I have a lovely lady who does the ironing for me.
Her charges are very reasonable - 10p per item, with an extra 20p for putting it all away. Recently I put up her fee to 20p for large items, because she does such a great job. The only down side is that she is generally only available for work after 3.30pm
Where did I find such a treasure? Actually, I didn't have to look very far. She's my nine-year-old daughter.
In our house, pocket money doesn't just get doled out -- you have to earn it. Mostly you earn it by keeping a tidy bedroom, but there are other ways to bump up your stash.
Here's why I think pocket money should be earned, not given
Children don't seem to have any innate sense of the value of money. It's something that we as parents have to teach them. If you simply dole out cash and gifts willy nilly, how do you plan to do that?
It's also a way to motivate them to do things, and much more effective than endless nagging.
So a typical Saturday morning conversation in our house will go like this:
Parent: Who would like a comic?
Hordes of children: Meeeeeeee!
Parent: OK then, I am leaving for the shops in an hour, and I will be buying comics for children with tidy bedrooms
Cue enormous amounts of groaning from children, and a small amount of bedroom tidying
This technique doesn't always work, but it shows the child that they have a choice, and if they put in the effort then there will be a reward.
And in case you think I'm a terrible tyrant, I don't just wander off and leave my kiddie slaves to do all the work (well, I would but they won't let me). I always stay with my daughter when she's doing the ironing to make sure she's doing it safely. This has been one of our most special times to chat about all sorts of things. Quality time can come in all sorts of unexpected places.
What do you think? Do you make your children work for their pocket money, or do you give them a set amount every week? How much and for what age of child? And if you don't give pocket money, why not?