She works hard for her money...
We've been trying a long time to teach Scrappy about money and responsibility and all those great adult things. Over a year ago we made up a list of chores and told her how important it was to the household to have her do them. They generally didn't get done. She needed some motivation.
We tried to come up with a plan where she would get $2 a week if she did a few chores. She could use this money to do whatever she wanted. Spend it on snacks in school, buy toys, etc. It didn't really catch on. We ended up buying some furniture for her Dora castle and putting it up on the shelf. We would charge her $4 for each of the sets of furniture. Again, it didn't really catch on... some of these sat on the shelf for months.
Thats when the wife decided to buy a dry erase board for the refridgerator. We would then list all her chores on here and check them off while they got done. Each chore line completed would be worth a quarter. All additional chores would be worth an extra quarter. EUREKA!!! This worked. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that there was a place she could look at and have a visual of what she has completed and what needed to be done.
At the same time that this dry erase chore list was introduced, Disney released the Hannah Montana dolls. This provided even more inspiration. She now had a target for how much money she wanted to save up for, because she wanted that doll. We drew a little bar we would fill up every week so that she could start to see how close she was to making enough money. Hannah was $17, so she knew that was a lot of chores. As Scrappy neared $9 there was a big price break and Target put the dolls on sale for $11.89. She went into overdrive the last two weeks and finally this weekend we were able to walk to Target get the doll.
I was very proud of her being able to save up enough money and get this toy she wanted. She was even more proud. When she finally opened the doll on Sunday (she had to complete 3 more chores before she had enough) she excitedly put on a rock show with her dolls, much to the delight of the dolls in attendance.
All of this couldn't have been done without my wife. All of this was her idea. She is the most instinctual parent I've ever known. She is generally right on about everything she ever suggests. I learn from her constantly. She leaves me in awe all the time. Scrappy and I are both much better for having her in our lives.
We tried to come up with a plan where she would get $2 a week if she did a few chores. She could use this money to do whatever she wanted. Spend it on snacks in school, buy toys, etc. It didn't really catch on. We ended up buying some furniture for her Dora castle and putting it up on the shelf. We would charge her $4 for each of the sets of furniture. Again, it didn't really catch on... some of these sat on the shelf for months.
Thats when the wife decided to buy a dry erase board for the refridgerator. We would then list all her chores on here and check them off while they got done. Each chore line completed would be worth a quarter. All additional chores would be worth an extra quarter. EUREKA!!! This worked. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that there was a place she could look at and have a visual of what she has completed and what needed to be done.
At the same time that this dry erase chore list was introduced, Disney released the Hannah Montana dolls. This provided even more inspiration. She now had a target for how much money she wanted to save up for, because she wanted that doll. We drew a little bar we would fill up every week so that she could start to see how close she was to making enough money. Hannah was $17, so she knew that was a lot of chores. As Scrappy neared $9 there was a big price break and Target put the dolls on sale for $11.89. She went into overdrive the last two weeks and finally this weekend we were able to walk to Target get the doll.
I was very proud of her being able to save up enough money and get this toy she wanted. She was even more proud. When she finally opened the doll on Sunday (she had to complete 3 more chores before she had enough) she excitedly put on a rock show with her dolls, much to the delight of the dolls in attendance.
All of this couldn't have been done without my wife. All of this was her idea. She is the most instinctual parent I've ever known. She is generally right on about everything she ever suggests. I learn from her constantly. She leaves me in awe all the time. Scrappy and I are both much better for having her in our lives.
posted by LEV at
10:24 AM
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