Let me start off with two pieces of random information that are relevant to this quote.
1. Moira receives a weekly allowance. We debated about how to do it, when to do it, and how to explain it to her. Ultimately we quit debating and just did it. Much like many decisions in parenthood, we wanted to make sure we did the best we could by our kids. And since Moira is the oldest, she’s also the guinea pig. Long story short – she receives her age X $1 per week with no strings attached. Presently her allowance is $6 a week. Seems like a lot to old folks like me, but the point of her receiving allowance is to help her begin to understand how money works, how to save it, how to spend it, etc. If her allowance was so small she could do nothing with it (thanks inflation!), then really what was the point?
2. Moira has Citizen of The Household chores. She does these weekly because she is a member of the family. See – you thought we just gave her allowance and expected nothing in return eh? We opted not to tie the two directly mostly because I didn’t want to hear “That’s okay – I have enough money – I don’t want to do my chores this week.” She’s smart like that. The newest chore in Moira’s repertoire is emptying the dishwasher. This was Alan’s bright idea…I cringed thinking she was too young and having visions of shattered ceramic ware lying on our ceramic tile floor (trust me – when those babies break – they shatter spectacularly). I was dead wrong. Not only is she careful and attentive – she loves it!
The other night Alan let her know that the dishwasher was clean and ready to be emptied. He also mentioned that we owed her allowance and did she want it then or later?
Her exuberant response was this: “You mean I get my allowance AND I get to empty the dishwasher??” (said with a HUGE smile plastered on her face)
Even typing the words now – I think that has got to be the best thing to have ever come out of her mouth. Well, maybe besides “I love you Mommy!”
