She may only be 4, but she’s determined. The past few times when we went shopping, there were things she wanted to buy that I didn’t. Believe me when I say that this child has enough unicorns. I’ve told her that she can buy whatever she wants with her own money, and that I’ll happily pay her if she wants to start doing chores. After copious lamenting about how “that’ll take so long to make all that money 😫ðŸ˜,” today it finally took root.
One of the first things she said to me this morning was “Mom, I’m ready for chores. What jobs can I do to get those coins?” We made a little coin jar with a mason jar and some paper, and away she went. This child spent most of the morning cleaning up toys, making her bed, throwing things out, folding and putting away laundry, and cleaning windows (well…she’s not ready for windows, but she tried).
I thought for sure that she’d just whine about how she wasn’t earning money fast enough (1-25 cents depending on the chore), but she was a trooper and was very excited to count all the pieces of garbage she found throughout the house for a penny each. No complaining, just “Yes, ma’am. I’m on it!” (Honestly, I have no idea why she calls me ma’am, but I kind of love it).
We spent a lot of time talking about what she could do with her newfound wealth, and she (to my surprise) decided that she would like to save it all until she has enough money to buy something really nice. I told her that was a very grown up way of thinking, and she said “That’s why I’m 4, because I’m so smart! I save my coins, and I’m going to be a grownup just like you pretty soon!”
Not too soon, baby girl. Stay little.
Wait until she actually starts spending her hard earned money! My son started REALLY debated whether he needed ANOTHER fidget spinner when he realized it cost almost $8 and how that would mean he would have $8 less than what he started with! LOL!! 😀