The Green Stuff

Conner and Sam have been doing really good at their chores. In our house it's all or nothing. They get a check mark for each day they do their chores and they can then use each check mark for $.50 or 30 minutes computer/tv/movie time if they do all their chores to my satisfaction. Conner always takes the money, Sam and Mikey half take the money and half computer time. On Saturdays, when we all work together for 3+ hours to deep clean the house then every one earns a check mark and gets some free computer time. I do have issues with paying our kids to clean up their own messes and help the family run smoothly but I wanted to teach my kids some money management and didn't want to just give them an allowance so paying a small amount is the compromise and it's working. Sam and Conner do their chores half of the time and it really helps me out. I experience so much more peace when the house is clean and in order. They have been combining their money for months in a jar labeled "Wii Fund" and had $50. Sam got some extra money from Nana and really wanted to go to the store to buy a toy. At first he wanted to buy a Hero Factory guy but in the end he decided on a Ninjago guy. All the boys were so excited and wanted to get more Ninjago spinners and guys that after a lot of debate, they cashed in their "wii" money and bought a Ninjago starter set, two more guys, two beyblades and some candy. All their money is now gone and they are saving for a beyblade stadium. Both Neil and I were surprised that Mikey handled not getting a toy without throwing a fit. Mikey has done his chores for a couple days and he told me he wanted to use and get some green stuff like Sam and Conner. Green stuff? Yeah, not the shiny stuff, the green stuff that they use at the store. Oh, you mean dollars. Gotcha. I don't buy my kids toys except for Christmas and birthdays. They may each get a little thing on holidays like Valentines and Easter but that's it so it's a little weird that they have been able to buy stuff but it's good. They get so excited deciding and it makes them want to work more. When Sam wanted to earn some extra money to buy the Hero Factory guy he did his chores and asked if he could do something extra. I told him he could wipe down all the white rails in the banisters and I'd give him $.50. I can't believe I'm admitting this but they've not been cleaned since we moved in, 3 years ago, and they were bad. It's one of those things that I notice every now and then but never do. Sam spent over an hour diligently cleaning away and was so content and happy to do it. He did complain that his hand was starting to hurt near the end. I ended up giving him $1 because I felt bad it took him so long. So I think we've finally found a good motivator to get the kids to help around the house and it's worth the potential $36 a month but so far I don't think I've dished out more than $12 a month. I love that the kids do have a little of their own money to do whatever they want with. It's hard seeing them spend it on candy though and I try to talk them out of it but usually lose.