Our girls love to make money. Our son likes to get money, and does do chores for money, but would like to put as little effort into earning his wage as possible. Also, once he has money, there is no way he’s giving it up. The girls, on the other hand, want to make money and spend it or give to it to charity.
They do extra chores to earn bonuses on their allowance, and they make and sell bracelets in order to give the money to charity. They discuss what they are saving up for and how they will spend their money. When asked, it is being saved for a larger item like an iPod touch, but more often than not it gets spent at the 7 Eleven.
I thought that Siobhan was too young, at two, to understand money until recently. We were at the park, and she had just come down the slide only to run underneath it where there was a little play area. From where I was standing, it looked like she was going to sell me something, so I asked if I could have a burger. She nodded and said “yes” then held out her hand and said “money, please!”
I was shocked, but I pretended to hand her some money, and she pretended to put it away in her cash register before offering me my make-believe hamburger. I then asked for a drink, and again, she asked for my money and tucked it away before handing me my order. At least she has the good business sense to get the money first.
Now we will have to see how she does with real money, but considering she thinks the glass pebbles in the jar in our den are “monies,” paying her allowance could be pretty cheap.
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