This is an age old subject that couldn’t get covered enough. Every time someone discusses it, they tend to share a unique opinion on the topic. Yet, from my experience, I figured the most logical approach was the way to go.
So here is what I did …
So my little guy receives a weekly allowance, for the amount of $2 for every year of his age.
This means $10 a week for my 5 year old. He has a fascinating imagination and tends to end up saving for a month at a time.
Last month he put all his money together to buy Soundwave online. This is one of the cooler Transformers characters, which I remember from my generation. It comes with a cassette-like body and transforms into a boombox.
Here’s a look at it:
Pretty cool, and next he’s buying one Christmas present a week for each of his friends in school and his favorite teacher.
Why This Approach Worked
So I want to talk about my allowance system for a minute. I find it’s a bit more elaborate than one would expect. In fact, from looking at the chalkboard image above … you might still find yourself confused about how it even works.
So, let me break it down for you …
I started the allowance scheme when my boy was 3, because he always wanted to help out. The rule was he would get $6 per week but I got to decide where it gets spent.
How the Allowance Would Be Used
The way it would be spent has changed now that he’s older, has more to work with, and finds himself interested in toys.
Before it was all about the treats – now we actually work together and make cookies, muffins, etc., with whole wheat flour. It’s not only better for you, but it tastes better too.
How He Shopped At Age 3, 4 …
Basically, I let him use it to buy candy, but sometimes he would use it for a Happy Meal at McDonald’s or ice cream instead. Then we had one requirement – that’s all the junk he would get each week, and everything at home to eat is strictly fresh and healthy.
That way, I introduced the reward system at an early age and I found a way to limit the junk intake. As a parent, my biggest worries have always been giving my kid too many harmful toxins.
The junk that’s in standard grocery stores is obviously doing no good to our little ones; for all you Wal-Mart grocery shoppers, I feel sorry for you.
How He Shops Now (Age 5) …
It’s all about toys, but sometimes he finds an interest in cheap musical instruments to try. The last one he picked up was $15 at a cute little shop downtown. We often find ourselves going into Vic’s Drum Shop on Loomis Street to look around.
When Christmas rolls around, the plan is to either pick up a keyboard or an electric guitar. His interests in music are very mixed, but I’m sure once he figures out what he enjoys he will get good quick.
How I’ll Handle His Allowance When He’s Older
I already put thought into how the allowance system will work when he gets a bit older. If he’s 10 years old, that means he gets $20 per week. That’s $80 a month … which means a new video game and something small once a month. For a kid that age, it’s definitely enough to work with.
By 15, we’re looking at $30 a week and a child that wants to be out of the house more. I’m hoping he’ll have a job by then, but seeing as a live in Chicago – I’d rather he ends up working from home like I do, it’s crazy here sometimes!
What’s the Deep Clean Bonus Jackpot?
My goal was to make sure the allowance system would never grow old. If he only has incremental increases to look forward to, there’s less incentive to stay proactive at the cleaning work.
It’s a quality assurance mechanism … and a motivation regulator.
Before Rodney was born, I found myself at the front of a strong digital startup. This was a long time ago when the market wasn’t so hard to compete in and anyone could dominate Google for any search term.
We were making great money at the time. So I looked at my time as something of great worth. This made me question whether paying for someone to clean my house was such a “lazy” idea after all.
I was making $50 to $80 an hour at the time. I started by hiring someone off Craigslist. They did an acceptable job at first but quickly lost motivation. After a while, I made the leap and actually used a professional Chicago home cleaning service (this site) to come in once a week.
The company I hired did a wonderful job at keeping the place in order. The key was to increase organization of everything in my office space. I struggled for a long time with handling documents that poured in throughout the year.
After getting the filing cabinets in order, and a new desk put in, I found my place keeping pretty clean on its own. So now it’s easy to do a little of the work myself and pay my little guy to do his share; it’s a win-win, although I will admit we still pay for a deep house clean every two to three months.
How Does He Win the Jackpot?
I explained to him one day when the maids were at our house – they make the place look like a brand new home. There were spots with films of dirt, stains, and other messes were taking over. The cleaning company did a great job at scrubbing out all the dirt, dust and grime and making it all look new.
So for little Rodney to get the bonus, he had to spend a good 3-4 hours working with me. I did this for a specific reason – to get him into the habit of cleaning, and familiar with the equipment any responsible adult would use.
He works the vacuum himself on the stairs, helps push the steam mop for fun, and even dries the dishes underneath the cupboard. We make it into a real adventure and also a true learning experience all at once.
Oh yeah, and I add $5 a week to the jackpot. It starts at $50 and increases as time passes. This makes me spend an extra $20 but it’s so he can get that special item he wants every year. It amounts to $260 in a year … a lot less than what I spent on a professional home cleaning multiple times a month before.
There is ONE Really Big Downfall
I am getting my son to help clean my office from time to time. This is not something I can just “write off” and make into a tax deduction. I was able to do this before though, as the cost of cleaning my office and bathroom was factored into my tax deductions.
Of course, this is not a big enough to reason to avoid getting your kids more involved with the cleaning experience. You might even want to pay a teenager in the family to clean with your younger child so they get the experience of bigger cleaning work at a young age.
The sooner they are familiar with it all, the faster they’ll get the hang of it and feel confident and naturally cleaning on their own. It is a good idea to start this early so your child is more likely to be responsible when they have their own place later in life.
Introducing Cleaning Supplies at a Young Age
I decided to do some research and learn about what cleaning products and supplies my son could use. I knew most of the normal cleaning solutions were full of chemicals and not an option.
It came as a real surprise that there are many options if you want your kid to help clean your house with safe cleaning products.
Here are a few examples I discovered in my search …
#1 – The Swiffer Sweeper
The first cleaning product my son every tried to use was our old broom from Dollar Tree. It was hard for him to get much done because the bristles only worked well when the broom was held in a vertical position.
The Swiffer Sweeper lets you sweep up dirt and dust from any angle without losing the pile. It can push along the floor without shooting the dirt across the room. This makes it a lot easier for my 5 year old to be able to actually sweep around the house.
I must say, he does a pretty good job – I barely have to go over his work when all is done.
#2 – The Lemon Soda Window Cleaner
This recipe is a miracle worker for a healthy Windex replacement and the club soda it requires is pretty cheap. It only takes two ingredients, and they’re pretty common. Here’s how the mixture breaks down:
- 1 cup of club soda
- 1.5 tablespoon of lemon juice
Combine the two liquids by mixing them together thoroughly before placing them into a spray bottle. Now you have a safe and healthy window cleaning solution that’s safe for any child to use.
This magic window cleaning mixture works so well you can even use it in your dishwasher. By putting a small amount in, all your glassware will come out free of dirt buildup and grease streaks.
#3 – Baking Soda and White Vinegar
This cleaning solution is a little more dangerous, but with a little supervision your child will be just fine. You only need a blob of baking soda on top of the white vinegar. It creates a carbonating effect that helps break apart particles of dirt.
Your child can use the baking soda and white vinegar mixture to clean surfaces with a washing cloth. To make it even more fun, I grabbed a Paw Patrol Magic Towel for this purpose. My son loves the show so it got him even more enthusiastic.
Further, he loves using the vacuum to clean the stairs. Sometimes he uses a Dirt Devil to suck up dirt from under the cushions on the couch too.
That’s the Perfect 3 Cleaner Combo!
My son regularly cleans the floors, wipes grime off the cupboards, cleans the inside and outside of the fridge, and washes all the windows. This is the majority of what I get him to do besides tidy his room and make his bed every day.
I’m not trying to preach cleaning on you guys, but I know how it is being a stay at home, work at home dad. You always take care of yourself and your castle last.
The place can get dirty fast and when my digital job pays $50 an hour it’s hard to shut off the computer and pick up a broom. I’d sooner pay someone else to do the work, and I’m glad my son is that person now!
Nice to Meet You Guys!
The Life of Dad community is something I’ve always wished I could find. It seemed sexist with all the mommy blog communities on the go, so seeing this place up has me encouraged to push my blogging expertise further.
I’ll be putting up my own daddy blog in the future and sharing more of my daily experiences.
For now, it’s great just being able to contribute on the Life of Dad blog and see what everyone’s going through in the Community section – it seems like people are close to each other here!