Yes, we went to the circus last Saturday. A. put on her fuzzy leotard and her tights (which, let me tell you, is a miracle because that girl reFUses to wear tights all winter. She has issues with how the seams feel on her toes and such; but — really, who can blame her?) because she wanted to look like one of the acrobats. I did convince her that we she might need to put a skirt on over this ensemble, so that no one would mistake her for one of the actual circus performers. (Yes, definitely, shades of Jacqui from over at In the Life of a Child. I love reading about her escapades). A. agreed, and then proceeded to load her very own .95 in her teeny tiny little skirt pocket.
I just got her this bank, because the child is ripe to learn about money management. And I know I’ve got to start teaching those lessons before it’s too late. This is a bank that actually has separate slots for money you want to save, spend, donate, and invest. She completely got me the other day when she was the one who remembered to contribute her own 20 pennies to her school’s Make a Difference Day fund drive for AIDS orphans in Africa. I think I ordered the bank online that very night. She’s very excited. She has cleaned out every couch cushion and junk drawer looking for spare change to feed the pig.
Now I don’t do actual allowance yet. And everything she wants is so darned expensive; it feels a little overwhelming to break down financial lessons into ones that are bite-sized and not completely soul-killing to a six-year-old who just wants to buy something sparkly with her own money.
All this to say, she didn’t get to spend her .95 at the circus because of course we all know that the sparkly things at the circus cost $20. I guess that is an important lesson learned that I hope didn’t kill off too much childhood innocence. How are we supposed to teach in this environment, people?! Instead she munched on the Halloween candy and Cheetos I had stuffed in the diaper bag and marveled at the noisy spectacle that is the circus. (Mom, look…DOGS! … Irony.)
I guess we’ll she’ll be practicing spending money at yard sales, dollar stores, and Aldi because I am frugal, and it pains me to let a 6-year-old child take her first steps into money management with a $20 bill. Silver lining, Sunday afternoon she found a Halloween “haunted” gingerbread house in the clearance bin at Aldi for .50. Just the perfect thing I consider too frivolous to spend my own .50 on, but holds infinite value and attraction for hers. She bought. She built. She bit.
Anyone who’s been there got any tips for me?
I can’t wait to see the comments and suggestions you’ll get.
My boy has saved a whopping $3.30.He wants to buy Christmas presents for his friends. I guess it’s off to the dollar store for him.
I don’t see what’s wrong with Aldi, flea markets and garage sales. Oh and Good Will, etc. Also what about the dollar bins at Target and good old WalMart? My allowance was $3/week until I was in my teens, when it went up to $5, I think. I “shopped” at Eckerd and TG&Y.
My grandparents always gave my sister and me a more substancial sum of money at Christmas and birthdays rather than a huge gift, so we had THAT money to spend, and it DID teach us, very quickly, about saving/spending, etc. Maybe you could let your parents and D’s parents what you’re working on with A and they’d consider giving her some $ for Christmas and her upcoming Bday?
We live and die by the dollar store. That is the only place you can teach a kid how to handle money. Otherwise you better get another job and start paying $100 a week in allowance. (Ha, snort!) because if she wants the fancy stuff that’s what it’s gonna cost ya! (There are plenty of sparkly and shiny things at the $ store and the bonus is you get to teach all about cheap labor in foregin countries and the geography of where China and Taiwan are! I really love multi-tasking!)
Yep, the dollar store and garage sales were it for my kids when they were younger.
Now, I pay a whopping one dollar a day to anyone over 7 who will do ALL his chores WITHOUT me reminding and nagging. That’s a potential $6 a week, but you’d be surprised how rarely I pay out the full amount! (sigh) We also pay a buck or two for other bigger chores that they don’t normally do–e.g. vacuum out one of the vans.
So with that money, they can save for something sparkly or Lego-like at Target, and when they’re over 12, roughly, they start paying half of their friend’s birthday presents. That’s also when we start expecting them to tithe.
We did teach them on this earlier, and certainly did encourage any generous impulses, but I felt it got too hard to administrate. Now my older ones are sort of on the honor system, but it’s working out, I think.
Just my .02.
Pun intended.
Jeanne
Lead by example. Lead. By. Example. Isn’t that how everything in this parenting gig works?
We’ve been relying quite a bit on the dollar store for this lesson too… But I’m right in there with you in trying to figure this out. I’ll be peeking back for brilliant ideas : )
Oh, Toni, I know she’s gonna end up like me. I think I generally set a good example. But right now she’s craving the hands on experience. She will have no more of that watching and waiting business!