Allowances
By: Romi Sussman (www.RomiSussman.com)Does your child deserve an allowance and should you give him or her an allowance at all?
There is a fine balance between teaching your kids to help around the house and giving them an incentive to do so. Recently, we implemented a small allowance for our children if they set up and clean up the table each night for dinner, sweep the leaves on the deck, and do a few other chores around the house.
Of course, the problem becomes the grey areas. Some weeks, they do their tasks, but they don’t do them particularly well. Does this constitute full allowance? Partial allowance? So, I’ve learned that I have to teach them exactly how I want the work done, and make sure that they are doing it well.
Similarly, they are learning about personal responsibility. At times, one of them does a better job than the other – or one gives up entirely. Then, they don’t end up with the same allowance, even though they had the potential for the same amount. It’s difficult for them to see this discrepancy, but I think it is teaching them about responsibility – and about differences between siblings.
So, for now, we are keeping our allowance scheme. With time, and with each new situation, we have to adapt and change our rules a bit. But, I believe that that’s what parenting is all about – and that we are learning as much along the way as they are.
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