Life Always Pays You Back - A Good Lesson to Teach Your Kids
You decide what you get through your actions, thoughts and words.
One month ago I read a post in a forum.
A woman was asking for help with her 12-year-old daughter.
She said her daughter was very lazy; when she asks for her help, her daughter answers, "In a minute," and never comes.
She was having problems with her ex-husband because of it.
One piece of advice she received was, "If you pay her an allowance, keep it in a jar or envelope until her 'payday.
' Now every time you have to repeat the same thing to your daughter, you go to the jar and remove a set amount, say 20 cents.
If you repeated yourself 10 times, then she comes up with a $2.
00 shortage.
" I found this idea interesting, in spite of what some other people in the forum thought: that this only teaches the girl that she will have to work hard for money.
I have an eight-year-old daughter and when I ask her to do something she used to say to me, "In a minute.
" Yes, I did ask her the same thing two or three times until she did it.
I like to communicate with my daughter and explain -as best as I can- everything to her.
I don't really like to establish rules or flaunt my authority.
I like to give her some independence and freedom.
I try to involve her in the decisions I need to make, where she is involved.
I'm a single mother, so that is the way for me.
I'm not sure if this is good for everybody, but it is working for my daughter and me.
After I read the idea about the allowance in the forum, I told my sister about it.
My daughter was with us, so I just told the story, the problem with the daughter and the advice about the money.
My daughter was listening carefully and when I finished, she said: "Mami, that is a good idea, I want to do that! Put my allowance in a jar and you can remove 20 cents every time you need to repeat things to me.
" I asked her, "Are you sure you want me to do that?" She said, "Yes, but if you don't need to remove any money from the jar in a week, you will give me an extra bonus.
" I thought that was interesting.
My daughter has a mind for making money! I like this idea very much because I compare "the jar with the money" to life in general.
Everybody has all the good things that he/she wants accumulated in the vortex (the jar), where it's ready to be taken.
It is already yours! You decide whether or not take it through your actions (emotions, thoughts and words).
It doesn't mean that we need to work hard for the things we want or for money.
In my opinion, that clearly shows that everything we do has consequences and we always have the option to get what we want or to have the results we desire.
I explained how the "money jar" is similar to life to my daughter and I think she understood most of it.
She is very happy and she has improved her "actions" a lot with the "money jar" since then.
Some weeks, she gets extra money and others just a little less.
I think as early as we teach our kids to be independent and responsible at the same time, the better.
It will be easier -for us and for them- when they are teenagers.
We are living in a society were kids and teenagers are competing to see who has more material things, where they think they deserve everything without doing anything, no matter what the parents need to do to provide for them.
And if for some reason the kids/teenagers don't get what they want, they punish their parents by behaving badly.
Being a parent takes a lot of effort.
We are always learning.
Sometimes we think we are doing good work but we don't get the result we are hoping for.
Most of the time we feel like we are swimming against the tide because we teach something at home, but children spend more time at school and with friends, and they are learning another way.
That is why it is very important to improve communication between parents and children every day.
We must tell and show to our kids that we love them more than anything.
Spend time with them, be PRESENT and involve ourselves in their lives.
Everything begins at home.
If we want our children to be responsible, independent and respectful, we have to teach them with the example.
Don't expect your kids to do things that you're not willing to do yourself.
One month ago I read a post in a forum.
A woman was asking for help with her 12-year-old daughter.
She said her daughter was very lazy; when she asks for her help, her daughter answers, "In a minute," and never comes.
She was having problems with her ex-husband because of it.
One piece of advice she received was, "If you pay her an allowance, keep it in a jar or envelope until her 'payday.
' Now every time you have to repeat the same thing to your daughter, you go to the jar and remove a set amount, say 20 cents.
If you repeated yourself 10 times, then she comes up with a $2.
00 shortage.
" I found this idea interesting, in spite of what some other people in the forum thought: that this only teaches the girl that she will have to work hard for money.
I have an eight-year-old daughter and when I ask her to do something she used to say to me, "In a minute.
" Yes, I did ask her the same thing two or three times until she did it.
I like to communicate with my daughter and explain -as best as I can- everything to her.
I don't really like to establish rules or flaunt my authority.
I like to give her some independence and freedom.
I try to involve her in the decisions I need to make, where she is involved.
I'm a single mother, so that is the way for me.
I'm not sure if this is good for everybody, but it is working for my daughter and me.
After I read the idea about the allowance in the forum, I told my sister about it.
My daughter was with us, so I just told the story, the problem with the daughter and the advice about the money.
My daughter was listening carefully and when I finished, she said: "Mami, that is a good idea, I want to do that! Put my allowance in a jar and you can remove 20 cents every time you need to repeat things to me.
" I asked her, "Are you sure you want me to do that?" She said, "Yes, but if you don't need to remove any money from the jar in a week, you will give me an extra bonus.
" I thought that was interesting.
My daughter has a mind for making money! I like this idea very much because I compare "the jar with the money" to life in general.
Everybody has all the good things that he/she wants accumulated in the vortex (the jar), where it's ready to be taken.
It is already yours! You decide whether or not take it through your actions (emotions, thoughts and words).
It doesn't mean that we need to work hard for the things we want or for money.
In my opinion, that clearly shows that everything we do has consequences and we always have the option to get what we want or to have the results we desire.
I explained how the "money jar" is similar to life to my daughter and I think she understood most of it.
She is very happy and she has improved her "actions" a lot with the "money jar" since then.
Some weeks, she gets extra money and others just a little less.
I think as early as we teach our kids to be independent and responsible at the same time, the better.
It will be easier -for us and for them- when they are teenagers.
We are living in a society were kids and teenagers are competing to see who has more material things, where they think they deserve everything without doing anything, no matter what the parents need to do to provide for them.
And if for some reason the kids/teenagers don't get what they want, they punish their parents by behaving badly.
Being a parent takes a lot of effort.
We are always learning.
Sometimes we think we are doing good work but we don't get the result we are hoping for.
Most of the time we feel like we are swimming against the tide because we teach something at home, but children spend more time at school and with friends, and they are learning another way.
That is why it is very important to improve communication between parents and children every day.
We must tell and show to our kids that we love them more than anything.
Spend time with them, be PRESENT and involve ourselves in their lives.
Everything begins at home.
If we want our children to be responsible, independent and respectful, we have to teach them with the example.
Don't expect your kids to do things that you're not willing to do yourself.
Source...