When my grandfather was ill, I wrote him letters. He was always the master of business finance, since he owned his own business for more than half a century. In my last letter to him, I mentioned that I had just instituted an allowance for my two and a half year old. I thought that he would enjoy the fact that I was teaching financial management to my child.
My mother read the letter to him and she cracked up when it came to the sentence about the allowance. Yes, she gave me an allowance when I was growing up – but an allowance for a two-year-old? Yes, I gave my daughter an allowance when she was two and I continue to give her one now that she’s a preschooler. I’ll tell you why.
There is an allowance debate out there. The main question revolves around household chores. Do you tie housework to money, or is housework simply expected? I go by the latter route. I give my daughter an allowance so that she can learn money management, not because she does chores. Helping out around the house is expected, in my books.
How can a preschooler learn money management? For one, having an allowance has helped my daughter understand the magnitude of what she is buying. If I say that something will cost four allowances, then that is a lot of money. Oddly enough, it’s also helped me say “yes” to some things. If she wants a drink from the store and she has the money to buy it, then I say yes, as long as the drink itself is acceptable. The allowance prevents me from being the mom who says no all the time and the mom who says yes all of the time. My daughter gets to decide what she spends her money on.
Do you give your child an allowance? Why or why not?