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I....
~vacillate almost daily between cleaning rampages and not-wanting-to-do-absolutely-anything-at-all. Like, thinking about letting Colin just skip school for the entire day because I can't bear the thought of getting up and getting out of bed to get him ready and take him there. Ugh.....It's. So. Much. Effort. The extremes (caused by raging hormones? Tiredness?) are unbelievable!
~am having a rampage day, by the way. Already done three loads of laundry and put them away, cleaned the kitchen and dining room, made all of the beds, and cleaned (like, I mean, the real kind of cleaning, not pregnant cleaning--we'll talk about that in a later post) both of my bathrooms, and it's not even 9 a.m.
~am getting low on Frosty Nerds and York Peppermint Patties all at the same time. It's making me nervous.
~am in love with Winter Candy Apple everything. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.
~am trying to teach Colin the value of money. Whew--tough lesson. What an experience we had in Wal-Mart on Saturday, trying desperately to find something he could buy for his very meager 77 cents. (He wanted so badly to buy something--anything--that he actually asked me how much a coffee pot was....then, "How 'bout this cup, Momma? How much is this cup?") We both ended up in tears. It broke my heart to see him so upset that he couldn't afford anything--but I didn't cave. As much as I wanted to buy him everything his little heart wanted, I didn't give him any extra money, and he didn't find anything he could purchase. He realized that he needed to start saving his money, so he could buy 'bigger' things--and he has spent the last day and a half searching this house high and low for loose change. It's pretty comical. (My Pastor's wife gave him a coin for the offering yesterday in church, and he pocketed it. "I'm trying to save up," he said. *grin* So, she took it back. I said, good for her....) Any suggestions on how I can help teach him this valuable lesson? Not sure how I feel about allowances, but I'm all ears for suggestions!
~have started to forget what Shane looks like. Have I mentioned that he's been working like a crazy man the last couple of weeks? Eeek. Like, out of bed while it's dark and home after we've all been asleep for a couple of hours. I'm so thankful for God's providing abundant work for him/us right now, and also glad that we're all on vacation the last half of this week so he can get a much-needed break from working!!
~am so looking forward to seeing family this weekend, but dreading everything it takes to pack a family of five for several days. Blech.
~am glad I am not the only one who feels like people can be so completely rude about the whole "trying for a girl" thing. WOW--what responses! Seems like I'm not alone in getting off-the-wall and unnecessary comments about the gender of my little Peanut. Sometimes, however, it's not just gender related comments I get, but number of children related. The latest, while shopping at CVS, from the store clerk, if you can believe it:
"So, you really need a fourth, huh?"
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.................
WHAT?
"YES, and we're quite thrilled about it, thankyouverymuch." {Promptly turn away to hide my red cheeks, collect my bag and get out of there as fast as I could before saying something completely inappropriate and not at all Christ-like.}
Someone remind me to call her store manager later, when the fumes aren't escaping my ears anymore....
I'm off for more cleaning....Happy Monday to all of you!
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8 comments:
Good for you to not give into Colin!
And good for your pastor's wife!
I don't know how you teach the value of money but I know for sure that it is not by giving into them.
Kylie and I recently crossed the money bridge too. Actually both girls helped the neighbor outside getting things ready for winter (just because it was fun), and she gave them each a dollar. They were thrilled! We talked about saving our money, and saving our money for something bigger we want, but I told them they could do with it what they want. (I always have them save birthday and Christmas money, so I figured it would be nice to let them do what they want with the money they earned.)
They both wanted to spend it so after almost patiently waiting we made our way to the dollar store. They both were so careful in picking out what they wanted. We talked about the stuff being cheap and sometimes it isn't worth spending out money on something that isn't well made when we could save up and get something better, but they went ahead and each got something. (Reygann got a doggy, and Kylie got a ballet ribbon that thanks to her brother has now broken.)
Kylie 'found' more money and has held on to it, even with Reygann encouraging her to spend it, repeatedly! She almost caved at the grocery store, I told her she could spend her money (.50-.60) on the candy she wanted as long as she was willing to share. After carefully looking she decided she wanted to save it for something better. She kept adding spare change and a dollar from the tooth fairy and by the time the book fair at school rolled around she had enough to buy a book.
She didn't really like any of the books she could afford, so we agreed she could do a few chores to make up the difference. We didn't let her skate by either, she earned the extra money by working hard. I don't know what my feelings are on an allowance either, but this time it worked for us.
We also talk a lot of the value of money and how much things cost. When they want to get something, we talk about how much it is and how it relates. Like if they want something that is $10, we make it so they understand how much that actually is... like having to lose 10 teeth to have enough money to buy it! It helps my kids understand, it's not just mommy saying 'no' while she buys what ever she want she she wants to (you know like toilet paper, tooth paste, food...) I let them see me looking at something I really want (not a staple item), and then not get it so we can wait for it to go on sale, or to save my money or something like that.
First, Dave Ramsey (Financial Peace University) has great ideas for teaching kids the value of a dollar. We are trying to get them started at our house.....trying being the important word there because we've yet to get the whole thing off the ground....
Second - I can't believe someone would actually say that to you about having a 4th.....And I totally get that still - It drives me a little crazy to hear people say "Are they all yours?" with the inflection of "why do you need so many kids?"
grrrr....
I get the number of children all the time. From family. And we only have three. It really makes me very angry....it is a total invasion of privacy, and my decision to have or not have any more children has NOTHING to do with their opinions. I would really like to tell them where they can shove their opinions...but...ya know, I don't. I have to say, though, that I don't say anything because it is family. If it were a clerk at a store...I would probably go off. It really is NONE of her business. WOW!
I second the Dave Ramsey kid's series!
Happy Monday!
Let me know when you successfully teach the value of a $ to yours please! :) I'm still working on Cait - and I'm a Finance major and work in the industry!! EEK!! It's just so hard to get her to understand it all...
I'm sorry you haven't spent much time with Shane lately but I'm glad you'll get some time later this week :)
Happy early Thanksgiving!
Many hugs to you, my friend.
Amanda
I think I learned the value of money right as you're doing. I did have an allowance ($5 a week), and I learned to save it up. My Mom never did the chores thing -- probably because she didn't consistently MAKE me do chores, but you could do it chore based? Or maybe report card based?
Also, Mom played "store" with me... which is how I learned basic math. It also taught me the value of money. Mom used to price things, and then bring them to me, and I would "ring them up" i LOVED it.
Good luck!
Hi! We have never met, but I have been following your blog for several months now, and I must say it's one of my favorites :)
I don't have children, but this is what my parents did with us. We had certain chores we had to do each week and they each had a monetary value. Like, the whole thing could cost you less than 5 bucks per kid. But here is the kicker... if they do them without being reminded more than twice, they can get an extra dollar. If you have to force them, they can lose a dollar. Have them put their money in a special place each time. You can also let them count it each night before bed. The other thing my dad did was if I said I would pay him back out of my babysitting money, he made me stick to that- it had to come from babysitting money and nothing else. I vaguely remember my family doing the envelope system, but I also remember my mom taking money out of our envelopes and putting it into hers.... Hope this helps! Oh and even if you decide you are ready for allowances, you can still set the bar low. I think my first allowance was 50 cents a week...
We are not fans of allowances in our house, therefore, we do not do them. We feel that everyone is part of the family so everyone needs to pitch in to complete housework. Our girls, ages 6 and 3, share a room and they have to keep it (semi) clean. Our 6 year old also takes out the garbage each week and our 3 year old keeps the shoes neat on the carpet by the door. In the summer/fall, everyone helps in the garden and with raking leaves. When I am doing bigger jobs, they are allowed to help and for those jobs I pay them. My 6-year-old now dusts, vacuums, and wants to clean the toilets. (I let her do it all, except the toilet part.) It seems to work because they know what is expected of them that they do not get paid for (and there is a consequence if they don't do these jobs) but the other ones they can choose to help with, if they want to get paid. It's tough to get them to understand how much to tithe, so we usually ask them how much of what they earned they think Jesus would want them to give to him. They always give more than 10%, which I find to be a huge blessing. I hope you find something that works for your family!
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