Grade School Children and Allowances

Posted by Connie Newbauer Aug 22, 2006

Allowances make me laugh. My children think I'm evil. One of my favorite stories is of our middle son who shouted at me one day: "You and Dad just had six kids so you wouldn't have to do any work!" Huh? I would have laughed if he wasn't so out of touch with reality!

Over the years I used many different ways to coax my chidren to do their chores. I even paid once - but I'm not proud of it! I looked for the perfect positive re-enforcement tool that would have them skipping happily to their work, whistling a tune. Are you doing the same thing? It's never going to happen! They may do their chores...but they are rarely happy doing so!

My children's favorite memory (and the tool that proved the most useful) was a chart that had two columns: Jobs to Keep Mom From Being Mean, (because you know: "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"), and Jobs that Pay Mean Green.

The "Jobs...for Mom," were the jobs each child had to do: Make your bed, feed the cat, brush your teeth, take a nightly bath, dust your room, do your homework, wash the dishes. For the most part, these jobs reflected my idea of what it was to have a sense of responsibility for oneself and to family. If you live, breathe and eat in my home, there are certain responsibilities you get by birthright. These 'jobs' pay nothing, and by the same token, carry some consequences if they are not completed.

If, on the other hand, you would like some spending money, you have some spare time and would like to help out mom and dad, you might wash the car, or weed the kitchen garden or wash the outside windows. These jobs were going above and beyond - and the children were rewarded on the basis of job difficulty. I must add, it was not gratuitous pay. None of the jobs payed more than $1. They were also not eligible to get paid for these jobs if the "must-do" jobs in the first column were not completed.

At the time, the children ranged in age from 13 to 3 years. The three year-old frequently followed me around 'dusting' as I dusted the main rooms of the house each day - the bright side of that was he never demanded any money - his payoff was the time spent with mom - which I willingly paid!