NOT WORKING
Kate’s girl has some issues with her to-do list
Job distribution at our place has always been a battle because the kids are all about what’s fair. If they get even the slightest whiff of something not being fair, you’ll never hear the end of it. When they were little we put up a roster on the fridge where all five of them had specific jobs to do and it got ticked off, and then they’d get pocket money at the end of the week.
We ran the “no jobs, no pay” rule and it worked well, apart from the odd tantrum where somebody would announce they didn’t even want the money so weren’t going to do their job. That sort of hissy fit was usually short-lived, thank goodness, and normal service would resume once they saw another sibling do a job and get their money.
As they got older, the jobs got harder. We went from making your bed and feeding the dog-type tasks, to taking the bins out, doing the dishwasher, laundry tasks and dinner prep. The incentives had to step up too.
But with only two kids left at home these days, there are more jobs for fewer hands. On top of that, my daughter recently decided to run a completely unscientific survey of her friends to find out what they do, if they get an allowance and how their pocket money systems work. She presented me with this argument the other day.
I tried to bat it away before she even started with my standard response of, “I don’t care what other families do, this is what we do here” routine, but she pre-empted me.
“Mum, this is not about you telling me how we make our own rules in this family; this is about me sharing some knowledge,” she declared.
Very deftly put Marley, I thought, she’s reeling me in here with a solid attempt at rational reasoning.
“OK, shoot,” I said.
“So,” she began, flicking back her hair like a pro wrestler about to deliver a big blow. “At Cushla’s [names have been changed to protect identities] she gets an allowance each month for any clothes or entertainment spending, for extra food like the tuck shop and stuff, and she doesn’t have to do any jobs for that,” she looked at me with her eyebrows raised, triumphant.
“Forget it,” I announced. “You don’t just get money for doing nothing, that’s not how the world works.”
She bristled. Undefeated, she began example number two. “Jessie gets pocket money each week and all she has to do for that is keep her room tidy and make her bed, and if her parents ask her to do something extra she will if she has time ...”
I interrupted, “If she has time?! No,” I said. “We do not negotiate helpfulness based on ‘time available’. If you have access to our hard-earned money, you have to work hard for it.”
“Jeez Mum,” she exhaled. “So I have to have this big list of jobs for pocket money and that’s it?”
“That’s right,” I replied, and scarily turned into my dad, adding, “In life there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”