Column: Pocket Money; It’s Not All About Money
[Written by Carla Seely]
I grew up in a middle-class family and, from a very young age, my parents instilled the value of working in order to earn a dollar. As children, we were given various chores to accomplish throughout the week. If we completed those chores without moaning and groaning and without being asked ten times to do them, then we received an allowance. If you’re a member of Generation X [1965–1979], you might remember having to wash and dry the dishes, weed the garden, or wash the car in order to collect your pocket money [a.k.a. allowance].
In our house there were ground rules in relation to our chores: complete them in a timely manner and complete them properly. Once my parents inspected and were pleased with my work, then I would receive my allowance. The money I earned would go straight into my Holly Hobbie purse and I always had big plans for that money – sometimes, I would save it up for months so I could afford to buy an outfit for my Barbie doll or get a new “must have” hair clip that my next-door neighbor always seemed to have.
Through my own experience, I’m a firm believer in delegating chores and paying an allowance when your child holds up their end of the bargain. More importantly, you’re not a bad parent if you make your child do chores. In fact, you’re a great parent for teaching your child responsibility and other life skills at an early age.
As I got older, I was assigned more chores to complete. When I was about ten years old, I had the added responsibility of hanging the laundry on the clothesline on Saturday and taking it off the line once the clothes were dry. Funnily enough, one Saturday I hung the laundry on the line despite my mother warning me that the forecast called for rain and suggesting I keep an eye on the weather. Being the first of many life lessons surrounding responsibility, you can probably guess how this story ends. Well, I didn’t listen and off I went on my Saturday bike ride. Sure enough, while pedaling around later that afternoon, I felt a raindrop hit my face. When I rushed home, my mother was racing to take the last of the clothes off the line with an “I told you so” look on her face.
So, did I get paid my allowance? No, of course not! I didn’t complete the task in a timely manner and I didn’t complete the job well. I learned then and there that it wasn’t just about completing the chores; completing the chores properly was just as important in order to receive my allowance. This is a life lesson that I continue to apply in my current job; if you expect to get paid, then you’d better do an excellent job to earn it.
Doing chores and receiving an allowance taught me several life skills:
- 1. It taught me about taking ownership
- 2. It taught me responsibility and accountability for my actions
- 3. It taught me that if I wanted something, I would need to work for it and save my money until I had enough
Learning all these skills at an early age by doing chores and receiving an allowance helped make me the person that I am today. I am driven, focused, and determined. From my perspective, these are all good traits to instill in a child.
Let’s be serious. For the child, it will probably be more about the pocket money than the life lesson, and for the parent, having an extra pair of hands to help around the house probably wouldn’t go amiss. But, the overarching benefit of earning an allowance will be the life lessons that develop and transition with your child from their younger years and on into their working career, and because they’ll have a healthy understanding about money management, hopefully into their retirement years as well. Pocket money; it’s about so much more than just the money.
- Carla Seely is the Chief Operating Officer at Freisenbruch, if you would like any further details please contact cseely@fmgroup.bm or call 441 297 8686
