How Much Allowance Do You Pay Your Kids?

I got tired of being one of those over-indulgent mothers who buy their kid something every time they leave the house. So when the boys turned about 5 and 7, Aron and I discussed chores and allowance. Those boys could darn well buy their own plastic animals and gum. (Flash forward 12 years to the post How to Make a Simple Chore Chart for Kids)

I got an allowance when I was growing up (FYI and shocker: I'm an only child). I had a different chore for every day of the week: dusting, vacuuming, changing the cat box, cleaning the bathrooms, dusting again. Every day I had to clean out the cat box. Mom wouldn’t let me near the laundry, which was probably best. I only had to do dishes in the summer when I was home all day. You don't even want to know what that house looked like a few months after I moved out!

Some parents don’t give an allowance. That’s cool. You are part of a family, Kid, so you should chip in. I agree.

I know a woman who pays 7 cents per year of age of the kid, which is too complicated for me. That’s taking homeschooling to the extreme, and it hurts my brain. So I would be making 7 cents times 37 years is … my brain hurts already. And my oldest son would be getting 49 cents per week? What’s he going to buy with that? That’s not even minimum wage in Kid World. Talk about living below Poverty Level.

My boys basically do the same chores even though they are 22 months apart in age, so I pay them the same: $3 per week (plus 50 cents to church and 50 cents to their savings account). Yes, it does add up, but I definitely love having the help bringing up dry laundry and diapers, putting away silverware, recycling, emptying smaller trashes into a large one. I will keep adding chores (vacuuming, dusting, dishes) as they become more capable but will keep the allowance amount the same for a while.

My friend Ellen charges to mediate, which I LOVE. If her kids are loudly fighting and asking her to do something about the other kid, she says, “Okay, I charge a quarter per fight to mediate.”

I wrote this little piece for KC Parent Magazine titled The Allowance Conundrum, so check it out!

What are your opinions on allowance?

Eva Turns One

My baby (and 4th child) is one today. It’s interesting how differently you treat a first birthday from kid to kid.

I still sent in her picture to the local news station so they’d show it on the First Birthdays thing they do, where they roll pictures and play a strange version of “You Say It’s Your Birthday.”





We are still having a party, we just aren’t inviting the whole world (that would scare the crap out of her anyway).

We are still giving her a fun gift. We just aren’t letting anyone else give her anything since we have a whole toy store contained in our house. We have made it clear that her savings account will always accept donations.

No, she’s not walking yet, and I’m happy. She has 3 teeth. She is always happy.



Happy Birthday, Eva Peeva. We love you!

My Bumper Stickers

Aron got me this as a surprise. It’s kinda weird having all of our names on the back of our van. I’ve already warned the kids not to turn around if someone says their name when we’re out in public. We clearly have needed a new one for about a year. I keep putting Eva on in Sharpie when she fades, but it’s time for those white stick-figure people for the back of the van, methinks.


Got this at the Unity Bookstore this summer. My dad raised me to appreciate all things Beatles and John Lennon. I especially love his Christmas song. These lyrics are from “Imagine” in case you’ve been living under a rock or were born in the 80s.


Aron also got me this one and he has one, too. He found it while surfing the Internet (for what, don’t ask) and also got me a rhinestone T-shirt that says the same thing. I enjoy looking in my rearview mirror to see reactions. Usually I catch people pointing and laughing, but that could also be because I have a sticker with 4 kids and they think I’m nuts for procreating so much.


What do your bumper stickers say?

High School Musical

Okay, so I’ve officially turned into a 9-year-old girl. I love the first 2 High School Musicals and can’t wait until I can get the 3rd at the library. It couldn’t be because my not-yet-four-year-old daughter watches them every chance she gets, could it? That music grows on you.

Back in my day, I had Grease and Xanadu. Excellent music? Check. Crush-worthy actors? Check. Hokey? Oh, yeah. Perfect for little kids? Yep.

It pains me to see Jeff Conaway from Grease on Celebrity Rehab these days. He’s still kinda cute, even all hunched over and using a cane. By the way, forget the DARE program. I personally show my kids pieces of Celebrity Rehab for their “Don’t Do Drugs” homeschool education.

On the HSM2 DVD we got from the library, we watched videos of the movie songs in about 10 different languages AND watched a tutorial from the cast on how to do some of the opening dance.

Really, though. Check this music out. I’m asking Santa for the soundtracks for Christmas.

Here's one song.

And another.

Okay, just one more.

Callie calls it High Schoosical, like Seussical.

What was your favorite movie when you were a kid?

Bedtime Rituals

Bedtime rituals and times differ so much from family to family.

It’s no secret that we have a family bed and always have. AND we homeschool, so we don’t have to be anywhere in the morning. Gradually this has turned me from a morning person into a bit more of a night person. The kids seem to stay up later and later (past 10 p.m. … gasp!), sleep in, and their homeschooling still gets done. The only problem arises when the boys spend the night with my dad and stepmom, who most likely ends up crashing before the kids do.

One friend of mine is totally structured. She puts all 5 of her kids – who range in age now from 5 to 12 – to bed by 8 p.m. every night regardless of age. If they are not tired, they read or chat, but they have to be quiet until they fall asleep. If there’s a show on TV she is dying to see (a rarity), she’ll put them to bed even earlier. I admire her discipline and realize I’m a total wimp.

I know of someone who put their kids to bed by 6 p.m. when they were little, before her husband even got home from work. First of all, I WANT my kids to know who their father is. Second, what the hell time do those kids WAKE UP????? I didn’t become a stay-at-home mom so I could wake up earlier than when I was a working girl (meaning I had a job, not that I was a prostitute).

If your kid is in school or goes to daycare, I realize you have to be up early, which means an early bedtime. But if you homeschool or are a new stay-at-home mom, for instance, how does bedtime go in your household?
And for those of you with grown kids, I’d love to know how and what time you got your kids to bed, too.

I can see my mom’s comment now: “You were in bed by 8:30 at the very latest EVERY SINGLE NIGHT in elementary school and you LIKED it.”