The only time in my life that I was in favor of the idea of allowance without work was when I was on the receiving end of that deal. I understand that some parents give their child a weekly allowance (without having them earn it) to teach their children how to manage their money. My problem with this approach is that it in no way prepares them for the value of money, in that they do not equate money with work. There is an excellent passage in Laura Ingalls Wilder's book "Farmer Boy" where Almanzo's father explains that money represents hours of hard work.
"Father looked at him a long time. Then he took out his wallet and opened it, and slowly he took out a round, big silver half-dollar. He asked:
"Almanzo, do you know what this is?"
"Half a dollar," Almanzo answered.
"Yes. But do you know what half a dollar is?"
Almanzo didn't know it was anything but half a dollar.
"It's work, son," Father said. "That's what money is; it's hard work."...
... "You know how to raise potatoes, Almanzo?"
"Yes," Almanzo said.
"Say you have a seed potato in the spring, what do you with it?"
"You cut it up," Almanzo said.
"Go on, son."
"Then you harrow- first you manure the field, and plow it. Then you harrow, and mark the ground. And plant the potatoes, and plow them, and hoe them. You plow and hoe twice."
"That's right, son. And then?"
"Then you dig them and put them down the cellar."
"Yes. Then you pick them over all winter; you throw out all the little ones and the rotten ones. Come spring, you load them up and haul them here to Malone, and you sell them. And if you get a good price, son, how much do you get to show for all that work? How much do you get for half a bushel of potatoes?"
"Half a dollar," Almanzo said
"Yes," said Father. "That's what's in this half-dollar, Almanzo. The work that raised half a bushel of potatoes is in it."
Almanzo looked at the round piece of money that Father held up. It looked small, compared to all that work."
That lesson has stuck with me when thinking about training our girls to handle money wisely. For as we all know, money doesn't grow on trees.
So in our home, money is occasionally given as a present, or it is earned with chores, whether they be weekly or some extra need. However, we have found that money is not always the best currency for children 10 and under. They have so little need for it, and have little else but flippant wants to spend it on, that we began to see it wasn't the currency of motivation that our children needed to do their chores. (Translation: They didn't care if they did their chores or not, because the money was not yet valuable enough for them.)
That observation coupled with some tight financial times for our family gave birth to a new idea in currency for our children....Wii minutes! We keep a running total of each child's Wii minutes on the fridge. Each child has a list of chores and a scheduled time to do them daily. If they do them well, they get 30 minutes of Wii time to be spent on any electronic device. And if they do their chores with excellence AND an happy heart, they get 45 minutes. This has proved to be a valuable currency for our children. Because it involves something they treasure, (as well as something we like to put some limitations on :) ) they are more likely to do their chores consistently.
It also helps them see how much work they must do in order to gain a little leisure time; something that will hopefully transfer easily over to money as they grow. So if you are struggling with motivating your children to help around the house, I would encourage a close examination of what currency your child deals in. Perhaps you can use it to help set a good work ethic at an early age that will transfer over to a productive work in their young adult years.
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