Holloway Money

I've read a billion things about allowance vs. no allowance for kids and trying to teach them to manage money and whatnot.  I also have a weirdness about tying chores to financial gain...I mean, really, I don't get allowance for the chores that I do around the house.  Taking care of the house is part of being a family.

Keith and I discussed it at length and decided that when the time comes for the children to need to have a stream of money coming in, we will reopen the conversation about allowance, but right now, the occasional need for money doesn't warrant starting up allowance just yet.  There are extra things they can help out with, or scholastic ways to earn money towards things.  For example, a couple of weeks ago was the school book fair.  The agreement was that each child would get a set amount of money to spend at the book fair but they had to earn it first (because believe me, there is no shortage of books in this house).   For them, they just like going out buying things.  Funny how quick their tune changes when they are the ones handing over the cash!

So, each child completed their tasks required to earn funds for the book fair and after over an hour of perusing the racks,  it's amazing how they really had to think about their purchases. Everyone was very satisfied and I didn't have to cringe when Megan bought a book about making shapes from pipe cleaners, and Daniel bought a Lego comic book, because it wasn't my money they were wasting! 

I work full-time night shift and go to Nurse Practitioner school full-time on-line, which also requires quite a bit of travel at times.  So I'm not always around to look at the kids' bedrooms and the playroom.  Keith does his best, but he's really an outside chore person.

I joked one day that I was not their maid and that if they had money, I would make them pay me for cleaning their rooms! So, Joshua decided to make some money out of construction paper.  If only it were that easy! 

From there....Holloway Money was born, and some ground rules were set.

A yellow ticket can be earned by:

- Bringing home an "A" on a test.

- For each "A" on a Progress Report or Report Card

- Passing "room inspection" on Tuesday and Friday afternoon at 5PM.

A yellow ticket must be paid if:

-A "C" on any school work is earned.  This includes non-tests, tests, Progress Reports and Report Cards.  

- During "room inspection" the room is so bad that I have to clean it, I must be paid for my effort. 

So what happens with these tickets?

When a child has saved 20 tickets, that child gets to pull out a craft stick from another cup.  There are about 30 sticks that all say something different on them from "tea party" to "stay up 30 minutes late" to "dinner out with mom or dad", "mini golf", "let's go to a movie", "$10 to spend at Toys R Us", and a whole bunch of other stuff ranging from out of the house experiences or extra privileges at home.  Part of the fun is that the kids can't see what written on the sticks, so they pull out the stick and are surprised with what they earned. 

Daniel has been surfing (er, sailing), through the school year this year, will all "A"s and trying to keep his room tidy.  He's even given up on sleeping with a billion stuffed animals because it's harder to make his bed with them in there.  So, he earned 20 tickets first, and pulled the stick for "dinner out with mom or dad". 

Naturally, he chose me.  So, I took him to Universal Studios City Walk to eat at the Nascar place. 

Me and me sweet boy!

He loved that there was a TV at every table to watch sports. 

And that the top floor had awesome video games. 

It's a dark picture, but there are Nascar cars hanging from the ceiling. 

After we ate and played in the arcade, we walked around City Walk and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co people were out front entertaining the crowd.  They let Daniel try their hula hoop and they swung the big jump rope for him to jump over a few times.  He was one happy camper!

Slightly out of order, but riding the motorcycle ride at the arcade. 

Hoot Hoot Horray!  We've made it to the 100th day of school, and everyone seems to be still enjoying it. 

A sweet note from Megan left on my bed for me one morning when I didn't get home from work to see them off to school.  She put my books in my bed and left me a note.  Evidently, she must have thought I needed to study before going to sleep!