One of my big goals for the new year was to get our family organized with chores, allowance, etc. Raising kids who understand the value of hard work and the We’ve been talking about this for a long time and going over the way we wanted to structure all of this. We want the kids to have allowance, but we debated over whether we should tie it to chores or not and ultimately decided not. We decided to have them do certain daily chores that they are expected to do just because they are a member of our family, things like unloading the dishwasher (silverware caddy and kids cups at this point), setting the table, keeping their rooms neat, hanging up their backpacks and the like. I didn’t like the idea though that there was no penalty if they didn’t do them, so we tied these to screen time. For each chore they complete, they get 5 min of screen time.
Then there was the matter of money. An article I read that was a proponent of not tying chores to allowance suggested the idea of making kids gradually more responsible for “fiscal chores” – things like buying their own popcorn at the movies or food for their pet or later things like car insurance and gas. I like this idea – I think it is a good introduction to the realities of how much things cost and how far money doesn’t go. So we decided we’d do $5 for Tabby. $1 each of that will go to savings and givings and the remaining $3 is hers to spend as she likes. But she is now responsible for buying her own hot lunch. Hot lunch at $2.50 is one of Tabby’s favorite treats and the $3 would cover it if she wanted it. But since hot lunch is also a treat for mommy and daddy, we decided that every time she made her own lunch she would earn $1.25 so that she can fairly easily earn a hot lunch by just making her lunch twice. We also added a couple of little chores for extra bank, things like vacuuming the main level of the house or the couch and tidying the bathroom that both she and Ben use. And we likewise incentivized doing pages in her math workbook and writing sentences by offering her a reward of $0.25 for every 2 pages she does – reading a book daily is just among her screentime chores. I would also like for her to start running again and I think a $1/mile incentive might be just what she needs.
Ben had to be handled a bit differently. At 3, he just can’t do what his sister can and he doesn’t have the same experiences or understanding. We also tied his chores to screentime and they are largely the same chores. He can’t quite make his bed yet, but he can pick up his room, lay out his clothes and do about 2/3 of what Tabby can do. But we set his allowance at $3. It isn’t coincidence that their allowances align with their age. We plan to up them each birthday, by a dollar at first and then as needed later on. Ben’s $3 is only divided into spending and giving. Saving and other long-term things seem to be still quite a bit beyond him, so he gets $2 to spend every week and $1 to give to others. Being only 3, we decided he wouldn’t get any “fiscal chores” just yet. He can also earn a little extra money by helping us with his lunch. Just $0.50 since we still have to be very involved.
Lastly we wanted there to be some kind of “good citizenship” accountability. Ben in particular has been having a hard time with some behavior – he had two major tantrums while we were in Vail and we’d like to discourage that as well as Tabby’s dramatic/whiny streak. In the end, we decided to grade them daily on the concepts of “good choices,” “good attitude,” and “good manners” and then reward them with things like an extra book at bedtime, a trip for frozen yogurt or a family outing. They also have to work together to agree on a reward, so that furthers the cooperation idea. A trip to time out automatically loses their “good choices” point for the day.
Sound complicated? A bit. So we needed a good way to administrate it. Luckily, there’s an app for that. See my post tomorrow … and an update on how it’s going.