As the new school year quickly approaches Glen and I are once again faced with a recurring debate in our home... to pay allowances or not to pay allowances.
It seems like it should be a simple answer, but there are so many philosophical questions attached to it that after 14+ years of parenthood we've never really come to a strong stance of where we stand on the issue.
When I was a kid my family did a neighborhood paper route together. We took turns and each helped out with the monumental task of waking up early in the frosty mornings of Minnesota, rolling the papers and binding them until our fingers were black, and finally running up to each house and placing them
inside people's screen doors (unlike the lazy paper deliverers of today who are lucky to toss it past our mailbox). Man oh man, did we ever learn to work hard and to value our hard-earned money, but the brunt of that burden definitely fell on my parents' shoulders who never got a day off for the several years we did that. As much as I like the concept, they don't do little neighborhood routes anymore and Glen's work schedule definitely would not allow that kind of early commitment.
As parents we've tried paying the kids dependent on completing their chores and then requiring them to set aside a certain percentage to savings, but it's never lasted more than a couple of months. We're just disorganized and not that great at keeping track of what they've done and haven't done, plus I don't feel like they've ever really valued the money they receive. The little ones lose it and the older ones waste it.
So last night, Spencer began begging in earnest for us to reinstitute some kind of allowance for the new school year. He argued that it was only fair now that we're expecting him to pay for his own fun activities that he have some kind of set income. I personally think it has more to do with a little sibling jealousy over the fact that Cami is raking in the dough with her babysitting jobs and as yet he has not found as many opportunities for him to earn money on a regular basis. He gave us the full deposition of why he
needed an allowance and soon had a whole chorus of kids joining him in the effort.
As per our usual Glen+Lara style, we hemmed and we hawed to the kids and promised them once again that we would think about it. Which we did and still came up empty.
This morning when I checked our Google Reader I came across
this article on one of the blogs I faithfully follow. It was Michelle's (a stranger to me) well-thought out position on allowances. I was floored at how well it encapsulated a lot of the feelings and the concerns that we had and I felt like it gave me a new perspective to look at the issue from.
It made me really think about what is it that we're really trying to teach our kids...about how to manage money, how to work hard, how to contribute to the family, and how to not to be selfish or materialistic. So how can we best teach these to values to our kids?
I've decided that I really like Michelle's (and my parents') philosophy on having kids
EARN their income and not just by doing their everyday chores which are a part of being in a family, but by doing
REAL jobs.
Although it should have come easily to me, having been taught that way myself, but I'm beginning to learn that when it comes to parenting I can be a little daft sometimes. It just makes good common sense that kids would learn to work hard and would learn to manage money better, because it's
their money. The money they labored for.
So now that I've finally captured what my stance on all this really is, how can we implement it in our family?
I was thinking of making a list of jobs, each with a certain "salary" attached to it depending on the difficulty level. The kids would need to have completed their normal chores first and then could
CHOOSE whether or not to complete any of the other paid tasks. There will be no coercion at all, only the promise of a "paycheck" when they're done.
So now the question is what kind of jobs to offer with kids ages 4-14 in the house? Maybe mowing the lawn, weeding the garden, cleaning out a cupboard, vacuuming out the car, washing the car, organizing a book shelf...what do you think? Any great ideas?
So how do you do allowance in your family? Do you feel like it's been successful? Any helpful advice for me in my quest for raising fiscally responsible children?
I had to laugh when I caught a glimpse of Emma walking through the park with Ellie studying the pictures she'd just taken on her camera. It was funny that I had my camera right with me to take a picture of her and it was even funnier that she thought it was totally normal to tote a camera around with you while playing at a park with your friends. 
Cami, on the other hand, is WAY cooler than I was at her age. I still had buck teeth, weird hair, and was totally awkward at age 12 (still am). How Cami got to be so cool and sociable is beyond me! 
9. Big burly referee is to disarm and subdue Boy A
10. After Boy A is finally subdued, then Boy B and other assorted children are then given a free-for-all attack on Boy A
11. Free-for-all tactics may include light saber whacking, full blown wrestling, and swatting with "corner blankies".
13. If you are interested in owning your very own WWLSWF franchise, dues are $9,208 per year and include autographed photos of the very first WWLSWF wrestling match ever....sure to be worth millions someday.
Glen held him still while Cami and Adam pummeled him with the light sabers and Ellie swatted him with her blankie. It ended up being a lot of good old fashioned wrestling mixed with a whole lot of laughter....
Every other Saturday we get the opportunity to participate in a produce co-op that my sister-in-law Karey runs. She negotiated with a produce wholesaler who was willing to work with her, and because of the big group she's gathered she gets the produce at wholesale price. I love the great prices and the super fresh produce, but my favorite part of all is the fact that it gets me out of my comfort zone. I would never walk into a grocery store and buy leeks, yellow squash, or zucchini, but I've tried all sorts of yummy new recipes lately with these ingredients (and many others) because I had them in the house already! You're awesome Karey!
One of Cami's best friends helps take care of dogs for others. Cami is insanely jealous by this and takes every opportunity possible to "help" Megan out in her responsibilities. 
I don't know how my kids have such a sixth sense, but seemingly every time Megan and her brother walk by our house with their little brood of doggies, my kids know it and beeline it out the door to pet and play with them. 
This is a feather that Adam found when we walked Ellie to Rachel's birthday party this morning. He was really excited by how big it was and the fact that it had the cool stripes. We thought that maybe it came from an owl or other large bird. 
Finally, although we did walk to Rachel's house, most of our time lately has been spent in the car. Between the 20 miles or so each day to take Spencer back and forth to football practice, Cami's middle school "summer institute", and Cami's babysitting job ...we've been averaging A LOT of miles each day this week. I, for one, am already sick of the chauffeuring, but imagine that it will get a lot worse before it gets better.
I was a little nervous that something with such legendary powers could possibly be on sale for $6.99, but when I read the attached promise (exhibit B) that it was genuine and would change my life forever I knew it would be worth every penny.
Click on picture to view larger.
After a relatively mild summer, the heat and the humidity have arrived en force!
She's ironing. Jeans. I don't iron anything and she's ironing jeans. Whose child is she anyway?
Emeril's Potato Leek Soup (to use up leeks from the produce co-op)
Maple Oatmeal Bread
Crazy Craisin Cookies (I ate more dough than baked cookies)
Then we went on a long walk together as a family and stopped for a few minutes at the neighborhood park on the way home.
The. Best. Cupcake. Recipe. Ever. (combined with the best frosting ever)
