect them to do, for example picking up their rooms. Their rooms, their responsibility. It has happened that I cleared their rooms of all the toys because they didn't pick up and they had to earn back the privilege of having toys in their rooms. I know, we're draconian parents :-)
DeleteHow exciting that she is about to start school! I think my son was six too when I started to give him small amounts of money. I made a star chart for him which involved doing things like making his bed, speaking respectfully and keeping his room tidy. If the chart was full of ticks by the end of the week, I'd give him a small amount of money. We haven't been using his star chart the last few month, but I think I need to start doing it again because his room is a mess and he's getting a bit cheeky!
ReplyDeleteWe're pretty bad at keeping track of charts, I have to admit. Making her bed would be another good chore to add to the list, even though her blanket is very heavy. At least she could help me with the job. Thanks a lot for your input, Lizzy!
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