Chores & Allowance

I've been toying with the idea of giving Lynden chores, but I kept going back and forth.  There were things he could do (like help unload the dishwasher, put away toys, etc) but did I really want to "force" him to do these things?  Could I make him do it?

 

Doesn't help when you see some nice chore charts on Pinterest.

 

Then, at the beginning of the month, I found a pretty good deal on a Doug & Melissa Chore Chart and decided it was a sign and it was time for Lynden to have some responsibilities around the house. 

 

Thankfully the chore chart came with a lot of options, some of which were appropriate to Lynden's age. 

 

Every day he's to make his bed, clean up his room, put toys away (from the rest of the house), brush his teeth, share, get dressed, and help empty the dishwasher.  7 chores might seem like a lot but most of them are every day things that should be done anyways. 

 

It's more about getting him used to the idea that he's old enough to help around the house with some things. 

 

We told him if he did all those things, every day, at the end of the week we would give him a dollar.  His response? A very impressive "woooow". 

 

It's tough deciding to give your kids an "allowance", not that we're calling it that.  There's a huge debate on it; do you pay your children for things they are expected to do anyway?  Life's not like that so why teach them something that won't pay off later?  It's good to teach them responsibility and if they get a reward at the end than so be it. 

 

The way I see it, kids need a bit of encouragement, especially younger kids.  So paying them to do daily chores isn't a bad thing.  {This is my opinion; everyone does what's right for them.  There is no right or wrong}

 

As my kids get older we will probably give them a small base allowance (kids need spending money) with extra-not-every-day-tasks giving them bonus money. 

 

But, for the time being, Lynden likes checking to see what he needs to do each day and putting his "pennies" on the board (they're round magnets, but he calls them pennies), and he's thrilled to get his dollar each week. 

 

Do you have chores for your little ones?  Do you pay them?

 

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