Some of the best practices we carry from our parents can even be harsh ones. Today after growing up I appreciate some of the tactics that were used for making me understand many things with the logic behind them; here is one of them.
I’m blessed to have grown up with a very liberated mindset father, I lost my mom in a road accident when I was 18 months old, therefore the “Mamta” angle in my life was very limited, it was based on others friends’ mothers being compassionate towards me or very little of it came from my stepmother.
However the “PaitrkPrem” was in abundance in my life, my father gave me the best life I could ever get, my childhood was a whole journey of learning, I can remember each day of my childhood where I learned something new in life and many of those things are still my best practices.
So here is how I earned my pocket money.
– Regular Pocket Money strategy – Weekends were busier than the weekdays, it was time to earn maximum pocket money, so here is what I had to do; activities that involved personal works like, rearranging books, dusting, rearranging clothes, Ironing school uniform for the coming week, etc. This literally taught me how to be organized and this has now become a lifetime habit.
– Surprise pocket money came when parents lost something in the house like keys, pens or anything important and the one who found it got the pocket money. This taught me that there is always a place for everything in a house which can easily be tracked, like a key holder for keys, Sewing kits, Stationery items like staplers pins, etc.
– Seasonal pocket money – Creating handcrafted, DIY gifts for our friends’ birthdays, the gift wrapping of Diwali gifts, etc. this taught me to be compassionate towards people, invest time to bring happiness on their faces.
Now with my boys, Both have a gap of 9 years, the older one is in boarding so the strategy with him is different but the younger one lives with us and he gets to help me in household stuff, like finding things, clearing the dining table, moving used plates to the washing area, clearing out toys from living area every night, putting the folded clothes into his cupboard where he is already been mentored on where the T-shirts go, the socks zone and how the shoe in the shoe rack is to be kept straight and aligned left to right.
You must be thinking that this must be taking up a lot of management time of mine and from mom, I may be perceived as a boss, no it’s not true, it’s just a few days of effort after which it becomes a practice.
I have kept a piggy bank where I keep putting coins when my son achieves milestones and that money is used to buy toys, art supplies, stationery, etc.
The older one has more demands for gadgets and stuff that teenagers need so there the strategy is different he is monitored on the number of compassionate emails he sends to us, the phone calls and also remembers special days, school scores, sports, etc.
Such a nice and sweet blog. Respect for your dad.
My 10-year-old daughter maintains a piggy bank where she keeps all money she receives. She even keeps a small diary on how much she has received and when we borrow occasionally from her, she notes down that too and charges us interest:-)
Some great tips here! Its very important to inculcate savings and money management habits early in children. A crucial life skill that books and schools dont teach.
Great article Manjula. The earlier we start teaching kids about money, it is better for their future.