Dad, buy me this.
Spencer was always asking me to buy him some cheap trinket whenever we went into a store. I was getting so tired of saying “No” (or, wincing when I said, “uh, ok”). I decided it was time for him to get an allowance. My primary reason was so I could tell him he could use his own money to buy that damn trinket.
After that decision, I realized I didn’t want him to just have his hand out each Saturday. I wanted to use the allowance as a ‘teaching moment’ and for him to learn the value of a dollar, or in this case, five dollars. So, I tied the allowance to his chores.
“This is a big step for you. You’re getting older,” I told him. And, I proceeded to explain the importance of contributing to the household and the subsequent reward for a job well done.
By the nodding of his head, and the expression on his happy face, it was evident that all he heard was: “five dollars each week to buy any trinket you want.”
Chores? What are those?
I recognized I needed to devise a way to hold him accountable to his half of the deal. I came up with the Allowance Worksheet (image in upper left). Each week I print a clean copy and post it on the refrigerator. Each day, Spencer is supposed to check-off the chores he performed. At the end of the week, if sufficiently full of check marks, I give him his allowance. If not, surprisingly, he gets the idea of pay for work and is understanding when he doesn’t receive the full amount. I have to admit, I’ve never had the heart to give him nothing. There are even work items he can perform to earn extra money. He really hones in on doing those activities when a new Bakugan or Lego kit is advertised on the Cartoon Network.
Feel free to click on the image and download the Excel file for your own use. In the worksheet, simply change the chore names to meet your household needs. The dates for the days across the top are calculated from the date you entered in the left most cell. Worksheet provided AS-IS, with no warranty expressed or implied. By downloading you agree to use for your own personal use and not to resell….blah, blah, blah. Lawyer made me put in the legalize. Sorry.
By providing Spencer allowance, I don’t hear, “Dad, can you buy this for me?” anymore. Now it’s, “Dad, can I borrow against my allowance to buy this?”. He’ll make a good American consumer.