Allowance

Well if you search the internet, or ask a group of parents, you will get a thousand different answers on this topic. EVERY family handles the responsibilities of chores and allowances in a different way - EVERY family.

In our house, we've always expected the kids to pick up their own messes - obviously to what degree changes with age. When they're little we sing the clean up song and do it together, as they get to preschool age we expect them to pick up what they take out. Marlie has always enjoyed helping with dusting and cleaning - but she's 5 - so her willingness to offer depends on the mood.

Almost 2 years ago I bought this Responsibility Chart

You know, manufacturer ages on toys are a bunch of crap! This said 3+, and while I adore everything by Melissa and Doug, I don't think that's really accurate. Do you know a Barbie doll, good ole' fashioned Barbie doll, has a 3+ age recommendation on it?!?! Who is going to give those tiny little shoes to a 3 year old? I digress . . . .Anyway, at 3, Marlie wasn't ready to get into this chart . . . 2 months ago she wasn't ready to get into this chart . . . but now, we are in full force! You see, now there is something that she wants - lunch money!! So we just finished our first week. There are 7 spaces per day - so 49 in a week. If she fills in 35, she gets $2 for lunch money . . . if she gets 40, she gets $2 lunch money plus $0.50 ice cream money. So essentially, the weekly allowance is $2.50 max - or $0 if she doesn't hit her goal. Jayson and I were talking and that seems right with inflation from when we were kids :) I figure the lunch money thing will get old soon enough, but the desire for the cash - oh, the desire for the cash is here to stay . . . she is my daughter, and the smile on her face when she has $1 to spend on anything she wants at the Dollar Tree is something that is just a fact of life!

So here is what I have discerned as my perspective on allowance and chores for our home so far . . . a child is ready for chores and an allowance as soon as they discover something that they want that you, as a parent, won't readily give them . . . then so develops the system of earning . . . game on!