(Read previous posts in this series: Teaching Children About Money, and Teaching Children to Set Priorities for Spending.) In the previous post, I posed the question “Should we pay our children to do chores to earn money?” Would that teach them lessons about money? Let me say that there is no perfect right or wrong […]
As I mentioned in the last post, I don’t give my children allowances. There’s no right or wrong about allowances. We just chose not to. However, I started this year to give my 13-year-old daughter a small budget. She keeps track of the credits and debits in a check book register that I got from […]
In previous generations, kids were expected to work for their own spending money, and even to contribute to the family’s needs. Later as parents, they, understandably, wish their children to have an easier life than they had by making it possible for their children not to have to labor as they did. Unfortunately, this has […]
I found it too easy to be sarcastic with kids. An innocent question like “Can I have a cookie?” will provoke a sarcastic response from me. “It’s a free country….” When I’ve had enough of 1st grade level conversation all day, I resort to sarcasm. Kids don’t understand sarcasm, but I’m sure they understand the […]
What is the #1 factor that determines student success at school? Is it the teacher-student ratio? Is it dollars spent per student? Is it outside tutoring? As summer draws to a close, we are gearing up for school. I just bought a new backpack for the daughter. But what she needs from me is more […]
I finally have something to say to those who ask, “What did you do this summer?” “We went to Japan!” With the popularity of anime, Nintendo, and cool cell phones, my kids have been wanting to see Japan. After saving up for a couple of years, our family took the long-anticipated trip. We just came […]
I just finished helping out with a week of Vacation Bible School at my church. It was tiring but fun. Our VBS attracts a large number of kids from the community who do not normally come to our church. Guess which kids are the ones that everyone gets acquainted with real fast? Yup, the trouble […]
