What is your rule/policy/guidelines on giving allowances? This is what my thoughts are...totally random, but nonetheless mine. I think .50 a week is sufficient for Tanner, but does he earn the money or just get it because? That's my problem. I want to instill the value of work so I don't really want to give him money for doing chores (or rather, being/teaching him to be responsible for certain things). So what do I do???? What works for everyone else? What doesn't? What do YOU think? I really need some ideas/suggestions. The thing with Tanner is that he is constantly asking for money or asking us to buy things for him and we want him to appreciate the value of money and that you don't just get what you want (despite what certain other people may feel). I remember getting an allowance as a child but I can't exactly remember if it was attached to anything. I remember having chores but I'm not sure if we got paid to do them. Maybe Megan remembers...do you????? Is 5 almost 6 years old to young to start giving an allowance? Nevertheless, I need some suggestions.
3 years ago
7 comments:
Well Mandy In our house each of the kids have chores that they do, these are chores that they do not get paid to do, these chores are done because they live in the house and should help keep it clean. Then there or other things that they may do to get paid these aren't set jobs just when i want something done i offer it to the kids they can choose to to the job or not so how much money they earn is up to them.
This works for us i hope this helps you decide what will work for you and Tanner.
I have no idea how we will handle allowances BUT I have a question about your last post. It's been on my mind since you posed the sleepover question.
Does the no sleepover policy cover things like scout camps (or girls camp) & EFY. Those things really are like big glorified sleepovers. So where foes one draw the line?
Sorry I know this is the WRONG post but I missed commenting on that one and am curious as to what others think.
I've been considering the allowance thing myself. I was thinking of giving Nate .25/week. He doesn't need anymore than that - it's not like he's actually going to be able to buy anything, but at least there will be the decision if it's worth spending HIS money on or not, even if I have to help out.
I think they should have to 'earn' it by helping around the house, no matter how simple. I think I will give Nate some chores, like making his bed every morning, setting the table and maybe a weekly chore too. I don't think I will connect the allowance to the chores though - they should have to work to contribute, not to earn money...I don't know...
Hey Mandy,
When we grew up it was like Autumn said....we did chores and our share of the work around the house to pay for the privilege of having a roof over our heads and food on the table to eat. My parents didn't believe in allowance and as I grew older I decided that I didn't either. Neither does Dean.
That's just us. It's worked for us. We all live here. We all sleep here and we all work and eat here. So we all do our share as a family to maintain that privilege of doing so. Everyone pulls their own weight. As for having some money to learn the value of hard work with and the management of one's own money.......the kids have always gotten their own jobs. Every single one of them have been working since they were 9 years of age. (Starting with delivery of newspapers and flyers, to babysitting, before getting a "real" part time job while going to school) They love it. They love to work and love to bring their own money in.
And they are all in the habit of paying their own tithing now too.
AND....they've never been one to beg or plead or demand for us to buy items they WANT. In fact, they sometime offer to pay for things that our family is in NEED of. Love that. I think our arrangement is working. : D
All our boys are raising their own money for their missions too. Hopefully we won't have to contribute to their funds at all. It will give them a sense of their own accomplishments. And it won't be such a pressure on us, since Dean just lost his job yesterday.
Now if I may respond to Kendra, I hope you don't mind:
As for Scout Camps, EFY, and Girl's camps being "glorified sleepovers", I do not consider them as such at all. These church overnight programs are not parties - as most sleep overs tend to be. That's just my opinion.
The over night camps and such are groups of girls or groups of boys with the SAME sex as they are for leaders..... OF which do NOT sleep in the same tent, cabin, or room as the youth. However, they also limit and maintain the waking hours. There is a strict time for lights out....after a very structured day of learning activities. ( I would bold the word "learning" here if I knew how. : D) There are no T.V.'s - so no chance of the "wrong" movie being played, etc. Yes.....some kids will still try to attempt some of the things they shouldn't be doing at some of these camps - and believe you me.....they are sent home immediately.........but for the most part.....the youth are at these camps......because they SIGNED up for them.....with the expectations of what they can do and what will NOT be tolerated. ..... Right down to what the dress code is. If they don't like the list of expectations listed, they don't sign the form and they don't go.
Does this make sense? It's not a sleepover. It's an overnight church PROGRAM. There is a HUGE difference to me. The leaders are under severe scrutiny by BIshops, Stake Presidents, etc. Everything the leaders do, say or allow at the camps is discussed and gone over with a fine tooth comb during their planning meetings for these programs.
Sleepovers are more casual, less controlled, less scrutinized, or even planned.
Hope I helped in someway to explain the difference here.
Here are my thoughts on allowances. In our house you do not get traditional allowance. In fact you don't get any money until you are 8. Until that time you are learning how to do things and I am more than happy to teach you how to do it properly. Once our kids turn 8, I feel it is time to start teaching them the value of money. When my daughters ask for something from a store I ask them what they think they can do to earn the money to buy it. It has made them creative in what they have tried to do to earn money. They have worked out a deal with their grandparents to take in their recycling and get the money from that; we have done bake sales; we have done garage sales where they get the money from the toys that they sell; they have come up with extra chores to help them earn money, etc. I don't give my kids a weekly allowance, but I do give my kids opportunities to earn money. I believe that in doing this I am teaching them a couple of things 1 - the value of money, is what you want worth the work that it takes to get it?
2 - the satisfaction of earning it yourself. . . if you worked hard to earn something it makes it that much better
3 - the concept of saving money. . . you can use the money that you earned to buy candy, or you can save it to go to a movie with your friends or buy something bigger when you get more money.
So, those are my thoughts. People may not agree with them, but it works great in our house! Right now the kiddies are saving up their money to buy things when we go to Jamaica at Christmas! They are soooo excited!
I'm a little late on this, but I thought I'd share what we are doing. Just a couple of weeks ago, we started a "chore" chart. Since they are only 4 and almost 3 it's not very strict. I definitely agree that they shouldn't be "paid" to help out around the house with normal chores, but we needed something to help me be more organized and get the kids more involved. We as parents decided what things we'd like Macartney and Thatcher to work on and made a chart of about 10 or 11 daily things. We have a few chores like make your bed (which honestly I rarely make my own, so it's just something for them to feel like they are helping) and pick up toys but we also have some behavior ones like sharing, not whining/using words, and helping mommy with anything she needs. So they get stickers on their chart everyday. For every 10 stickers they get a quarter. So last week M got $1.25 and T got $1.00. It's not really so much about the money, but they are always asking for treats and toys from the dollar store or Wal-Mart and now if they want to they can save up. And at this age they aren't really doing it for the money either, just for the praise and being able to see their progress. I wouldn't even call it allowance really because I think they are too young for that, but I like that they are learning what is worth spending their money on. And they enjoy seeing days that they do well and also seeing where they can improve. I even put up my own "chore chart" above theirs so I can have something to help me get things done. Unfortunately, no one pays me... ;)
Sorry I've been slacking on reading blogs lately. I think mom was pretty inconsistent with this part of parenting. I remember getting an allowance and having to do chores in order to get it. I also remember not getting an allowance and feeling like I was deprived of all things cool!
Great tips on allowance though. I really like the idea of waiting until the kids are 8 years old. I think it is really important to give children the opportunity to earn money to get something they really want. There are way too many kids with a sense of entitlement going rather than earning or working for what they want.
Post a Comment