Every Monday I pop $5 into a special pocket of both my boys’ backpacks.\u00a0 The money is to cover two days of eating lunch in the school cafeteria.\u00a0 They could pick any two days but need to let me know in advance because, yes it’s true, I still pack their bag lunches on non-cafeteria days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One Monday I noticed that there were two dollar bills in Ryan’s special pocket.\u00a0 If there had been two dollars and fifty cents I wouldn’t have thought much about it.\u00a0 Each lunch costs $2.50 so that would have meant, for whatever reason, he skipped a lunch.\u00a0 But two dollar bills confused me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So I asked him why he had two dollars in his backpack and no quarters.\u00a0 “Oh,” he replied, “That’s the money I had left over after I paid my library fine.”\u00a0\u00a0 He said it pretty matter-of-factly, grabbed the two dollars and left.<\/p>\n
My favorite part of this story is the matter-of-factly part.\u00a0 It’s long been known in our family that we each have responsibilities.\u00a0 I am responsible for making sure there is a nutritious dinner on the table each night.\u00a0 I’m also responsible for making their bag lunches on non-cafeteria days!\u00a0 The boys put away the dishes every night, no reminders…at least not now that they’re trained.\u00a0 John fights with the sprinklers every weekend in the summer to minimize patchy dry spots.\u00a0\u00a0 These are things we just do because we each have a responsibility in running an efficient household.\u00a0 We all know our roles and there’s no confusion.<\/p>\n
It’s the same with kids and money management.\u00a0 It never once occurred to Ryan that he should ask me for money to pay his library fine.\u00a0 He was the one who forgot to turn in the book.\u00a0 Just like we set up rules for completing household chores, we set up rules for who is financially responsible for what.\u00a0\u00a0Obviously as parents we pay for food, shelter, and clothing.\u00a0 But the extras, like going to the movies, video games, and cell phones…well, that’s up to them.\u00a0 Oh yeah, and library fines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Every Monday I pop $5 into a special pocket of both my boys’ backpacks.\u00a0 The money is to cover two days of eating lunch in the school cafeteria.\u00a0 They could pick any two days but need to let me know in advance because, yes it’s true, I still pack their bag lunches on non-cafeteria days.\u00a0 One Monday I noticed that there were two dollar bills in Ryan’s special pocket.\u00a0 If there had been two dollars and fifty cents I wouldn’t…<\/p>\n