I could go on a two-hour long rant about how wonderful Dave Ramsey's class was for us and others we know, but that won't get me to how I've applied one of the things he talks about in my own home.
Our daughter is finally to the age that she can start taking on some chores around the house. Yea! And the best part is, she WANTS to! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that won't last. But, hey, I'm going to enjoy it while I can! I even recorded her the other night when we told her she was going to start doing chores each week. She started jumping up and down and cheering! Hilarious! Haha!
When I grew up, we were assigned chores. There was no choice in the matter. Mom laid out the half of the chores I was to do that week and the half my brother was to take care of. Well, we have started something a bit different for our children.
My husband and I discussed the various chores and responsibilities and made up a list. From that list, we decided how much each chore would be worth in payment for completion. Every week, my daughter is responsible for picking 5 chores. In addition, I pick two others after she has finished picking. She has seven days to complete the chores (Sunday through Saturday.) Once a chore is complete, I put that amount of money earned into a jar. Each Saturday night before she goes to bed, she will receive that week's earnings. If there are any chores she has not completed, the money that chore was worth comes out of her jar and back to me. And our number one rule for her is that each Saturday after she receives her weekly earnings, she is to put aside 10% to go to church the following morning. We fully believe in tithing, and want to instill that in our children as well.
There are so many things that doing the chores this way can teach the kids:
- Giving them 7 days to do 7 chores teaches them about time management. If they learn to spread things out instead of waiting until the last minute, things will work much better for them. Teaching this to them at a young age can prove to be monumental for them as they grow.
- Having them pay back some of their earnings if they don't complete all of their chores teaches them responsibility for their actions as well as finishing what you say you will do. If their are consequences for not completing something you promise others, they will be more apt to finish them. This also can help with teaching once you make a decision to stick with it regardless.
- Tithe. Like I said, we are a family who believes in tithing, but it wasn't something I grew up around. And quite honestly, when I first started doing it, it was extremely difficult to process the idea of "giving up" that money. Of course, after I realized it wasn't my money to begin with, it was God's, it was a no-brainer. Starting our children out realizing this from the very beginning will instill values we feel to be important in them. Teaching them saving, tithing, and responsibility is so much more valuable to and for them starting young instead of when they are teenagers or adults. The good habits they form now will help them tremendously in their future.
So, now that I've stood on that soapbox long enough, do you want to see them? Are you still with me? Haha
For the free tutorial on how to make the chore magnets, click here.
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