Okay, in the pursuit of teaching lessons about responsibility and contribution, I am wondering if I am being cheap. As a bit of background, my kids do not get an allowance but they do earn money for doing chores. For the most part, I buy them what they need and some of what they want. However, they have to spend their own money for whimsical extras, such as craft items du jour and videogame downloads, above and beyond what they get for their birthdays and holidays. In the past, when they have won money from competitions, they have always kept all of it. Most recently, DS and DD both won merit scholarships that partially paid for music camp. When I told them to apply for the scholarships, I offered to give them 20% of the scholarship amount as inducement since there was quite a bit of writing (essays to support their selection over other applicants) required. The reason why I am not giving them all the scholarship money is because I still have to pay a substantial amount of money for the camp, which makes it a different situation from previous competition winnings. Anyhow, from DD's perspective, she would like to keep the full amount, which I kind of see as not unreasonable.
Again, she is also the child who tried to lobby for money for grades. Some of her classmates get insane amounts of money for A's, B's and even C's so DD has been somewhat indignant that she gets nothing for always earning straight A's. On that issue I told her tough luck - it's too bad their parents aren't hers. However, she always gets a small end of term present that isn't tied to grades.
What are your stands on these issues?
Last edited by Quantum2003; 06/01/15 02:32 PM.
