Lately whenever it seems I leave to go grocery shopping Ajax asks if I can bring him back matchbox cars. I tell him no, but if he wants he can save his money and buy his own. So of course he wanted to know how he can earn money. After much discussion here is how Dave and I have handled the money issue. Ajax has family chores which he does because he is in the family – pick up his toys, put his dirty clothes in the laundry basket, set the table, and clear his place when he’s done eating. On Sunday if he wants to earn money he can do four chores – vacuum, dust, sweep, and swiffer the floor. He earns $0.25 per job for a total of $1.00 a week. This Sunday after doing his jobs, he took the broom and started sweeping the walls. He said they need doing and could he earn another $.25 for the job. I told him no, lol.
Today when I picked him up from school he showed me two books and a pen he wanted at the Book Fair which is visiting their school this week. We looked at the prices together and I said tonight we’ll count your money and see how much you have in your “spend” bag (his money is divided between – spending, saving and giving). When we counted his money we talked about what he could afford. We also pointed out that if he bought the books/pen he would not have any money for matchbox cars. After careful thought and consideration Ajax declared that he didn’t want the books or pen, that he would save his money for the cars he really wanted. We said ok and pointed out that Christmas was around the corner and that if he wanted the books he could always ask Santa for them. He seemed happy with this.