by Amanda van der Gulik
Don’t you hate it when you’re told what to do?
Experts are always telling you what you should do when it comes to whether or not you should give your child an allowance. Well, I say, it’s about time you learn to trust yourself; trust your own instincts and do what is right for you! There is no right or wrong. Period!
Take a deep breath and relax, your child will be just fine. You are their parent and you love them. You will do anything it takes to do what’s right for them. You’ve come to the part of their upbringing where you now want to teach your child about money; how to handle money wisely. You’re trying to figure out whether you should give them an allowance or make them get their own job.
The truth is that it doesn’t really matter what you decide to do as far as giving an allowance is concerned, the part that does matter is that you are sincerely interested in teaching your child about money.
Too many of our children today grow up with little or no knowledge at all about how money works. How to earn it, how to save it, how to manage it so they can take control of their own financial lives and not end up bankrupt before the age of 25 like so many of their peers.
I remember when I was pregnant with my first child, Xanthe, everyone had their oh-so-helpful suggestions for me. They told me their strong opinions about whether I should have my baby in a hospital or at home; whether I should have an epidural or a water birth; whether or not I should breast feed or bottle feed; whether I should immunize or not immunize! It was all very overwhelming for a first time mom to say the least!
At one point a friend of mine saw my distress and said these words to me that have stuck with me through my life and I want to share them here with you now. She said, “Go with what works for you and your family.”
It was so incredibly simple. Go with what works for me and my family. I liked it. It made me feel in control of my life again. When I asked her how to handle all the kind ‘suggestions’ that my sweet family, friends and other ‘experts’ had shared with me, she told me to simply tell them, “thank-you, what a great idea, I’ll keep that in mind” and then to simply move on and do what was right for me.
You shouldn’t ever need to feel like you owe it to others to explain why you do this or that. It’s your life, your child, you are in charge. You can raise them as you feel best. You have to learn to trust yourself, your own instincts. You’re going to know better than anyone else what will work best for you and your family.
So what about allowances? What should you do? Well, what will work best for you? Have you got the time to help your child come up with ways they can earn their own money? If so, then that’s great! This is a method I highly recommend. There is such a great benefit to your child when they feel they’ve earned their own income through their own efforts. When they go out to buy something from money they’ve earned, they will feel that wonderful pride of ownership that only those who have worked for their money can ever feel.
But if you don’t have the ability to help your child come up with a way to earn their own money then the next best thing is to set up an allowance structure. Compose it together. Create reasons for the allowance and terms that need to be met. Again these are highly personal, and are best created by you and your family.
I myself do not give my children an allowance. I love watching their little entrepreneurial minds come up with creative new ways to earn their own money. My daughter came up with the idea to write a book, “Remembering Candy” to remember our dog that had passed away and to help other kids overcome their own pet related grief. She sells this on Amazon. My son loves playing computer games, so is now creating videos showing some of the tricks he has come up with and will put those up on YouTube and make money off of ad revenue. There are so many ways kids can earn their own money.
Whether or not you decide to give your child an allowance just make sure that they feel a sense of earning. That their efforts are somehow related to what they get, so they can build their self-esteem while learning about money. Go with what works for you and your family.
Amanda van der Gulik has been homeschooling her own two children for over 10 years. As founder of http://www.teachingchildrenaboutmoney.com , Amanda is constantly interviewed for parenting shows on TV, radio, and in newspapers and blogs all over the world. She is a best-selling author and has been featured as a special guest for Disney Radio. Amanda has created many unique storytelling tools: videos, cartoons, novels, short stories, workbooks, colouring books, quizzes, home study courses, etc. to help parents all over the world to empower their children with money smarts. Visit Amanda’s website to grab one of her incredible tools, like her, “Goal Setting For Families” workbook, that Amanda is giving away for free to help other homeschooling parents get their child excited about learning how to manage their own money so they stop using mom and dad like a personal bank machine!
Don’t you hate it when you’re told what to do?
Experts are always telling you what you should do when it comes to whether or not you should give your child an allowance. Well, I say, it’s about time you learn to trust yourself; trust your own instincts and do what is right for you! There is no right or wrong. Period!
Take a deep breath and relax, your child will be just fine. You are their parent and you love them. You will do anything it takes to do what’s right for them. You’ve come to the part of their upbringing where you now want to teach your child about money; how to handle money wisely. You’re trying to figure out whether you should give them an allowance or make them get their own job.
The truth is that it doesn’t really matter what you decide to do as far as giving an allowance is concerned, the part that does matter is that you are sincerely interested in teaching your child about money.
Too many of our children today grow up with little or no knowledge at all about how money works. How to earn it, how to save it, how to manage it so they can take control of their own financial lives and not end up bankrupt before the age of 25 like so many of their peers.
I remember when I was pregnant with my first child, Xanthe, everyone had their oh-so-helpful suggestions for me. They told me their strong opinions about whether I should have my baby in a hospital or at home; whether I should have an epidural or a water birth; whether or not I should breast feed or bottle feed; whether I should immunize or not immunize! It was all very overwhelming for a first time mom to say the least!
At one point a friend of mine saw my distress and said these words to me that have stuck with me through my life and I want to share them here with you now. She said, “Go with what works for you and your family.”
It was so incredibly simple. Go with what works for me and my family. I liked it. It made me feel in control of my life again. When I asked her how to handle all the kind ‘suggestions’ that my sweet family, friends and other ‘experts’ had shared with me, she told me to simply tell them, “thank-you, what a great idea, I’ll keep that in mind” and then to simply move on and do what was right for me.
You shouldn’t ever need to feel like you owe it to others to explain why you do this or that. It’s your life, your child, you are in charge. You can raise them as you feel best. You have to learn to trust yourself, your own instincts. You’re going to know better than anyone else what will work best for you and your family.
So what about allowances? What should you do? Well, what will work best for you? Have you got the time to help your child come up with ways they can earn their own money? If so, then that’s great! This is a method I highly recommend. There is such a great benefit to your child when they feel they’ve earned their own income through their own efforts. When they go out to buy something from money they’ve earned, they will feel that wonderful pride of ownership that only those who have worked for their money can ever feel.
But if you don’t have the ability to help your child come up with a way to earn their own money then the next best thing is to set up an allowance structure. Compose it together. Create reasons for the allowance and terms that need to be met. Again these are highly personal, and are best created by you and your family.
I myself do not give my children an allowance. I love watching their little entrepreneurial minds come up with creative new ways to earn their own money. My daughter came up with the idea to write a book, “Remembering Candy” to remember our dog that had passed away and to help other kids overcome their own pet related grief. She sells this on Amazon. My son loves playing computer games, so is now creating videos showing some of the tricks he has come up with and will put those up on YouTube and make money off of ad revenue. There are so many ways kids can earn their own money.
Whether or not you decide to give your child an allowance just make sure that they feel a sense of earning. That their efforts are somehow related to what they get, so they can build their self-esteem while learning about money. Go with what works for you and your family.
Amanda van der Gulik has been homeschooling her own two children for over 10 years. As founder of http://www.teachingchildrenaboutmoney.com , Amanda is constantly interviewed for parenting shows on TV, radio, and in newspapers and blogs all over the world. She is a best-selling author and has been featured as a special guest for Disney Radio. Amanda has created many unique storytelling tools: videos, cartoons, novels, short stories, workbooks, colouring books, quizzes, home study courses, etc. to help parents all over the world to empower their children with money smarts. Visit Amanda’s website to grab one of her incredible tools, like her, “Goal Setting For Families” workbook, that Amanda is giving away for free to help other homeschooling parents get their child excited about learning how to manage their own money so they stop using mom and dad like a personal bank machine!
