Of Children's Allowances (Revisited), & Tarragon Pasta Salad
“When men talk too much, sin is never far away; common sense holds its tongue.” Proverbs 10:19
CHILDREN’S ALLOWANCES, REVISITED:
Two intriguing responses to the discussion of the blog issue of 4/14/05 appear below. The first is from loyal reader Tamar Gold:
“Interesting discussion on children’s allowances. We start each child with an allowance at age 6, but they start doing chores around age 3 or 4. I am in agreement with you about not tying the allowance to participation in family responsibilities. (Some of my children might disagree, however!) We start them at 50 cents & it stays there until they reach age 10 when it goes up to a dollar. As you can tell, we don’t expect them to buy much with this allowance. It is for the extras …. Like a lipgloss for my high school junior or baseball cards for my preteen boy or a cheap toy for my little girl. Mostly, they just let the money accumulate, without a specific goal in mind. When they find something they just “must have,” they check to see how much they’ve accumulated (sometimes over years!), & see if they can afford it.
“What’s interesting about how we do allowance is that we don’t actually give them the cash. We keep a running tally of their allowance, &, when they want to spend it, it is deducted from the accounting & we do the actual buying. It got too hard, when I had only 2 getting allowance, to come up with the 4 needed quarters every week! We stop giving allowance, by the way, when they go to college.”
For another take on the issue, read what Beth Sovern, another loyal reader, has to say & show:
“Just chiming in on allowance. Our children get half their age for allowance, but it’s pretty much for them to allocate as they wish. They get allowance every other week, on my husband’s payday.
“They all chip in at holiday time for a charity of our choosing. Last year we did something through the high school where we answered children’s letters to Santa from a needy school.
“Usually, the kids save their allowances. My 12-year-old is allegedly saving for a car. But he only has $70. Should be interesting. My high school junior uses hers for food out with her friends. They’re pretty frugal.
“We have an involved chore chart with rotating chores on a weekly basis. Supposedly they don’t get allowance if they don’t do their chores. But we don’t check the week’s chart before ponying up the money. They’re good about doing the many jobs, but only if we remind them. I make a chart (see below) so that I don’t have to hear, Why can’t he do it? I just say, whose turn is it to empty the dishwasher? That way, they can’t complain that I ask one of them to do more than the others. Hope this is useful to you.” [Boy! Is it ever!]
No chores = No allowance!
Rotating Chores
Garbage
Week of:
2/28
3/7
3/14
3/21
3/28
4/4 (Each child's name is listed for each chore, in rotation.)
Bring in recycling bins: Wednesday
Bring up cans: Monday/Thursday
Empty small cans into bag: Saturday
Kitchen
Week of:
2/28
3/7
3/14
3/21
3/28
4/4
Sponge/Sweep
Help prepare dinner/set table
Wash/Dishes
General Household Chores
Week of:
2/28
3/7
3/14
3/21
3/28
4/4
Help with Laundry
Empty kitchen garbage/Put in garage can
Empty dishwasher
Daily Chores
Ø Make Beds
Ø Pick up dishes
Ø Cups and snacks in dishwasher/garbage
Ø Backpacks & debris put away
Ø Shoes in bins
Ø Coats hung up
Ø Dirty clothes in hamper
Ø Clean clothes put away
Ø Towels hung up
Ø Bathroom clean up-toothbrushes/ hairbrushes etc. put away
Ø Feed pets
RECIPE:
Tarragon Peas with Spaghetti:
This is a most unusual pasta salad.
In a Dutch oven, place
1 large onion, minced
2 T canola oil
Saute until lightly browned. Remove from Dutch oven.
1 lb. spaghetti (preferably totally whole wheat – or partially – Healthy Harvest brand)
Cook in the Dutch oven for 2 minutes less than package directions call for.
2 lb. regular (English) peas, shelled
Add to spaghetti in its last 2 minutes of cooking.
Drain peas & spaghetti together very well. Return to pot.
Add:
2 tsp dried tarragon (If you have a garden & have fresh tarragon, use 2 T, minced.)
1 T butter or margarine
Stir thoroughly. Serves 6.
CHILDREN’S ALLOWANCES, REVISITED:
Two intriguing responses to the discussion of the blog issue of 4/14/05 appear below. The first is from loyal reader Tamar Gold:
“Interesting discussion on children’s allowances. We start each child with an allowance at age 6, but they start doing chores around age 3 or 4. I am in agreement with you about not tying the allowance to participation in family responsibilities. (Some of my children might disagree, however!) We start them at 50 cents & it stays there until they reach age 10 when it goes up to a dollar. As you can tell, we don’t expect them to buy much with this allowance. It is for the extras …. Like a lipgloss for my high school junior or baseball cards for my preteen boy or a cheap toy for my little girl. Mostly, they just let the money accumulate, without a specific goal in mind. When they find something they just “must have,” they check to see how much they’ve accumulated (sometimes over years!), & see if they can afford it.
“What’s interesting about how we do allowance is that we don’t actually give them the cash. We keep a running tally of their allowance, &, when they want to spend it, it is deducted from the accounting & we do the actual buying. It got too hard, when I had only 2 getting allowance, to come up with the 4 needed quarters every week! We stop giving allowance, by the way, when they go to college.”
For another take on the issue, read what Beth Sovern, another loyal reader, has to say & show:
“Just chiming in on allowance. Our children get half their age for allowance, but it’s pretty much for them to allocate as they wish. They get allowance every other week, on my husband’s payday.
“They all chip in at holiday time for a charity of our choosing. Last year we did something through the high school where we answered children’s letters to Santa from a needy school.
“Usually, the kids save their allowances. My 12-year-old is allegedly saving for a car. But he only has $70. Should be interesting. My high school junior uses hers for food out with her friends. They’re pretty frugal.
“We have an involved chore chart with rotating chores on a weekly basis. Supposedly they don’t get allowance if they don’t do their chores. But we don’t check the week’s chart before ponying up the money. They’re good about doing the many jobs, but only if we remind them. I make a chart (see below) so that I don’t have to hear, Why can’t he do it? I just say, whose turn is it to empty the dishwasher? That way, they can’t complain that I ask one of them to do more than the others. Hope this is useful to you.” [Boy! Is it ever!]
No chores = No allowance!
Rotating Chores
Garbage
Week of:
2/28
3/7
3/14
3/21
3/28
4/4 (Each child's name is listed for each chore, in rotation.)
Bring in recycling bins: Wednesday
Bring up cans: Monday/Thursday
Empty small cans into bag: Saturday
Kitchen
Week of:
2/28
3/7
3/14
3/21
3/28
4/4
Sponge/Sweep
Help prepare dinner/set table
Wash/Dishes
General Household Chores
Week of:
2/28
3/7
3/14
3/21
3/28
4/4
Help with Laundry
Empty kitchen garbage/Put in garage can
Empty dishwasher
Daily Chores
Ø Make Beds
Ø Pick up dishes
Ø Cups and snacks in dishwasher/garbage
Ø Backpacks & debris put away
Ø Shoes in bins
Ø Coats hung up
Ø Dirty clothes in hamper
Ø Clean clothes put away
Ø Towels hung up
Ø Bathroom clean up-toothbrushes/ hairbrushes etc. put away
Ø Feed pets
RECIPE:
Tarragon Peas with Spaghetti:
This is a most unusual pasta salad.
In a Dutch oven, place
1 large onion, minced
2 T canola oil
Saute until lightly browned. Remove from Dutch oven.
1 lb. spaghetti (preferably totally whole wheat – or partially – Healthy Harvest brand)
Cook in the Dutch oven for 2 minutes less than package directions call for.
2 lb. regular (English) peas, shelled
Add to spaghetti in its last 2 minutes of cooking.
Drain peas & spaghetti together very well. Return to pot.
Add:
2 tsp dried tarragon (If you have a garden & have fresh tarragon, use 2 T, minced.)
1 T butter or margarine
Stir thoroughly. Serves 6.
posted by THE PENNY ORCHID -- "Thrift with Flair" at 1:49 PM
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