*Go to the next post if you want to read about Audrey and St. Patrick's Day Parade*
I've never been an allowance type of person. I don't have anything against it per se, I just never really saw the merit in it. Inever really got an allowance. I vaguely remember my parents trying (I could be totally wrong and making that up) but it just didn't stick. I don't have any strong or deep philosophy of why I've never bought into the idea aside from the fact that I want my kids to take an active role in the household and I feel that they should do that without expecting payment for doing so. I also don't want my kids to start expecting more than I can give them so if I were to pay them too much, it takes a lot out of my pocket that I could spend on things that they actually need as well as giving them unrealistic expectations. Now while I still do feel that way, I feel like I've found a way to mitigate my concerns and still teach my kids the value of work. I also realized something else...how is giving the kids an allowance that much different than promising a new toy if they behave for a certain amount of time or taking them for special time with mommy/daddy or extra TV time. Those are all fine rewards, but they weren't working for our kids. So we tried a new approach. After reading some articles online, I combine a few different people's approaches and so far, the system that I came up with has proven very successful.
So this is how we do it...Siobhan never earns more than 30 cents a day (yes cents) and can only earn the money on weekdays but she still has to do the jobs on weekends. She has 5 jobs that are mandatory and five more that are more optional. The mandatory jobs include things like cleaning her bedroom and making the bed, cleaning the playroom, taking care of laundry both clean and dirty. The optional jobs are things like taking out the garbage, sweeping the kitchen floor and few other things. The five mandatory jobs are worth 4 cents and the others are worth 2.
Audrey earns 20 cents a day and four mandatory jobs that are similar to Siobhan's and four optional jobs like setting the table for dinner and cleaning up the toys and books that end up in the living room. Mandatory jobs are 3 cents, optional jobs are worth 2.
Mr. Will does a total of four jobs. Helping mom clean his rooms and put away laundry as well as coloring and cleaning the playroom. All for a total of 10 cents.
We settle up every night before bed rather than putting them on a two week payment schedule and here's why. Young kids don't really understand why they didn't get paid their full amount because they didn't do all their jobs last Tuesday for instance. This way, if Siobhan gets 24 cents rather than the full 30, I can explain to her that it's because she didn't do everything. And at the end of the month, we will total up all the kid's money and have them pay their tithing.
So why am I sharing all this? Well, for starters, I'm really proud of myself that I came up with something even slightly clever. Second, we're starting on the 3rd week of this system and almost every night, the kids have gone to bed with clean rooms, a clean (straightened) bathroom, clean playroom and me having to do very little clean up of their messes before I go to bed. It's all so much less contentious and I love it! The kids actually get really excited to do their chores and to tell me that they've completed their job. 3rd, we changed one of Siobhan's jobs from making sock pairs to doing the breakfast dishes. Today was the first time we tried it and she did way more than I expected or asked for. She did every dish in the sink including the glasses that were there from the night before, she loaded everything into the dishwasher, put dishwasher soap in, and started the dishwasher. I was really impressed. But here's how the dishwasher looked......
Such a good try and kind of awesome!
I've never been an allowance type of person. I don't have anything against it per se, I just never really saw the merit in it. Inever really got an allowance. I vaguely remember my parents trying (I could be totally wrong and making that up) but it just didn't stick. I don't have any strong or deep philosophy of why I've never bought into the idea aside from the fact that I want my kids to take an active role in the household and I feel that they should do that without expecting payment for doing so. I also don't want my kids to start expecting more than I can give them so if I were to pay them too much, it takes a lot out of my pocket that I could spend on things that they actually need as well as giving them unrealistic expectations. Now while I still do feel that way, I feel like I've found a way to mitigate my concerns and still teach my kids the value of work. I also realized something else...how is giving the kids an allowance that much different than promising a new toy if they behave for a certain amount of time or taking them for special time with mommy/daddy or extra TV time. Those are all fine rewards, but they weren't working for our kids. So we tried a new approach. After reading some articles online, I combine a few different people's approaches and so far, the system that I came up with has proven very successful.
So this is how we do it...Siobhan never earns more than 30 cents a day (yes cents) and can only earn the money on weekdays but she still has to do the jobs on weekends. She has 5 jobs that are mandatory and five more that are more optional. The mandatory jobs include things like cleaning her bedroom and making the bed, cleaning the playroom, taking care of laundry both clean and dirty. The optional jobs are things like taking out the garbage, sweeping the kitchen floor and few other things. The five mandatory jobs are worth 4 cents and the others are worth 2.
Audrey earns 20 cents a day and four mandatory jobs that are similar to Siobhan's and four optional jobs like setting the table for dinner and cleaning up the toys and books that end up in the living room. Mandatory jobs are 3 cents, optional jobs are worth 2.
Mr. Will does a total of four jobs. Helping mom clean his rooms and put away laundry as well as coloring and cleaning the playroom. All for a total of 10 cents.
We settle up every night before bed rather than putting them on a two week payment schedule and here's why. Young kids don't really understand why they didn't get paid their full amount because they didn't do all their jobs last Tuesday for instance. This way, if Siobhan gets 24 cents rather than the full 30, I can explain to her that it's because she didn't do everything. And at the end of the month, we will total up all the kid's money and have them pay their tithing.
So why am I sharing all this? Well, for starters, I'm really proud of myself that I came up with something even slightly clever. Second, we're starting on the 3rd week of this system and almost every night, the kids have gone to bed with clean rooms, a clean (straightened) bathroom, clean playroom and me having to do very little clean up of their messes before I go to bed. It's all so much less contentious and I love it! The kids actually get really excited to do their chores and to tell me that they've completed their job. 3rd, we changed one of Siobhan's jobs from making sock pairs to doing the breakfast dishes. Today was the first time we tried it and she did way more than I expected or asked for. She did every dish in the sink including the glasses that were there from the night before, she loaded everything into the dishwasher, put dishwasher soap in, and started the dishwasher. I was really impressed. But here's how the dishwasher looked......
Such a good try and kind of awesome!
2 comments:
Ha Ha! I love the dishwasher! You are very clever indeed Meghan! I suck at maintaining any chore routine, so kudos to you for being awesome!
Wow! That's awesome! What a great idea!!!
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