The family and I took a trip up to the mountains to an apple orchard last weekend. It was a welcome respite from the stress of the hybrid hell that is online and in-person teaching and learning with different schedules for our family. We picked in-season honeycrisp apples, which as far as I'm concerned is one of God's greatest gifts to mankind. There is not much that compares to a slice of aged sharp cheddar and a hand-picked apple. I love this time of year!
Before we headed up, our kids stuffed their princess purses and wallets to the gills with wads of singles and change saved up from lost teeth. As we stood in a loosely socially-distanced line to buy apple cider donuts, my oldest asked if she could buy another dozen with her own money. I steered her clear of that purchase, given that a dozen donuts was worth about two weeks of her labor, and knowing that the donuts are not nearly as good after they've sat for a day or two. And what kid needs a dozen donuts? That being said, their money was burning holes in their little pockets. The girls have saved for months now without much opportunity to spend, so when it came time to check out, they wanted something special.
Cue the questions. How much is a candied apple? How much for a slushy? How much is the fudge? My oldest child priced things out carefully and decided that the $2 cider slushy would be a better use of her money than the $6 candied apple (highway robbery!). We were proud of her for deciding how to minimize her expenditures on depreciating assets.
Katie understood that whatever she bought would be fleeting and decided to keep the difference for something that would be a little more permanent. It was awesome to see her wrestle with that decision and encouraging to see the decision she made.
Our middle daughter had her eye on the fudge. She had been talking that fudge up all week, knowing that we were going apple picking over the weekend. When she saw the candied apples, that was a must-have as well. So she picked up $10 worth of consumables, an entire month's worth of her income. Julie and I were both a little put out by her "impulse" buy. However, on the car ride home, she was just glowing. By saving up her money, she had enough money to pick up this treat. "It's just like the Berenstain Bears!" she said to us. Apparently at some point she'd read a book in which Brother and Sister Bear get candied apples, and she was psyched to enjoy the same thing that she'd read about. "It's totally worth a whole month of my money." Our seven-year-old weighed her choices and decided that the experience was worth it.
Although that's not how Julie and I would have spent Rachel's money for her, it was illuminating for us to see that she's thinking about money in terms of choice. She is learning the value of money. That's exciting.
There are different opinions out there regarding whether a child should get an allowance. Should kids get paid to do what they should already be doing without incentive? Framed that way, I would say "no." Children ought to contribute to the family just because they benefit from being a part of it. But, if we want to raise fiscally aware and responsible children, they have to have experience handling it. Making decisions how to spend and save. Rachel learned that she was able to have the experience of a candied apple because she'd been saving; Katie reinforced that she could deny herself and have money available later for another choice in the future. Without an allowance, the whole experience turns into "Can I have this...?" with a benevolent parental "yes" or a dismissive "no." With an allowance, our kids are learning how to manage their funds. It's worth the investment as far as we're concerned!
