April 3: Chores and Allowances for Little Kids

Off topic: You probably did not notice a super annoying mistake I made the other day, but let me just tell you about it anyway. Sometimes I multitask well and other times I'm finding out that I just cannot do two things at once. For instance, I was doing paperwork from my work day on my laptop and also felt the need to pull up Blogger on my desktop. I thought I hit 'publish' for new comments, but instead I somehow clicked 'remove content' for the previous 50 already published comments on the blog. So yeah, good thing that wasn't a giant time suck for me to attempt recovering those 50 precious comments.

I eventually figured out a way to manually re-enter a few of the newest comments back into Blogger though my email but it's still a little botched. And I cannot do that for all 50 or I will be forced to drink a six pack of beer and stay up until 1 am some night, and if I do that I don't want to be sitting behind a computer screen;)

I'm sorry, blog commenters. I do still have them in my email if I want to read them again but for the most part, it's just going to look really shady in the comments section of the past two-ish months of posts. Promise I didn't mean to 'remove content' for all of your comments. ANNOYING, but lesson learned. Don't multitask with computer things, especially in the evening hours when your brain is basically fried. You'd think I would have figured this out by now but I'm not as tech savvy as I pretend to be.

Also related to comments? A few readers have said that it's really difficult to comment on my blog without a google account. Many of you said it would be much easier to have a 'name/URL' option and in order to do that, I also have to allow anonymous comments which means about ten spams a day. It's not a huge deal since those go right into the spam folder of Blogger but I just have to sort through the email notifications on them….BUT I will give it a try in the name of making it easier for a few of you. Please do take advantage of this new 'easier' commenting on Blogger, as if there is such a thing;)

Real matter of this post: Do your young children get an allowance? Do they have specific daily or weekly chores? How old are they, what kind of chores are theirs to do, and how much money to do give them?

I remember having an allowance growing up and swear it was a dollar per week IF I adequately filled out my chore chart. I'm not sure how old I was when this began and can't recall all of my assigned chores, but I know making the bed was one of them. I also vividly remember being super excited about vacuuming landing on my personal chore list. I still love to vacuum so it's a shame we have all hardwood (but our area rugs get my favorite task about twice per week!). 

I like the idea of chores and also an allowance to help teach Truman and Cecelia responsibility, so they can have a sense of pride after cleaning up their own messes and so that I'm not muttering to myself 'they are old enough to help' as I quickly pick up after them. Plus, I think Truman especially can begin to learn the concept of money, how much things cost, how to save for a bigger item, the value of a dollar, etc. 

Pinterest probably has 100s of ideas for me with color coded chore charts and what not, but I wanted to come here first (and probably Instagram). I wonder if simply making their beds, picking up all toys at the end of the day, and helping me wipe down counter tops and the tables would be good enough for now? Maybe it can be a group effort, we can get them piggy banks, and have conversations about how 'if you want that toy at Target, you can save your own money for it,' instead of just saying 'nope, wait until your birthday/Christmas.' 

Thoughts?

I think two of the kids pictured here are ready for chores and allowance. Porter and Baby White (resting in her car seat on top of the BOB, likely to fall within seconds of this picture) are exempt. Also, the double BOB can haul some children like none other. And Truman and Cecelia have identical grins.

All Photos-320


15 comments:

  1. Hi, Julia! I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and I've been reading an article here and there. The content/articles that have really spoken to me are the ones that suggest not tying chores to an allowance. To me, making your bed, picking up your toys, and helping mom and dad around the house are just the kids' responsibilities. Period. It’s just a part of life and it’s just what is expected of you as a contributing member of the family. If one of the kids wants to earn “extra” money, he/she can do an extra, out-of-the-box chore like helping dad wash the car or helping mom dust all of the wood furniture. The kids are allowed to spend their money in whatever manner they desire. Initially, the kids' allowance is a dollar per year of their age per month. Or some derivative of that. My son is four, so I'd do a dollar a week for a total of $4/month. He gets to do whatever he wants with the money - he's currently saving for an obscenely large Minecraft LEGO set. As the kids get older, the allowance would increase by some decided upon factor to account for more expensive activities like going to the movies with friends or going out to lunch with friends. I think the key here is to let the kids have spending autonomy (within reason) and not intervene on their decisions as much as possible. Letting the negatives and positives of their money decisions play out naturally will hopefully leave a more lasting impression – ah, the best laid plans…

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    1. I like this idea a lot, Betsy---right now it's just a 'given' that the kids help pick up the house whenever I ask (it should really be a structured part of our day, but sometimes I just do it myself faster than I could with their 'help'). I like the dollar per week per age idea, too.

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  2. We definitely do chores for the kids already! Even Walker pitches in :) We have a magnetic chore chart that we use, so they each have a space for their name and then a magnet for each chore that gets moved from the "to do" to "done" section. The girls do things like cleaning up toys, making their beds, cleaning their room, setting and clearing the table, vacuuming (with a light battery sweeper that we use for the kitchen and living room each evening). I'm also trying to get them to start helping with putting laundry away in their room. But that is one of those tasks that takes more effort from me to teach them than for me to just do it myself, so slow going there. Walker simply does clean up of toys at the end of the day.
    As for allowances, right now I don't really see the need. They don't need to buy anything or need their own money, and I'd like them to understand that our house is their's too - you help make the messes, you help clean them up! I don't get paid for taking care of our home, so I don't know if they should either. I suppose this may change as they get older and have a need for their own money, but for now, I think the sense of responsibility is more important to learn. But I do also see the benefit of teaching them how to work for something they want, earning their own money to obtain it. Maybe they could do extra jobs for money - like helping with yard work or something? I'm going to try and check back here to see what other's do or suggest!

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    1. Totally want a magnetic chore chart now. I'm with you---not sure making them clean up should constitute getting paid for it, but at the same time I *do* want the kids to learn the money/saving concept too. Will probably keep these separate like a lot of the commenters suggest.

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  3. I remember one of the first chores I had was cleaning the toilet. This was before Lysol wipes. It is something easy to do and to this day I would rather clean a bathroom then vacuum. Thank goodness my hubs doesn't mind vacuuming.

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  4. I listened to a podcast recently (Mom and Dad Are Fighting, the "Your Own Personal Fantasyland" Edition episode) and they talked about allowances. It was suggested that if the chores are not optional, it is best to disaccociate the completion of the chores with the distribution of allowance. (This was more directed towards the beligerent teen, who decides they don't need the money and go on strike from their chores.) It is interesting to think about it in this way.

    When Finn gets old enough (only 18 months now, so we have awhile), we will probably assign him several chores and give him an unrelated allowance. If he wants more money than what we give him, he can make proposals to us (ie: I will mow the lawn for $5, vacuum the house for $2, etc).

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    1. I love that podcast! I think I even listened to that particular episode but apparently don't remember the part about chores and allowance. HA!

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  5. I wish my one year old would help me clean up! I would gladly pay him! ;) so obviously I have no real advice for you, sorry! ;)

    As for comments, I don't mind the Google/blogger login because it's just automatically saved for me and I don't have to type it in every time. I installed Disqus for comments on my blog and it's been great so far! But I agree, spam is the worst!

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  6. I don't remember how old I was, but I also remember having "setting the table" and "emptying the dishwasher" on my chore list!

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  7. We do chores and we do allowance, but the two aren't dependent in each other.

    Chores aren't specific things, really, just general upkeep that we do together. We pick up toys together, bring dirty clothes to the laundry room, Isaac and Miriam set the table...basically, I tell the kids that we are a family and that means we work together to get things done. For example, if we have a toy explosion and the kids want to go on a walk, we work together to put toys away, then we walk.

    Isaac gets allowance now, but it's based on school. I tell Isaac that just like grown ups have a job, school is a kid's job. As long as he works hard at school, he earns money. He gets R10 a week (about a dollar). Miriam doesn't get an allowance, mostly just because she's never asked. We'll do the same for her when she's in school (she'll probably start preschool a couple days a week next year) but if she asks before then, I'm sure we'll work something out. :)

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    1. Our 'chores' right now sound a lot like yours---'help me pick up your mess' is basically the extent of it, but I kind of want it to be more structured and a part of the routine (i.e. a chart). Mostly because I love charts. But yes, we do help each other clean up and take care of the house....I need to allow the kids to help more often, I think.

      Interesting concept of allowance being based on effort in school. Lots of things to consider here!

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  8. My kids (32 and 16 months) are responsible for picking up all their toys scattered throughout the house and throwing their dirty laundry down the chute as part of their bedtime routine each night and if done successfully along with brushing their teeth, I give them each a few random coins to insert into their piggy banks before hitting the sheets. As they get older, their chore list will grow too, LOL.

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    1. Toys and laundry chute are two big ones that I *usually* reinforce but need to make it more a part of their bedtime routine, like you said. And mostly, I really want to get the kids piggy banks now!

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  9. Yay!!! Thank you for opening comments for little old self-hosted Wordpress users!!! :)

    I think allowance is amazing ... I would probably start off with non-monetary items (like warm fuzzies in a jar) that can be traded in for goodies. -- Just to be sure our LO understood the idea. Then, after a solid foundation of understanding, I'd totally offer a dollar or two per week.

    I like to think it offers many learning opportunities ... responsibility, value of money, hard work, etc.

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  10. So I did this research in December for my 4.5 year old, and I combined the 500 ideas I liked into what worked for us. I created a colored chart in Word (cringe) that I can e-mail to you and change as you like. Connor has a daily duties area he has to do without making money (take a shower, brush teeth, make bed, bring plate to sink, etc). Then there is a chore section that he can make money on, like feeding the dog, helping mom or dad, etc. Then there is a bonus section that he can earn more, like emptying the dishwasher, giving up the iPad for a day, reading 10 minutes on own, etc. Then there is a fines section where money he has earned can be taken away for things like making bad choices, eating too slowly at the dinner table, etc. Every Sunday we add up the weekly allowance, and then it gets divided three ways- save goes into piggy bank, share goes for church and charity, and spend is his own spending money. He really only earns about $1.20 a week, but that is plenty for him. He is never in the grocery store with me or other places where impulse buys are necessary, but I like the principle of it and how "getting a red X' keeps him in line, because he hates money taken away! If you want the chart, I can e-mail it to you and you can adjust it to fit your needs.

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