Like the Louisiana Purchase

(the kids admiring the money and trying to figure out why people put it into this temptingly clear box at the Alamo)


Our kids love money. Really love money! They love eating out and asking for all sorts of toys. They also are sometimes (not frequently, but appropriate for their age) ungrateful. We have heard the "My friends have such and such" and "You just don't want me to be happy" type phrases before. This combined with Fernando's and my desire to teach the importance of money as well as a clean house, brought us our newest parenting technique.

The kids have daily contributions as members of our family. They must make their own beds (even Talia) and get dressed before breakfast. They must fold their own clothes (even Talia) and put them away. They must set/clean up the table settings for each meal and also complete a few rotating responsibilities. The two oldest switch daily between cleaning the upstairs minus my room but including their bathroom and the downstairs minus the office but including the bathroom. Note that words such as contributions (thanks Mama Clara for that idea) and responsibilities are used instead of Chores. If they complete all they are responsible for the week, they get $5. Well sort of. . .they see 10% of those earnings. $4 goes into bank accounts for the children to be used for college. The other 10% goes for Tithing. So, 50 cents is theirs, but it is all theirs. They are free to buy anything* they want. Fernando and I only supply helpful suggestions and then the choice is theirs. Tiago has discovered that somethings are expensive for what they offer. Somehow, two weeks of work isn't worth the 10-15 m&m's that come in a package especially when his parents have such treats for free at home.

Fast forward--one day I over heard a conversation between the two oldest that made me feel the need to intercede. Mia wanted to pay Tiago $1 to clean the upstairs for her and she would clean the downstairs for him. Talk about the deal of a lifetime. Tiago got to clean about the same amount of junk for two weeks worth of pay. Tiago, at one point in the negotiations suggested that he could switch her for free, but Mia insisted. I tried to convince Mia what a bad deal it was. She was adamant and quite livid that I was suggesting that she wasn't aware of the pro's and con's of such a choice. Mia cheerfully cleaned the downstairs and Tiago cleaned the upstairs and made bank. May be Mia is a little French.