Family
Perspectives on Parenting©
by Nancy Lambert Davenport
Nancy Davenport's Column:
For Richardson News 05-30-99
Copyright Nancy Lambert Davenport 1999
"Working"
I don't know about your house, but I can already feel the vibes of boredom building up around here since school has been out. My son, Austin has never been one to enjoy sitting idly and listening to the cicadas sing. As with most kids though "making himself useful around the house" doesn't have great appeal either.
Through the years Austin has been required to do certain household chores that affect him directly. These are such things as making his bed, keeping his room picked up, and feeding the cat. He was not paid for these.
We he was younger, we added small items such as watering potted plants, emptying the dishwasher, and changing the cat box for which he was paid a set amount. He did these because we told him, but clearly the motivation to earn the money was not there - until we went to On the Border one evening. We lingered longer than usual over dinner with friends and Austin became bored and wandered into the video room. He had just earned a five dollar bill for various chores, so handed it to the bartender for change. No one was more surprised than he when he was given a whole stack of quarters. He was in heaven. I hate to say this, but I think this was a turning point for him in understanding the value of money.
As he got older we added a few items for which he was paid such as mowing the lawn, raking leaves, or entering data in the computer. At the same time we broadened his unpaid responsibilities of taking care of his own things - vacuuming his room, cleaning his bathroom, and washing his own clothes.
I think no matter how affluent a family is, kids need to do some work to earn money for their wants. To give kids as much money as they want or ask for does them no good. Children with disabilities especially need to be given jobs for which they are paid and for which they are not paid. To do otherwise diminishes the value of the child. Austin has learned to like the idea of earning his way. Trips to the bank to deposit earnings are as valuable as trip to the library.
Most young children need to have a weekly amount of money at their disposal. Some might do better starting with a daily allowance and working up to managing a weekly allowance. It's a good idea if they start at this time learning to give a certain percentage (ten percent is traditional) of their income to their church or to a charity of their choice. It can be set aside in a special container until a certain amount is collected or a certain day of the week arrives.
In addition to this donation, a certain percentage, I suggest forty percent, needs to go into savings. We allowed our kids to put half of that savings into a short term savings container to purchase something major within the year. This could be hoarded in a jar for all we cared. That way it could be watched closely and counted often as it grew toward a goal. The other half went into a savings account (our daughter set up a brokerage account) that was long-term-never-touch-it-for-the-rest-of-your-life account.
If you have been counting, that leaves fifty percent of their income for spending right now, this week. Learning these simple money management lessons early allows kids to learn budgeting early and well. Perhaps they will avoid the debt trap all together. Wouldn't that be a lesson well learned? And all this just to keep them busy, happy, and out from underfoot for the summer.
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Nancy Lambert Davenport
EMAIL: nancdave@swbell.net
URL: http://www.nancyldavenport.com