Hi There!
I want to share with you all something that we've been working on with Rory:
A few months ago, a friend of mind posted on one of her social media accounts that she and her husband were putting their two-year-old son on an allowance schedule based on what tasks he completed and each task was worth 25 cents. I remember her making the comment that they wanted to teach their children to earn money rather than just receive it for their allowance. She made a comment like "No one is going to pay him for simply waking up." And that has stuck with me for some time now.
About two or three months ago I decided that it was time for Rory to start learning about money: how to save it, when to spend it and how to be responsible for it. I casually put him on an allowance schedule similar to my friend, Melissa's. I told him that he could earn money for chores and that he could do whatever he wanted with the money he earned. For weeks I would mention that tasks could be completed for money. Sometimes he did them and sometimes he didn't. One Saturday afternoon Randy asked Rory how much he had earned and if he wanted to go buy Legos with his money. Of course Rory wanted to go get Legos! In that first seven weeks he earned $17.25. So we went to buy some Legos. Later that night, he was flipping through a booklet from his newly purchased Legos and found a set that he really wanted. He was so excited and mentioned something that next weekend we could go get that one for him. Oh no! I quickly informed him that we were not going to be buying Legos for him anymore and that if he wanted that set he was going to have to work for it. We looked up to see how much it was and I told Rory that he wouldn't be able to earn enough money to buy it by the next weekend. However, I knew if he worked really hard it was possible for him to have enough money in two weeks. So for two weeks, Rory would ask me what he could do to earn money and everyday he would do numerous chores and tasks. And 13 days later (that's right, a day early!), we took him to the bank and paid his allowance.
With his hard-earned money tucked away in his wallet, we headed to the Lego Store. He had never been there before and had no idea there was such a thing.
And that was the set that he had been talking about for weeks.
Luckily for Rian there was a Duplo station set up
With no time to waste, he got line and patiently waited for his turn at the counter.
{I love that the girl in the background is staring at him}
He (well, actually me) became a VIP member. Once I told the very nice man at the counter that Rory was the one purchasing the Legos, he directed his attention to Rory. Rory then took out his money and set it on the counter.
Waiting for his change.
Rory was so excited that he was able to get those Legos
Randy and I were so proud of him for not only earning the money, but for setting a goal and completing it, and for saving for something he really wanted. The weekend before, we had to make a Target run and while we were there Rory struggled with the idea of spending the ten dollars or so that he had earned during that week or saving it for the fire truck set that he really wanted. He understood that he only had enough money for a small set, but what he didn't get was that if he spent the money he had saved, he wouldn't have enough for the fire truck. What he learned standing at the entrance of Target was a very valuable lesson that hopefully will stay with him forever. I know its a lesson that I will remind him of the next time he is faced with a tempting choice.
{Luckily he had birthday money to cover the taxes! :0)}
So here is the concept of his allowance:
He gets paid for chores that help our household (folding/putting away laundry, dusting, picking up dog poop, feeding the dogs, vacuuming, taking the trash cans out front for trash day, putting the trash cans back after trash day, picking up the backyard in prep for the gardener, cleaning the bathroom, helping with meals, loading/unloading the dishwasher, helping with the groceries, etc).
He also gets allowance for a good weekly report from school. The idea behind this is that at his age, doing well in school is his job and in return, he should get paid for it.
He doesn't get an allowance for cleaning his room, getting dressed, brushing his teeth, things of that nature. Nobody is going to pay him for doing that once he is living on his own and therefore, neither will we. Now I understand that he will not get paid for the chores and tasks listed above in his adult life, but I look at our household like a business and those tasks help our "business" run smoothly.
I'm working on setting up a chore chart for him so that he can manage the tasks that he wants to tackle and complete without me having to write it down. I just haven't found one that I like. I guess I need to do a little Pinterest research on it. :0)
Anyway, thanks for stopping by!
xoxo
-aMie
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