It Takes Time

Sunday, Sep 21^st 2008

By Nancy French

Dave Ramsey, who has his own show on Fox Business, says kids should not get “allowance.”

“I suggest putting children on a commission. That means if the kids work, they get paid; if they don’t work, they don’t get paid. Children look at money differently if they have to earn it than if it is just given to them. You need to attach some chores to the money you’re giving your child. By doing that, you create teachable moments that affect the way your child views money.”

For several months, I’ve been looking forward to all the “teachable moments” that having and spending (and losing) money entails. We set up a chore list and a commission for each task. On Saturday nights, we sit down at the table. I have a large jar of coins and a list of things the kids did that week. (To make it fun, I also have crisp $50 bills for them to work toward. Now that we’ve been doing this all summer, I need to go get $100s!)

Sometimes — most of the time — it’s a joyous experience. After all, they’re getting cash. But almost every week, we go over the highs and the lows — including attitudinal issues. Their pay gets docked for complaining, interrupting when I’m speaking, or being rude to each other. They get extra for doing bonus chores and for being extra polite.

Goggo

Saturday is clothes-folding day. Camille’s job was to hang up the shirts. In the amount of time it took her to do this, I could’ve done them all, read War and Peace, and successfully brokered peace in the Middle East. Teaching kids takes actual time. It’s both the difficult and the wonderful thing about this stuff. While Austin and I waited for Camille to hang up those clothes, he covered our sleeping dog Goggo with the socks he’d successfully matched.

Tonight, we laboriously counted out how much to give, save, and spend. (We give ten percent, save ten, and spend the rest.)

“Okay, Camille, you made $5.37 this week. How much should you put in the Give Jar.”

“Fifty three cents,” she says.

“Really, it should be fifty four. Round up.”

We have a five minute conversation about that penny. That last precious penny.

Teachable moments. They take time.

Nancy French

Nancy French is an author, commentator, and mother. Her next book, about the year her husband spent in Iraq is due out July 4, 2011. Connect with her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NancyAndersonFrench and follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nancyafrench.

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