The other day Sidney (my 4-year-old) told me he wanted to build houses. I told him building houses takes money. He asked me where you get the money from. I told him, it had to be earned. Fast forward to me sweating out my weave trying to explain simple economics to this kid and we land here, at me deciding perhaps paying Sidney an allowance might teach him about money management. But then I thought, an allowance isn’t actually earned money, it’s given money. So why not get him ‘working’ around the house?
The old school parents out there will immediately jump in right about now and yell at me for creating a capitalist pig pre-schooler. However, I disagree (I think. Quite frankly I’m still deciding what I think).
I think there are certain chores that are non-negotiable and should be done without cash incentive (i.e. cleaning your room, setting the table, putting away toys). But I do think there are odd jobs (vacuuming, laundry) that could be done for money. I also think that that’s the way the world works and why not instill good earning and (more importantly) saving skills at a young age?
What do you think? Would you pay your child to do chores? Comment below or email submissions@cityline.ca with your thoughts.