Our kids don’t need money. For now, we have decided to provide for their care and feeding.
But they are fascinated by money nonetheless. They find it on tabletops and in dusty corners and add it to their “collections,” one of which is shown below.
They have a vague sense that money is used for exchange, that taking a sufficient number of pennies (for Kato, every coin is a “penny”) to Twigs and Teacups results in the right to walk away with a delightful plastic object of one’s choosing.
But for now, money is mostly just another toy, no different from a marble or a building block. Something to sort and admire and stockpile.
How do I know that money is still mere object to my children and not a form of currency? They still prefer coins to bills.
But I know that a new day is coming. Soon, my children will grasp the function of money and will seek it out not for what it is but for what it represents. And that will be a slightly sad moment. But an inevitable one.
Since my children still live in money wonderland, I have questions for those of you whose kids are more savvy.
What and how do you teach your kids about money: how it is obtained, how to use it wisely, what sort of value to place on it? Also: Do your kids get an allowance? How much do they get? What do they have to do to earn it? What sorts of restrictions (if any) do you place on how it may be used?
These are my questions, but there are probably many I’m not even considering. Please share your experience and advice on the kid money front in the comments below.
We just started with allowances for Huck (7) and Milo (5). They get 50 cents a day if they do their daily chore. Marigold and I are keeping track with an app, Child Allowance Tracker, which syncs between us – so no funny business. They were just asking for too much stuff all the time and we were inconsistently giving in here and there. Now they can learn to save up for the expensive things they really want, like video games. We hope that they will then value those things more.
Steve: Did you guys bring up the idea of allowance, or was it something they requested? So far, my kids haven’t asked for money, and as much as I like your idea as a way of structuring that exchange once they start clamoring for it, I’m hesitant to begin dispensing precious quarters until I have to. Another question: have the kids shown a capacity to save up for big items, or are they buying a lot of lollipops? I’m afraid if we gave them money, they’d spent it all on sugar or disposable plastic objects, which I will step on in the dead of night, causing me to cry and gnash and regret.