in keeping with the topic of kids
and chores and helpfulness,
here is my question:
Do you pay your kids an allowance?
If so, what is it tied to,
if anything at all?
There are opposing "camps" on this,
if you will,
and I find myself firmly entrenched in BOTH,
which means I do nothing at all
but obsess over which is better.
Camp one believes that children should be paid for doing chores.
They argue that when you go to work, your boss pays you for the work you do.
If you do your work poorly, your pay reflects that.
If you don't do your work, you don't get paid.
I can totally get that and I think those are really valid points.
The other camp,
on the other hand,
argues that kids should help out and do chores
because they are part of a family and that that is what families DO.
They argue (correctly, I might add)
that paying a child to do chores allows the child to just not care enough
to do them if they don't care about getting the money.
Or, they continue, if you ask your child to do something additionally,
you might be met with "What am I going to get paid?"
So what do you do, money wise with your kids?
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3 comments:
For a while, when our sons were much younger, they EARNED an allowance. Then we got away from it after having a discussion about family responsibility. Once they got their drivers' licenses I always made sure that I gave them gas money (which was really a little more than they needed, but I intentionally gave them extra) because often they were/are running errands for me. They buy most of their own clothes with money they've earned from summer jobs, and the older one even buys certain groceries that only he likes. I've really been blessed with great kids!
Army and I had this discussion not too long ago. We are thinking of giving Linus an allowance. So, do we pay her for her chores, or do we just make her chores part of being a family. Ultimately, I think you can never being teaching about budgeting too soon, so I think she will get an allowance independent of her chores BUT she will have extra things that she can do to pick up a little extra money. To me, it's the best of both worlds. :)
My kids have chores they are required to do on a daily basis. About 4 or 5 things daily. But those things are make your bed, clean up your stuff from around the house and then there are a couple items like empty the dishwasher or load it after dinner, sweep the porch, clean the basement, vacuume or dust, do the bathrooms, water the garden, etc. My kids are not paid for their chores however, we do give them spending money occasionally or if they do something extra. My two oldest earn money by babysitting, cutting grass, etc. My youngest is not able to work yet so I will pay him for little things he is doing just for me that are not on his chore list. Like rubbing my feet! lol
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