Kids, Work and Money

Dave has some great ideas to teach your kids about money and we have found great success with them as well.  He recommends having chores for your kids that they can do to earn money.  I agree with Dave that there are some chores that they do because they are simply members of the family and live in the house and will not be paid for them.  However, they need to learn that in order to be paid, you have to do work.  So, I have created a chore chart for the kids and they each have 5 daily chores, Monday through Friday.  If they do all 5 chores, they get 1 dollar for that day, but no dollar unless all are done. (Since Emmi is only 3, she has just one chore which is to clean her room, but that will grow as she gets older).  We mark their dollars on the chore chart and on Saturday Chad pulls out 15 dollar bills.  (We already pull out cash for our envelopes, so he makes sure he gets 15 dollars in 1's).  We go through the chart and pay them each for their work.  The first week I pulled out these canning jars and let them each decorate one.  Right now all their money is put in there.  We are planning to get the kids each a new wallet for Christmas to put their spending money in and they will use the jars for their savings.  Yesterday they each had 15 dollars in their jars, from the last couple of weeks so they each were able to fill out their first tithing envelope and pay $1.50 for tithing.  It was very cute to see all three of them truck up to the stand to hand the Bishop their tithing and they all had big smiles.     

Let me tell you why this has been such a great thing...

1.  I have been wanting to start teaching the boys how to do some minor chores for a while now, but haven't gotten around to it.  This gives me a great opportunity to teach them a few chores at a time.  After a few weeks they are now able to unload the dishwasher, clean my counters, take out the garbage and vacuum with very little supervision from me, and I have a lot more I want to show them.  I no longer have the nagging feeling that I should be teaching my kids how to work.

2.  I have chosen to have the chores be done before school.  This means by the time they leave for the bus I have a clean home and when they get home from school they are free to play.

3.  I love that they are learning about money so young.  They will be learning the value of a dollar, (and I'm sure buyer's remorse) so young that hopefully when they get real jobs they will be smart with their money. 
4. Chad and I have always wanted to teach our kids the importance of paying tithing, but they never had any money to be able to do so.  For years Chad has let the kids each take turns handing our tithing envelope to the Bishop, to start to teach them good habits, but it will be much more meaningful now with their own money.
5.  We have also worried about not having enough money set aside for their missions, college, weddings, etc.  This is a good way for us to make sure they start saving young and so they will have plenty when the need arises.
6.  Most importantly, they are loving it too! It is crazy that my kids really do want to help.  In the past 3 weeks I haven't heard the slightest mumble about the chores, and don't need any reminders.  I know as they get older this will change, so I will enjoy it for now! :) They love feeling important and helping around the house and then seeing their money grow in the jar.  Soon I will be taking the kids out to spend some of their "spending" money and I am sure they will love that too.

Dave

Meet Dave.  Dave is Chad's new hero.. ha ha ha.  Okay, I kinda like him too.  This is Dave Ramsey, a financial guru.  Let me start by saying that Chad and I have always had debt.  We got married with debt and as much as we were able to pay down something, we would find some other way to get back into debt.  Well, a few months back one of Chad's coworkers mentioned Dave Ramsey, and Chad decided to do some more research on him.  I admit that when Chad started to tell me he wanted to attend one of Dave's seminars or buy some books of his I really didn't think that he would do it.  But I guess I was wrong.  The next thing I know a big box arrived at the house with 2 of his books, a couple of his DVD's and an envelope system.   Click here to see what we got.  After reading the books, and watching the DVD's, Chad and I were sold.  We have been doing Dave's system for about 6 weeks now and can not even tell you all the difference it has made in our finances and in our marriage.

In a nutshell, this is what we are doing:  Chad gets paid every week.  So, on the way home from work on payday Chad stops by the ATM and pulls out our allotted cash, which is what we both have agreed we can get by on every week.  Included in Dave's kit was this handy envelope system.  It has all of these pockets that we have named Grocery, Gas, Restaurants, Entertainment, Clothing, Babysitting, etc.  We simply fund the envelopes with the cash.  I can not tell you the last time I used my debit card.  I am on cash only.  Research shows that when you buy with a card, you spend more.  It hurts to pay cash, and see that money go and so you are tighter with it.  I can attest to that in these last 6 weeks. :)  I take these envelopes when I buy anything, and leave all cards, even my debit, at home.  I pay in cash and when it is gone, it is gone... period.  You could easy look at this system and think that it is binding and really mean of Chad to make me live like this, but it has been very freeing.  For example, no more do I have to be afraid of getting in trouble for shopping.  This last week I had 60 dollars in my clothing envelope and my sisters invited me to go shopping, so I went, guilt free!  I don't know if anyone else does, but every time I would go shopping for groceries or whatever, I would get to the register and have a moment of panic that it was going to be a big bill and I would be in trouble with Chad when I got home.  I hated that feeling!! Never again.     

The best part is that no more do Chad and I argue about money.  Whenever we talk about money it is usually how excited we are that we have paid off yet another debt or credit card.  Six weeks ago Chad and I put our credit cards away, so we would not be tempted to use them.  This morning Chad got them down and went to town on a little "plastic surgery."  By sticking to using our cash and using all the money we can every paycheck towards our debt, we have already paid off quite a few and we now have more money in our savings account then we have ever had.   I have been very proud of Chad, and his determination to make this happen.  His goal is to be debt free except our house in 18 months, and I would wager that we will make that.  Trust me, I will make a big post about it when we do make that!  I would never have imagined it, but this envelope system has been a huge blessing.  It feels like we have truly turned a leaf in our marriage for the better.  We have also started teaching our kids about work and money, by using Dave's books that I am really excited about.  But that will have to be for another post... 

My boy has lungs

At the dinosaur park my sister Abby got Jack laughing pretty hard, and then he started to scream.  He found his voice a few weeks back and likes to do this high pitched scream that is pretty cute except when he likes to do it at church.:)  I am thinking we might be in trouble.  Jack might end up being loud like his brother. 

Seeing the dinosaurs!

Yesterday we took the kids up to my mom and dad's to celebrate my dad's birthday.  Before the party my mom wanted to take all the kids to the Dinosaur Museum.  So we all went, minus the birthday boy and Chad who opted to stay back at the house of course. 

 Baby "B" and Grandma. 

 Digging for bones.

The kids all played so well together. 

 Uncle J taking a turn holding Jack.

The kids even got to feed the ducks!

The kids loved the playground with all the fun slides and swings.  

I think they had a ball.

Emmi's Big Owie!

 Last week we had a catastrophe at our house.  Me and Chad are still not quite sure how it happened, but one minute the kids were downstairs playing and the next we heard a big crash and a scream.  I knew there was blood when I heard Sam saying, "Oh no, oh no!"  I took off running downstairs and there was Emmi with blood pouring out of her mouth.  After a minute of cleaning it was clear that she had a huge cut in her lip and needed to see a Dr. right away.  Since it was almost feeding time for the baby and bed time for the boys, we decided that Chad would be the best one to take her in.  Lucky for us our Dr.'s office is open until 9 p.m.  As her mother I felt sick though.  I was mad at myself for not preventing this from happening, sick that she was in pain and would have to undergo stitches, sick that she might have a huge scar on her lip and sick that I wouldn't be there to hold her.   

About an hour later I received a call from the Dr. office, where the doctor told me that the procedure went well.  He said that he was worried that because she was so young she would not hold still enough that he could stitch the lip up right so it would not be crooked.  Somehow she was very brave and held exceptionally still, and he did not have to sedate her.  She received about 7 stitches in all.

The funniest part of this story would have to be due to Chad.  One of the first things the doctor said to me on the phone was, "Well, your husband is a bit woozy from the procedure.  I gave him some juice and he is lying down, so it might be a few minutes before he makes it home."  Ha ha ha.. I was not surprised by this at all!  I have no clue how the man managed to be in the delivery room with me and see his 4 children be born because he has the weakest stomach when it comes to blood.  I had to tease him about this though.  What a good daddy for being a good sport and taking Emmi.

These first 2 were taken the very next morning.  I was on a constant vigil, to make sure that she didn't bump them or pick at her lip, as the doctor said that if she did, they lip might not heal straight.

This picture was 2 days later.  The swelling had gone down considerably, but still really owie.

And these last 3 were taken this afternoon, which is a week later.  I think that the doctor did a really good job with the stitches and it is healing nicely.  I am praying that it doesn't scar too bad, or at least lessen with time, but only time will tell.

Student of the Month!

 

It is only little over a month that the kids have been in school, and already I have reason to be proud.  I don't know if all kids get Student of the Month every year, but this is the second year in a row that Keaton has been given it the first month of the school year that it is awarded!  He must be very special to have this award right out of the gate and I am very proud of him.  On top of the award, he was given free kids meals to a few different restaurants.  So, to celebrate Chad and I took the all the kids to The Brick Oven, for Keaton's free meal.  Oh, it was good.  I think we all ate ourselves silly.  As a bonus, a balloon artist that we happened to see at Chad's company party this year, was there at Brick Oven.  The kid's were lucky enough to get a cool balloon from him.  (Emmi got a blue fairy, Keaton wanted a skeleton and Sam wanted a crocodile if you can't tell.)  Then we went back home and watched Iron Man 2 as a family.  It was a fun night.

My boys and BYU

 As I mentioned before, taking Jack to the BYU game was more work than I had bargained for.  Not only that, but I didn't get to see much of the game.  I decided that I would be able to watch much more from the comfort of my own home and still be able to take care of Jack.  So, as hard as it was, I gave up my seat to Sam a few weeks back.  He was soooo excited to go.  He came upstairs with his shirt and hat on at 9:00 a.m. asking if it was time to go, and the game didn't start til about 4:00.  After all of that, Chad said that not 5 minutes after they sat down in their seats Sam said "Papa, is it time to go home?"  It was one long game for Sam and I guess too long for his little body to be confined to a seat.  Right now he is not wanting to go again.  But I think and hope that will change someday.

Today was Keaton's turn to go with Papa.  He wasn't as outwardly excited about it as Sam was, but that is not surprising if you know Keaton's laid back personality.  Chad texted me a little bit into the game and said that Keaton was doing good.  I guess he didn't ask Chad once if it was time to go home.  I even told Keek to take his Gameboy in case he got too bored, but Chad said that Keaton left it in the car and didn't want to take it to the game.  I think he really enjoyed the game and is excited to go again.  Chad told him that he must be good luck because they won, so he will gladly bring him again.  

I wish I could've been there to see the boys' reaction to everything for these first games.  But I am so glad that they got to spend alone time with their Papa.  I know this is just the beginning, and the boys are bound to be big BYU fans like their parents.  Because I was not at the game, my sister in law Misty took these pics of Keaton and Chad at the game.. thanks Misty!!!  

Keaton is a boy after his Mama's heart and wanted a hot dog at the game... that's my boy!

Growing up so fast...

I forget how fast babies grow.  It seems like every week Jack can do something new.  Lately we have been getting him used to solids.  And he is finally starting to like the baby food.  He will eat everything I give him right now.  We make a pretty good mess by the time he is done, but he gets the majority in his mouth. 

Jack has also discovered his feet.  Anytime he is on his back he seems to reach for them, like naps, in the tub, or during diaper changes.  I think it is the cutest little thing.  I hope he does it for awhile.

Emmi has been growing up too.  She is now potty trained and loves her princess undies!!  It amazes me to see how such a little girl can hop up on the toilet, dress herself and everything.  She is able to do so much more for herself than her brothers did at her age, which I am chalking up to the gender difference.  It is a great feeling to know that 3 out of my 4 are potty trained, and I have a few years before I have to worry about potty training again...whew!!

Sisters and stickers

The other day I was busy doing something else, (can't remember exactly what now), when Jack woke up from his nap.  Emmi heard him and went in to say hi.  She was in there for quite some time before I went in to see what she was doing.  I could hear Jack in there cooing at her, so I didn't think she was hurting him or anything.  And this is what I found! Her Dora potty stickers all over his leg! What a good sport.  I am afraid this is just the beginning of what Jack will have to put up with from his big sister.