April 12, 2013
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In The Cards
One of the first things you learn as a scholar is how to appropriate good ideas.
A friend of mine recently mentioned her preferred chore/allowance-keeping system, and I ruthlessly made it my own.
I sat down one Saturday afternoon while I was hanging with the boys, and I started writing down on index cards all the chores I would be willing to pay them for.
I used a set of those garage-sale stickers to set the price.
And I got a little bin to put them in.
One bin for the unused cards, one bin for Theo, and one bin for Isaac. (Amos will someday beg to do chores, I am sure.)
So, all week, the boys can pick a card, do a chore, and put the card in their respective bins. (McGee, personal correspondence, 2013)
(See? Scholars use good ideas, but they cite them properly.)On Saturdays, we have allowance. I take away the four cheapest cards (“Because mamas should be able to ask their sons to do a handful of chores without having to pay them, just because that’s what families do”), and then I pay them for all the rest of the cards.
Here’s the stroke of genius by which I made this system my own: They now have to pay for computer time. A dollar an hour.
Isn’t that brilliant? Effectively, it means two things. 1) I don’t have to limit their screen time any more. Their ability to work and their desire to use the money for other things limit their screen time far more than I ever could.
And 2) I can more or less use the same ten dollars to pay for chores for the rest of my life. Because they always want to use their allowance to buy screen time.
“Here, kids, here’s your money.”
“Here, Mom, here’s some money for computer games.”
“Are you sure you want to use all your money up today? You won’t get money again until next Saturday.”
“Uh-huh!”And thusly the situation I wanted anyway–no screen time during the week, moderate screen time on the weekends–happens without my having to fuss at anyone.
Isn’t motherhood grand? What a vast untapped reservoir of brilliance and sanity are our nation’s mothers!
Comments (4)
I am taking notes for when my two boys get older and want to have computer time and can do chores. This idea is one I will most likely use. Thanks!
What a fantastic idea! Thank you for sharing!
Good luck with that. Mine are 15 and 11 and the novelty of new chore systems usually wears out within a few weeks. Also, they are not amused by small change. What do you do when they don’t pick the chore cards for things you really need done? Or when they say, “well, I don’t need any money so I will skip the chores?”
Not trying to be negative. Just that every scholar has their peer-reviewer.
Glad you liked it, Hillary and CLW!
DrTiff, you gave me a hearty chuckle, which is more than I can say for most of my peer-reviews!!
We’ve actually been doing this for a couple of months now–I wanted to see if it would pass that Novelty test before I trumpeted my own brilliance. It’s true that there is still a little parenting involved, but it seems to be working for us.
I honestly don’t mind if they always do laundry, or toilets, or whatever, and always leave the dishes or the carwashing or the dusting to me. I’ve always told them that I don’t mind making their beds if they fold my socks. It just matters that work gets done and that they’re helping in some way.
So far, the desire for computer time is still fairly motivating. And it doesn’t yet bother me that they do enough chores to get good computer time but not enough to save up for an iPod. (I don’t know if I want to pay them that much anyway!)
So, I guess I’m saying that it’s definitely a system with some weaknesses exactly where you point out. They just tend to be ones that I can work with.