UO Thursday - 10/12

curiousfool1

I know this is many, many years down the road, but my husband and I were talking about child allowances over the weekend.  I'm strongly against them.  Yes, my kid(s) will likely be allowed to earn money by doing more involved chores such as mowing the lawn (we have a big yard) or plowing the driveway (again, a long driveway), but for day-to-day chores around the house? No allowance. Why should I pay my kid to do work that teaches them self-sufficiency, independence, and how to take care of themselves once they move out?  (Side note, I also expect my kid to get a part-time job in high school; not because they need one, but to help teach them responsibility, self-sufficiency, and independence.)

Developments like Amazon's allowance app announcement yesterday reinforce my "no allowance" position.  Amazon has created a special app and portal where parents can fund an Amazon allowance account for their kids.  The "only" alternative, one of the contributors commented in the article, is just to give your kids your credit card thereby giving them free reign of spending.  What?! No.  How about, don't give your kids your credit card and don't encourage excessive spending in the first place.  If there is some thing they want that badly, they can get a job and actually earn the money it costs.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-welcomes-teens-with-new-parent-controlled-shopping-allowance-1507726803

mymulligan

I have similar feelings as you. I think that kids should do age - appropriate chores around the house because they are members of the family/household and everyone should chip in to make the home run. For example, I have my 4 yo put away her dishes from the dishwasher and she feeds the dog. I have no problem with asking her to do other little things around the house and we ask her to help with yard work. I think it's important for kids to feel apart of the family and to combat role stereotypes even though DH and I have very much fallen into the routine of he is responsible for all outside chores and I manage most inside chores. But that's also where our skill set / interests lie. It does drive me crazy that DH doesn't cook a thing (literally) or says he can't do laundry because he doesn't know how to use the machines (seriously dude). I will definitely be teaching my son how to cook and clean.

our kids will also have jobs in HS. I think it's good for learning responsibility, balance and understanding what it's like to work for someone  else and how far that dollar really goes (or doesn't go, for that matter). 

NYTino24

My students do all sorts of classroom jobs including holding doors, turning lights on and off, charging laptops, putting up and taking chairs down, feeding fish, watering plants, opening and closing windows, sweeping the floor, etc. and I always make them pick up a piece of garbage when we leave the cafeteria. I am always told our room is the cleanest and that my class is the most respectful. It's our responsibility as adults to have high standards for kids. After all, do we let them leave garbage on the floor at home or leave doors wide open? No way! I also rarely say "my" class or "my" classroom. It's "ours" and "us" and "we".