We’ve entered a new dimension at Casa Cheplic: Cashdom.
Now that my daughter is 7, we’ve bid adieu to threats and time outs and are embracing the wonders of using cash as incentive for good behavior.
So, yeah, basically I get my kid to behave by bribing her with big bucks.
Actually, it’s mostly coins, but the occasional dollar bill makes an appearance if she achieves a monumental accomplishment.
We’ve got the wall chart, the stickers, a list of jobs and rules and, of course, a jar full of shiny, jangly loot.
Using monetary rewards as a method of behavior modification is nothing new in the world of parenting. What is unique is the way individual children treat their monetary gains.
For example, my daughter is as tight as a miser’s fist.
She’s saving up for a puppy, and refuses to part with a single penny.
You’d think that her anti-spendthrift streak would make this mama proud. After all, she could be like other kids her age who burn through cash to buy posters of the Bieb or mountains of plastic crud from Claire’s.
Not my kid. My kid clutches her container of coins as tightly as an Emperor Penguin father does the egg containing his child.
But, here’s the rub.
While her frugalness may appear admirable from afar, the truth is the kid is really working both ends of the ladder. She’s inflexible with her funds, but has the audacity to ask me to spend my money on the puzzle erasers, Dilly bars, and friendship beads that she covets.
What’s worse is that my parents encourage my daughter’s distorted interpretation of saving versus spending by matching the capital she earns via her wall-mounted rewards chart. Instead of using the extra cash from grandma and grandpa to purchase frivolous goodies, she socks it away, figuring she can withdraw from the Bank of Mommy minus loan approval or a well-defined repayment plan.
Either I’ve got a Donald Trump in the making or a burgeoning Bernie Madoff.
Are your children savers or spenders?