Wednesday 28 September 2011

Child labour? Help me out!

Photo credit - lusi
Monkey is a child that is never satisfied. You give him toys, he wants another. He thinks he should have a new one every day. If it is not that, he wants some Match Attax or thinks he deserves a treat. This has to stop if he's to get a Christmas present.

The other day, I had to take the children to Asda to do a weekly shop and whilst they were good and helpful, they wanted to know whether they could visit the toy aisle (no), get some Match Attax (no) or buy a game or DVD (no again but useful diversion when I'm going through the checkout as the DVD section is just beyond the tills).

When we got back in the car, Monkey asked when he could have a treat. Once again, for what felt like the thousandth time, I explained about money, things costing and having money to spend. And then the light bulb went on in my head. Having remembered that the children have helped with chores from time to time, I suggested that perhaps they'd like to earn money from doing some chores which they'd get as a kind of pocket money at the weekend and they can spend as they choose.

When we got home that day, they were keen to help and despite having a house that was upside down, they helped me to get it fairly clean and tidy. Unfortunately, Missy Woo blotted her copybook by "testing" a felt tip pen all over one of the internal doors which I had to spend 15 mins scrubbing to remove.

But anyway, they have slacked off somewhat since Sunday (quelle surprise). They do know, howver, that keeping their rooms and their playroom tidy all week will earn them a pound. I said I would work out prices for different jobs. I've made a few up, but was wondering what other parents do?  At the moment, they are only old enough to do things like tidying up and dusting, although they did a bit of hoovering with supervision.

So, parents, tell me if you pay your children to do chores and if so, how much for which tasks? I'd really love to know whatever their age and capabilities. If you've older children and can remember what you did when the children were a similar age to my two (6 and 5), that would be useful too.

Do leave your answers in the comments below.
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