Allowance

Jake has been begging us to start giving him an allowance like we do for CJ.  We told him he had to show us he was ready for the big bucks - more maturity and helping around the house and less temper tantrums and toddler stuff.  I have to say that he's responded well.  He's been making up his bed every morning without being told, helping set the table and clear it, and cheerfully doing small chores when we ask him.

On a couple of occasions, we've even tucked him in bed under the covers only to find him sleeping on a freshly made bed a few minutes later.  After prayers, the little booger hops out of the sack, straightens out the covers on the bed and sleeps on top of the made bed so it's an easier task in the morning.  Pretty soon, he'll go to go to bed in the clothes he's going to wear the next day.

It might seem like a small thing but getting kids started on finances early is important - from saving to budgeting to giving.  How else are they going to learn these things?  Watching them do the math in their heads as they're trying to choose which toy to buy at Target or Wal-Mart is priceless.  It's good for them to make these kind of financial decisions early.  Learning about tax, tipping and bills helps them to appreciate the value of a buck.  Explaining the good that comes from giving at church and charitable causes is important too.

And so we decided just recently to give Jake a weekly allowance of two dollars.  We were going to start with one dollar a week but his attitude with helping around the house convinced us he was worthy of the 100% increase in the CHC department - cold hard cash.

Here's the little guy accepting his first of many weekly allowances.

Always the negotiator, Jake tried to cajole us into giving him retroactive allowance for the time since he's been on planet earth.  We thought about it for a nano-second before giving him the big "no" sandwich.  Good try though kid.