A kids allowance is a big source of debate amongst many families. Some families swear by it and others feel that such a system is not necessary. And sometimes sticking to policy is difficult as the novelty tends to wear off.
Not surprisingly – parents and their children often have different views on this subject. My kids in particular would happily accept a few million dollars a week regardless of whether their poor parents would have to enter bankruptcy to make the wage.
In our family we do not offer a traditional weekly payday to our little and not so little ones. Instead we started what we call a ticket “game”. I was a little hesitant to start out but everyone really seems to like it and it has lasted now for over a month – which is a long time around here.
It all started because I was just plain tired of nagging the kids to do the things that I expected of them – homework, chores, instrument practice, and the dreaded learning system worksheets. I was frustrated, they weren’t listening and so on and so forth. Clearly negative feedback wasn’t working.
So one day, I was at the office supply store and came across a roll of raffle tickets. Hmmm – an idea was born. Instead of an allowance – how about giving the kids tickets for accomplishing certain tasks? Especially tasks that were important to the smooth functioning of our family.
But what were these tickets worth? Again, I wanted to stay away from the monetary angle – so I filled a small box with trinkets, fun school supplies, and some candy and made each item worth 10 tickets. On Sunday, the kids can “cash” in their tickets for a few items of their choosing. To sweeten the pot, I threw in a few handmade certificates worth $10 for iTunes or $25 for a toy or video game store. Of course, these certificates carry a larger ticket value 100 or 250 respectively. There was some grumbling about this but I have put a stop to buying things on a whim which has restored some order to what usually resulted in unhappy children (we have all heard the “why did you get him something and not me?” argument.) It also gives the kids an incentive to earn more tickets.
Now to figure out a way to earn the tickets. Basically, I drew up a little contract stating that the children would earn a certain amount of tickets for a good grade, or for doing a particular chore, or for practicing their instruments, etc. I put in a provision allowing me to reward them randomly with tickets when I catch them being good. Also, I specifically disallowed any arguments about the game – particularly those revolving around the number of tickets given, the number required to cash in for something, and the fairness or (unfairness) of my randomly giving them out. Finally, because I wanted this to be a reward system I absolutely do NOT take tickets away for poor behavior.
I have been pleasantly surprised with how well the children have embraced this kids allowance system – and at how easy it was to implement. The younger ones really like it and I think the older ones just go along with it so they can get stuff.
When considering what kind of system is right for your family you may want to take a look at some allowance guidelines for kids that I set forth in a previous article. Also, using a digital planner can help get your plan organized.
Blank chore charts can also be a useful tool in calculating allowances. By keeping track of what the kids actually do, you can more fairly assess what amount they should receive.
