The boys have not had a ton of chores around the house, but as they (O in particular) have been increasingly obsessive about new toys any time they spot one in the store. I've actually taken O to the big Seattle area grocery-sporting goods-department store several times just to cruise past their displays of vehicles. Both boys have actually made piece about sometimes browsing toys without actually buying them -- they can put them on their "wish list", which, despite I suppose the readily available electronic or paper versions, are currently completely within their minds and subject to change with each visit. Still, we'll have a pretty good idea of what to put on the actual birthday and holiday wish lists when the time comes.
Still, wish lists only get you so far, and it was perhaps time to start teaching the value of a dollar. So over the past few weeks, we've started giving them a weekly allowance for setting the table (O, who yells at us or Z if we inadvertently do the job for him), clearing the table (Z, who does a great job of carefully bringing the plates over from the table, only to fling them at high speed/height into the sink if we're not there to help guide him with the last step), making beds, cleaning up toys before bedtime (my personal favorite), and yes, occasionally just for listening us (as in "if you can't stop fighting, you're not going to get your allowance this week").
At the end of the week, they each get 50 cents to put in their piggy banks (a bus for O, a ceramic car for Z), as well as 50 cents to put into the tzedakah (charity) box. After we save up a bit, they'll get to choose where to donate that money to (O lately has indicated he wants to give it to the zoo to "help the animals have snack".) The boys have been enthusiastic about the process thus far, and yesterday was the first actual purchase for O; Meh took him to a local dollar store and he picked out (shock of shocks) a small orange taxi matchbox car. He's been proudly toting it around, and yes, occasionally even sharing it with "the brother".
No comments:
Post a Comment