Should Allowance be Tied to Chores?

Chores for Kids - Girl holding folded towels

Do you expect your kids to do chores to earn allowance?

 

by Kerrie McLoughlin

The word “allowance” might conjure up images of trust-fund kids and seems to hint at getting paid to do nothing. Poll a few of your friends about whether or not kids should get an allowance, and you’ll hear all sorts of answers. I’ve found there are several different camps on this issue, including those who believe kids should:

  1. do chores because they get a place to sleep and food to eat
  2. be paid by the chore to learn the value of working for money
  3. receive a set amount of money every week to do chores as needed or
  4. be paid an allowance to learn how to manage money

For Moms: How to Bond with Your Tween Daughter

Bonding Over Beauty book encourages mother daughter relationships

 

Over the long weekend I made some time to sit down with a great new book, Bonding Over Beauty: A Mother-Daughter Beauty Guide to Foster Self-Esteem, Confidence and Trust, by Erika Katz. As the mother of an almost 11-year-old daughter, I am always looking for new ways to stay connected to my tween daughter and ways to talk to her about all the changes she is about to experience in her body.

What to do when you have a shy child

Nurturing Social Growth in Your Child

by Dr. Caron B. Goode

I birthed a social butterfly named Kristin. From the day of her birth, she saw all people as her friend and always said hello. My friend, Karen, birthed a shy daughter named Lisa. Parents don’t often worry about how social butterflies flit through the world; however a shy child usually needs a parent’s help in learning to negotiate relationships in a safe way. Karen understood this. Here is how she helped Lisa.

Karen’s daughter was painfully shy until she entered second grade. When she did interact with other children, it was on a very selective basis and always one-on-one. This was of great concern to her teachers. For a few years, Lisa’s progress reports all read the same: Needs improvement in group interaction and socialization.

Karen was always an optimist and thankful that Lisa wasn’t disruptive in class! Still, it was Karen’s job to usher Lisa into the world of friendships and group dynamics. Karen joined a playgroup and invited classmates over. She and Lisa took part in their local babysitting coop and signed her up for pee wee soccer. Lisa was a good sport about all this socialization. She entered into each situation with her chin up and her eye peeled for the one child she would interact with. So much for group dynamics.