Money Monday . . . Allowance or Commission?

If you have listened to Dave Ramsey you have probably heard him say that he doesn't do allowance he does commission.

An allowance is defined as:
1. The act of allowing.

2. An amount that is allowed or granted: consumed my weekly allowance of two eggs.

3. Something, such as money, given at regular intervals or for a specific purpose: a travel allowance that covers hotel bills.

A commission is:

4. A fee or percentage allowed to a sales representative or an agent for services rendered.

As of now, we choose to do the commission route. Our son is 3 1/2 and he is quite the capitalist already.

We have a "responsibility chart". It is already filled out with things for my son to do such as brushing his teeth, making his bed, cleaning his room, helping his sibling(s), using good manners and other tasks such as that. He gets a check for each thing he does everyday. At the end of the day we put the total number of checks in the box. At the end of the week we add up how many checks he got and my husband pays him $0.25 per check (high, I know!). Then we immediately take 10% and have him put it in his piggy bank. We take the other 10% and have him save it for tithe at church the next day. We allow him to spend the rest as he wants to right now. We of course, guide him into making good choices with his money, but lets face it - he's 3 so toys are what he thinks about right now.

I have found that this system is working. My 3 1/2 year old son did something amazing tonight. He came up to me and said, "Mommy, come and look I cleaned my room." I was skeptical because we had not asked him to clean his room so I checked it out and he had cleaned his room! The toys were put away along with his clothes. I was so proud and amazed! Then I realized the motive. He had been carrying around the Toys R Us ad from today's paper. He already had some toys in mind to buy.

But hey, at least he is learning that he must do something in order to be paid for it. I think whatever you choose to do with your children, whether allowance or commission is fine. Either way as long as you are teaching them how to handle their money and what is a priority then you are doing the right thing.

Of course as our son gets older we will steer him in a direction of giving and not just buying toys for himself. Although he always wants to buy toys for his cousin too.

Tasty Tuesday - Kids In The Kitchen, Part 4

Today concludes our series on Kids in the Kitchen. Thanks to all of you who have given suggestions for ways kids can help out in the kitchen! I could not have written the series without you! :)

The topic today is supposed to be "How Teens Can Help In The Kitchen" and I'd like to propose what may be a somewhat new idea to some of you.

I have been reading the book Do Hard Things and recently learned that the word "teenager" did not even exist until it was printed in a Reader's Digest article in 1914. The stages of life used to be 1) child and 2) adult. For some reason, we have added this category of "teenager" in the middle. Children used to reach adulthood around age 12-14, at which point they were old enough to (and typically expected to) begin a career, get married, and start a family. While I'm not proposing we lower the legal marriage age to 12, I do think there are some good points to draw from this.

Teens are often looked upon as lazy and rebellious. But why is that? Could it be that we have, in fact, caused them to be so lazy by lowering the standards? Do parents today expect their 15 year olds to help with dinner each night, do their own laundry, and care for their younger siblings while Mom and Dad are busy? Most parents don't. Is that because they don't think their teen is capable of doing those things? Probably not. They just know that, since their 15 year old is a teen, they would whine and complain and very grudgingly do all of those things...if they did them at all.

But what if, while the children were still young, the parents planned to set high expectations for their teens - much higher than those set by the culture around them? What if children knew what was expected of them and were heartily encouraged to do those things? Teens want to be challenged. And, if given the opportunity, most will rise to a challenge set in front of them.

Don't assume that just because you have teenagers in the house, they are going to be lazy. Tell them what you expect of them and don't lower the bar if they don't perform immediately. The "rebellious" part might kick in because of the way our society has handled these teen years for almost a century now. Your teen may say it's unfair or stupid that they are being asked to do such "impossible" tasks. But I will argue that, while saying these things to you outwardly, your teen will likely be inwardly thanking you for giving them a challenge instead of just letting them slide by in their laziness. And if not now, they will certainly thank you later for teaching them to be a responsible, well-balanced adult!

If you've made it this far, you're no doubt wondering where my list of ideas is for ways your teens can help around the kitchen. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but...there is no list. Teens are fully capable of doing everything you do around the kitchen - taking out the trash, making dinner, doing dishes, setting and clearing the table, sweeping and mopping the floor....even buying and putting away the groceries.

So give your teens some responsibility! Break society's mold of the lazy and rebellious teen and teach your teen how to be an adult instead of a video-game-playing, time-wasting, junk-food-eating child!


Other parts of this series:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Tasty Tuesday - Kids In The Kitchen, Part 3

Elementary kids typically LOVE to help in the kitchen! And get them involved while you can, because if you wait to include them until they are teenagers, they won't want to help! Since I have done lots of catching up tonight on my blog due to being sick this week, I am mostly just going to post some of the great ideas that my readers have offered!

Wash dishes (my favorite idea for kids because it means I'm not doing them!)

Wash fruits/veggies and store them in containers in the fridge

Mix a "trail mix" of pretzels, nuts, raisins, chocolate chips, etc. and then portion into individual "snack packs" for the week.

Set and clear the dinner table

Wipe down countertops and table

Sweep and mop the floor

Help cook dinner (if they are older)

Make coffee

Load and unload the dishwasher

Water plants

Make sure animals have fresh food and water

Make juice from a frozen can (or Koolaid)

Make jello or pudding

Roll and throw dough balls into pan for monkey bread or other "pieced" food

Ok, I'm starting to wonder what I'm going to write about for the teens. I mean, I was a teen fairly recently, but I certainly don't have any teens in the house and I'm not around them too often, so I'll have to come up with something good. :)

Do any of you have teens?? What are their responsibilities in the kitchen??


Other parts of this series:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 4

Tasty Tuesday - Kids In The Kitchen, Part 2

My children are 3, 2, and 6 months. My two toddlers LOVE to help prepare their own meals. I'm running late on posting this and it's way past my bedtime, but I just wanted to give you a few meal ideas that preschool-age children can help with:

ham and cheese croissants - roll up ham and cheese into croissant before baking

English muffin or biscuit pizzas - add sauce, cheese, and toppings

oatmeal - pour pre-measured oatmeal and water into bowl before microwaving, add raisins/bananas/etc.

eggs and toast - stir eggs before cooking, butter toast

muffins/cookies - stir batter, drop onto cookie sheet on into muffin tin, decorating cookies

peanut butter & jelly sandwiches - spread peanut butter and jelly and cut in half

salad - tear lettuce, wash veggies, and add toppings

homemade bread - grease pan, knead dough


Don't underestimate your preschoolers. They are capable of many things if you take the time to teach them. :)

Last week, I received lots of great ideas for ways that kids of all ages can help in the kitchen in various ways! Please keep the ideas coming!

Other parts of this series:

Part 1
Part 3
Part 4

Tasty Tuesday - Kids In The Kitchen, Part 1

I don't know how many of you have children, but I have three. They are always wanting to help out in the kitchen. Although it is almost always more work to have our children "help" us around the house, I believe it is crucial to their well-being. Not only will it help them learn how to function and contribute in their family, but it will also teach them to enjoy helping out. As they get older, they will know that it is expected and that it is fun to be a part of the family!

So today I'm beginning the series Kids In The Kitchen. To help me out, would you please vote in the poll on the right side of the screen? I'd love to know how many children my readers have! :)

Since my children are still toddlers, I'd like to start out by talking about ways that younger children can help out in the kitchen. If these seem like ultra-easy tasks, don't worry - there is more to come for the older kids! Now, there are some obvious things that young children cannot and should not do in the kitchen (like use the oven or boil water), but there are lots of other things they can help out with, such as:

1. Help stir muffins, pancakes, waffles, cake mix, or any other batter.
2. Help make cookie dough balls or cut-out cookies.
3. Add raisins to oatmeal.
4. Sweep the floor. (They make mini brooms just for kids)!
5. Dust table and chairs.
6. Clean patio door window.
7. "Wash" dishes. (This is sometimes more of a mess than a help, but kids love the water)!
8. Take out trash (Our kids take out the small bags or the "stuff" like milk cartons).
9. Add toppings to homemade pizza.
10. Carry dishes and cups to sink after meals. (I try to only give our kids plastics for this reason).

What do your kids enjoy doing in the kitchen?? What ways have you found to include them?? If you have any ideas or links to point me toward for this series, feel free to leave me a comment! :)


Other parts of this series:

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4