We got Nate's progress report this week and saw that he is on track to get straight A's! He has struggled with attention issues at school since day 1 and his report cards have reflected on this deficit. I was so happy to see that he is doing so well, but now I feel like I should reward him.
Rob and I differ a lot on rewarding our boys and have never been close to the same page. He thinks $.25 a day (yes...I said 1 quarter!) is a good allowance and I feel that $5 a week is good. I feel like the kids should have new shoes for school every year and he thinks that if they don't have holes in them, they are still fine as hand-me-down tennis shoes. We rarely spend money on clothes because our neighbors spend an incredible amount of money on their boys and they give us all of the clothes...For instance, I got a bag FULL of Levi jeans, size 8 and 10. Some of the labels were still on the jeans. There were probably 5 to 6 pairs of each size! Don't get me wrong! I am not complaining in any way! I am SO completely grateful for the awesome clothes. We have gotten Sideout t-shirts, Old Navy polo style shirts, skater shoes, Old Navy trousers...NICE STUFF!!! But I just have no sense of reality in spending money for my boys. I feel that we are WAY under the norm (except in sports) on spending for kids, but I see others who are excessive. I want my kids to grow up with a respect for money and material things.
Do you reward your children for their good grades? What type of allowance do you give your kids? And what age do you start?