At dinner time a few days ago Bubs told us his master plan of how he was going to purchase a new Wii game. He had played the new Mario Brothers game with his Uncle and Aunt and really liked it. (Actually Mommy and Daddy had fun too!) In detail, he explained how he was going to have all of these games laid out (kind of the carnival concept). He would invite his friends and for $1 they could play his games. We were pretty proud of all of the thought and organization that he put into this but explained that that was not how we get money for things we want to buy.
We discussed how you have to work for things that you want. So, Bubs and I went on Amazon and checked out exactly how much this new Mario Game would cost. Then I created a page that had 50 “$1” to show him how much money he would have to earn to reach his goal. We counted the few dollars in his piggy bank. It came to around $8. Bubs and I brainstormed chores that he could do earn money. All of these chores had to be above and beyond what he does normally – those chores he does just because he is part of our family.
We also talked about how God gives us our money and He asks that we give back to him a portion. So, every time Bubs fills up a row ($10) he will set aside a dollar for God. Today he did some pretty big chores (picked up rocks!) and earned enough to fill up the first row and a $1 of tithe.
My husband and I are interested to see how long this takes but no matter what, Bubs has taken his first step to understand the value of a dollar, tithing, and a work ethic. Throughout the talk, he showed a lot of deer-in-the-headlights look but he has to start somewhere. Stay tuned…This could be interesting!
What do you do to teach your child the value of a dollar?
This is a wonderful idea. I haven't really started teaching about money with the boys yet. I've been debating about allowance for Bubba so that he can start to learn about saving, giving and tithing.