A Penny For Your Thoughts? What About A Nickel To Make Your Bed?

I don't remember getting a regular allowance when I was growing up, and I don't recall having many chores. I'm the youngest of five, and it's my theory that by the time I was born my parents just got tired of trying to make their children into productive members of society. My three brothers were subjected to a rigorous routine of lawn mowing and trash detail and under my mom's guidance my sister sewed, cleaned and learned how to cook up the perfect meat loaf. When it was my turn I think my parents saw me one day, pathetically trying to wash a dish with the feather duster and thought, "Why bother? No way this one's ever living on her own. We'll just leave her some stocks and a couple pieces of jewelry."

We've been struggling with the whole chores/allowance issue with our girls for awhile now. It all started after our last trip to Disneyland when Rigel, still beside himself over having to spend three hundred dollars at the Mad Hatter shop for two mouse-ear hats and a Goofy keychain, started telling them that they should start dipping into their piggy banks to pay for some of their 'luxury' items. There was a long lecture in the car about money and responsibility and he even managed to work in the speech about how, in some countries, kids their age would have to weave twenty rugs just to afford one of those overpriced balloons that were bobbing around in the backseat. He figured their somber silence was a sign that they were taking his words to heart, but I didn't want to tell him that they'd actually been asleep since we left the parking lot.

When we got home we came up with an allowance plan, deciding that a flat rate would be doled out to them weekly with fifty-cent bonuses for any extra duties. We figured out which chores would be everyday chores, which ones would be weekly and which additional duties could garner them those valuable extra quarters. Rigel and I were very excited, this prospect of bringing financial enlightenment to our offspring! I even mapped out an elaborate color-coded chart with graphs, tables and lists and when I was done it looked like something that the Pentagon could use to assist them in invading a small country.

Our grand plan lasted two weeks.

The first few days went like clockwork. They'd come home, consult their chore list and get to work. Lunchboxes were emptied! Clothes were hung! Beds were made! By the end of the week and the presentation of their first installment of their allowance, Rigel and I were convinced it was only a matter of time before they were charting their earnings on spreadsheets, investing in mutual funds and donating generous amounts to bogus charities for hefty kickbacks.

But soon our new routine gave way to busy work schedules, increased homework loads and, um, blogging. Chores were forgotten, my chart fell behind the bookcase and when it came time for allowance Rigel and I, realizing we didn't have enough dollar bills between us, would give the girls an IOU. After a few weeks of this we abandoned the whole thing altogether. Except for the occasional request for them to empty the dishwasher, or my pre-menstrual tirades where I tear through through the house like a madwoman demanding that they pick up their things or risk losing them to the Goodwill bin, they remain virtually chore-free.

There is a crazy, insane school of thought that says chores shouldn't be tied to their weekly allowance, anyways. The theory is that the chores should be a separate entity, done purely for the aim of contributing to the household's well being. This may be true, but then what do they get their allowance for? Watching TV? Making farting noises with their underarms? I'd be hard pressed to hand over their wad of cash every week with the words, "Good job with the video games. Lay around on the couch a little longer next week and you could really start pulling in the big bucks."

We're still determined to get them on track with the chores, institute a weekly allowance and make them pay for non-essential items with their own money. I think it's important to teach kids fiscal responsibility and give them guidance in making wise financial choices. I didn't have it, and look how I turned out. What kind of idiot spends four dollars for a cup of coffee but then turns around and uses a coupon to save forty-cents on a roll of plastic wrap?

I'd be interested to hear how other parents deal with this issue. Did you have chores as a child? Do your children have chores? Do you give them an allowance or plan to in the future? Are you good at enforcing chores or are you weak and spineless like us and fork over bucketloads of cash because you can't resist those big pleading eyes asking for a McFlurry or a new bottle of nail polish? Well?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

tags: kids+money | allowance | chores | lazy

Tweet Pin It