Chores and Money Choices

[robinb]

Requiring little more than a toddler to purchase a very expensive ticket to a vacation destination Mom and Dad picked and want to go to is not an "extra".

Four year olds have no concept of money. Most kids don't have a strong grasp on money until they become tweens or a little older.

Sorry, OP, that isn't something I'd be the least proud of. Saving money for souvenirs/fun things is one thing ~ making your very young kids save their money for a ticket to a place *you* want to go is another.

I totally agree about the 4-year old and I'd even extend that to the 7-year old as well. I think it's foolish to ask a pre-schooler and a 2nd grader to pony up for their share of a family vacation.

 

[pjlla]

You are talking 4 & 7? Sad. What ever happened to family vacations? They have to earn a vacation? and pay for their own park tickets?

My Mom always said, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

********************

OP....

when my kids were younger and we were saving for a SUPER SPECIAL trip to DL, in addition to things that they could do to "earn" money, I also posted a list of things that they could do to "save" money and the "saved money" was directed back toward the trip. The list had things on it like "packing sandwiches for the park instead of asking for a trip to Mcdonald's = $15 savings = one child's meal at Goofy's Kitchen" or "skip printing xxx # of pages on the computer = .50 savings = one pressed penny at DL" (my kids always wanted to print every single award certificate for every single educational game they played!!). I know I saved the original list here somewhere (it was from 2005), but you get the idea. I looked up some SPECIFIC things that we wanted to do/buy on the trip, found a way to make it equal something we could do to save $$ in our everyday lives, and then made sure that the kids understood.

I'm not saying that we WOULDN'T have done these things anyhow, but it was totally a budget trip and extras like a character meal would have had to have been cut if the money just wasn't there. I think the kids really enjoyed the trip and I think they were proud of the feeling that they helped make it happen! Even if your children are too young to fully understand the value of a dollar and the concept of saving for something far in the future, they aren't too young to learn about HELPING (themselves, others, strangers, and family). HTH....................P

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

Really a cute idea to get them interested in saving and learning how to budget! It is young but if the kids themselves are interested in doing this, then it's not TOO young at all! Doesn't sound like OP is forcing them. I would be proud too if mine wanted to save for something at that age. Very cute.

 

[luvmy3]

I think it's sweet that they are willing to put money aside for their own tickets. Personally, I would not have made my young children pay for any part of a family vacation. But that's just how we roll in my family.

I would take what they saved and stick it in their bank accounts and just purchase the tickets myself. I think it is important to teach kids, even young ones the value of a dollar, saving and budgeting but I don't believe I'd use a family vacation to teach them. It would be different if it was one kid was going with friends while the rest of the family stayed home.

OP, I'm not disparaging your choice, just sharing what I would do in my family. If your way works for you guys then you are doing a great job and should be very proud

 

[jennyjinx3]

Too young, IMHO, but to each their own. Kids grow up much too fast in today's world. I would let them enjoy the planning of a vacation without any anxiety about the money.

I agree.

 

[DisneySnark]

OP- don't let them get you down! And it will pay off! My 9-year-old just saved up for and bought an iPad Mini. She saved allowance, birthday presents, and other gifts and did extra work for hire for us and for friends (organizing kitchen pantries is her specialty- $4 for medium sized and $5 for large pantries)

My goal is to teach my kids that if they want nice things or expensive experiences that is fine- they just have to be willing to work to get those things/experiences.

I run a successful business from home and employ those same tactics. They see it in action every day. If they ask for dinner at a fave restaurant I say "ok, I will have to work an additional 45 minutes today to cover that dinner. Family game time will have to start 45 minutes later."

They start to understand the cost (in time and labor) of things and experiences.

Your kids are smart! They will get it!

 

[eliza61]

Nope. My 4 year old didn't have any job that he could gave saved 300 dollars in a few months, so I would have been setting him up for failure.
Next, my kids were not required to pay for their part of the family vacation, we either could cover it or we didn't go.
Not sure of the lesson you're trying to impart. Some things for us are intrinsic to being a member of the family. Wdw is a family vacation, IMO that's like me saying Christmas will only come if they save up half the cost.
We did other things to teach them the value if the dollar.
Question
Who's paying for the cruise and what happens if one makes the goal but the other does not? No one goes?

 

[agriffith]

I think that many are missing that the Disney trip is NOT the family vacation… The cruise is. The stop at Disney was a request from the children. And OP, I think it is a great idea. My daughters, now 6 and 10, definitely had enough of the concept of time and money when they were four to understand what you are trying to teach. I think that the lesson you are trying to teach is great, and I'm sure that the method you choose to teach that lesson is just right for you and your family.

 

[Random Ninja]

B]IMO that's like me saying Christmas will only come if they save up half the cost.[/B]

I have to laugh at this one because that's kind of what happened to me one year. I spent about 16 months saving up for a laptop with a dvd player (back when those were still new and expensive). After my birthday in Nov. I still only had half the money so my dad agreed to pay the other half as my Christmas present. We bought the laptop but I had to wait and unwrap it Christmas morning as he wanted to keep it a secret from my mom. She figured out what we had done about 5 min after I opened it but her initial reaction was priceless.

OP: good job on teaching your kids to save for extra things they want to do. Sometimes people don't give kids enough credit. Most understand way more then we think they do. When my niece was 4, she had a huge piggy bank that she would put her money in, along with any money she found lying around the house or in the dryer. That kid ended up with over $100 after 3 months (and the rest of us learned to check our pockets before doing laundry and not leave things lying around the house). She got a new movie she wanted. We cut our ink pen stain problem out completely. Hopefully your kids will remember this lesson and keep it to heart for the rest of their lives. The best things in life are worth saving for.

 

[ready123go]

You guys don't know my four year old.

She'll make it, probably with half a year to spare.
She decided she'd rather save all her money for "extra Disney time" rather than an extra princess dress. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
As for them paying for the family vacation, we're taking them on the Fantasy for a week following these bonus days at WDW. I don't think they're hurting for vacation.
They're more excited saving for this than anything they've saved for yet, for what it's worth. Mostly I'm proud that they get the concept of saving and that I have two little budget conscious mouseketeers!

Requiring little more than a toddler to purchase a very expensive ticket to a vacation destination Mom and Dad picked and want to go to is not an "extra".

Four year olds have no concept of money. Most kids don't have a strong grasp on money until they become tweens or a little older.

Sorry, OP, that isn't something I'd be the least proud of. Saving money for souvenirs/fun things is one thing ~ making your very young kids save their money for a ticket to a place *you* want to go is another.

I think it's sweet that they are willing to put money aside for their own tickets. Personally, I would not have made my young children pay for any part of a family vacation. But that's just how we roll in my family.

I do believe that a 4yo, no matter how precocious, is incapable of understanding saving for a long-term goal. They cannot comprehend the value of a dollar. Most of them will tell you that a nickle is worth more than a dime because it is bigger. They have difficulty understanding "next year" as opposed to "next week". I don't know if your daughter is really learning anything from this exercise. She may not be too happy when you take away her pile of money and substitute it with a paper ticket with Mickey Mouse on it.

The 7yo is better equipped to understand what you are trying to teach him. But I would have approached this lesson on a smaller scale, such as "you can spend all of this week's allowance on X, but if you wait until next week and add up both weeks' allowances, you can get Y, which is even better!" He may have gazelle intensity now, but saving all his chore money for a year so that he can spend 2 days in Disney in November is going to wear thin quickly. Heck, a lot of adults have trouble doing it!

In defense of the OP - I was that kind of kid from the get-go. I was always a good saver and had much more money than either of my brothers. They burned through theirs by buying things like candy and records (long before CDs - lol!). Meantime I had saved enough for several different toys that I wanted (Barbie stuff, transistor radio, camera), all by the time I was 6 or 7. The whole time I was putting roughly half in my bank account.

I was the same way with candy. Come to think of it, if I had been smart I would have sold my stocking stuffers, Easter Basket contents and Halloween booty to my brothers instead of just eventually giving to them...

Clearly, I grasped the concept of saving. I still save better than either of my brothers. I guess just I had a hard time with the concept of profit...

If her DD is happy doing it, then let her be who she is. OP - you have every right to be proud!

 

[eliza61]

I totally get it. I just wouldn't do it. I think I've raised extremely financially responsible young men (now in their 20's), I just didn't make them pay dutch on family vacations to do it.

To each is own, simply not some thing I would make my 4 year old do. maybe I had an extremely immature 4 year old but no way would he have understood 300 bucks. He would have given me his 1.25 and been p.o'ed when I said it was no where near enough. next he wasn't a "long" term thinker. the concept of 7 months held no meaning for him. that's why we had countdown clocks.

Then again, I question what happens if the kid doesn't make it. My 4 year old would not have had the ability to understand that he didn't save enough. All he would know is he gave up all his money and stuff and he's still not getting to go to disney. So now on the cruise all the kid is thinking is what he's NOT going to be doing.

Like I said, my 4 year old was not a uber dis kid, abc's and 123's were pretty much all he was handling, along with thomas the tank engine. I would not tease him with wdw or any other family vacation.

 

[Marionnette]

I think that many are missing that the Disney trip is NOT the family vacation… The cruise is. The stop at Disney was a request from the children. And OP, I think it is a great idea. My daughters, now 6 and 10, definitely had enough of the concept of time and money when they were four to understand what you are trying to teach. I think that the lesson you are trying to teach is great, and I'm sure that the method you choose to teach that lesson is just right for you and your family.

If the family goes someplace together for recreation, it's a family trip. Whether the kiddos asked for it or not, it is still a family vacation. It would be different is one child was asking to accompany a friend or favorite aunt on a vacation. It's quite another when Mom and Dad tell the little ones that they have to pay for it.

I'm all in favor of teaching children financial responsibility and the satisfaction derived from working to obtain your goals. However, I feel that those lessons should be geared towards the child's cognitive level. Saving a couple hundred dollars for a trip that is a year away is not within a 4yo's capacity to comprehend.

 

[dalyes]

Last year my parents were going to buy our 3.5 year old a 10 day pass to Disney World for her Christmas gift. I refused. In my opinion, it wasn't her responsibility to foot the bill of any portion of our vacation (Us saving money shouldn't = her Christmas gift). So instead, my parents decided to gift my husband and I the DW pass and gave her other gifts.

So yeah, not my style but everyone parents differently and I suppose it's nice that they are so excited to do it.

 

[agriffith]

If the family goes someplace together for recreation, it's a family trip. Whether the kiddos asked for it or not, it is still a family vacation. It would be different is one child was asking to accompany a friend or favorite aunt on a vacation. It's quite another when Mom and Dad tell the little ones that they have to pay for it.

I'm all in favor of teaching children financial responsibility and the satisfaction derived from working to obtain your goals. However, I feel that those lessons should be geared towards the child's cognitive level. Saving a couple hundred dollars for a trip that is a year away is not within a 4yo's capacity to comprehend.

More recent cognitive development research (post-Piaget) disagrees and shows that differences in children's conceptions are based more on access and experience rather than ability. The research actually indicates that children already have some basic knowledge, attitudes, and ideas about money, and how they are going to use it, before they enter school. It sounds like the OP is providing the experience necessary to expose her daughter to the beginning of a solid financial-literacy education. In my personal experience, my own daughter definitely understood the basic concepts of money and saving versus spending, and the value of items that were more expensive versus less expensive, at that age. Professionally, the students that I work with are typically performing below grade level and are still trying to grasp basic numeration and numerical representation concepts in grades K and 1. As with any educational concept, children develop at different rates and some are cognitively ready for such concepts much earlier than others, and if OP feels that her daughter is ready, I'm guessing she knows her daughter best.

 

[Anthony1971]

To each is own, simply not some thing I would make my 4 year old do. maybe I had an extremely immature 4 year old but no way would he have understood 300 bucks. He would have given me his 1.25 and been p.o'ed when I said it was no where near enough. next he wasn't a "long" term thinker. the concept of 7 months held no meaning for him. that's why we had countdown clocks.

My 7YO does not have a good grasp on this concept... in second grade they just start learning and using numbers beyond 100.
saving for toys he has done for a long time... when he gets the money he gets it... but does he know the value of $25.00.....I think not he just knows he has it and it gets him what he wants.
He will offer to pay for dinner out sometimes.. he will get 20.00 from his wallet and thinks it is enough
He does understand the value of a few dollars like bring a dollar to school if you want cookies...he can relate to 1 dollar and what it buys as he has bought a lot of 1 dollar items in school and think Hot wheels... or candy bars....

The OP has a great concept it is just to much $ and time.

My problem would be if the goal is not met and you add money you have negated the whole lesson as they still get what they asked but did not save enough so Mom and Dad will always cover the rest. Also it is a lot of money and if they do understand the amount than the sky is the limit with toy prices, I can save for the 100 item in no time..... I always say do not say something to a child you will not enforce as then there is no lesson at all... Time outs work well saying you will get nothing for Christmas not so much....

 

[luvsJack]

I totally get it. I just wouldn't do it. I think I've raised extremely financially responsible young men (now in their 20's), I just didn't make them pay dutch on family vacations to do it.

To each is own, simply not some thing I would make my 4 year old do. maybe I had an extremely immature 4 year old but no way would he have understood 300 bucks. He would have given me his 1.25 and been p.o'ed when I said it was no where near enough. next he wasn't a "long" term thinker. the concept of 7 months held no meaning for him. that's why we had countdown clocks.

Then again, I question what happens if the kid doesn't make it. My 4 year old would not have had the ability to understand that he didn't save enough. All he would know is he gave up all his money and stuff and he's still not getting to go to disney. So now on the cruise all the kid is thinking is what he's NOT going to be doing.

Like I said, my 4 year old was not a uber dis kid, abc's and 123's were pretty much all he was handling, along with thomas the tank engine. I would not tease him with wdw or any other family vacation.

Your 4 year old was NOT immature, just a normal, non-dis kid.

My dgd is 4 and pretty dang smart (if I do say so myself ) and she doesn't have an understanding of money. Nor would she understand that her money isn't gone if we put it away to be saved. Actually, ds doesn't give her money at all. Who gives a 4 year old money?

When DD was 4, she had A chore--as in feed the cat--she got to pick out something at the store twice a month or some such as that for doing that one chore everyday. The thing she picked out would be under a certain amount but we would guide that part and give her choices in that price range.

 

[wvjules]

Awww that makes me sad for the kids. I understand wanting them to learn the value of a dollar and saving, but paying their own way on a portion of a family vacation is not the time to do it. Saving for souviners is one thing. Saving for the park ticket is quite another.

 

[JanaDee]

Awww that makes me sad for the kids. I understand wanting them to learn the value of a dollar and saving, but paying their own way on a portion of a family vacation is not the time to do it. Saving for souviners is one thing. Saving for the park ticket is quite another.

Not to mention, think what that poor little child thinks about the situation ~ "if I don't save this unfathomable amount of money, I don't get to go on vacation with Mommy and Daddy."

Poor kids.

 

[*pixie*dust*]

I would never dream of telling my 8 year old they had to pay for their tickets. Money lessons need to be age appropriate and esteem building. A 4 yr old doesn't have the cognitive ability for understanding monetary or time concepts. While I understand your intentions are good, I really disagree with this. Saving for a toy is one thing--funding part of vacation at 4 and 7 is quit another!

 

[Pixiedustaway]

I see what you are doing, but I don't agree. My kids are 3 and 5 and I'd never dream of asking them for money. My dd will put her change in the "Mickey jar" but we don't make her do it. They don't need to learn about that at this stage in the game