wendya@apollo.UUCP (09/11/84)
Just as information, I will relate my own (lack of) experience with allowances. No one in my family (ten children) ever received an allowance of any kind, nor were we ever paid for work around the house, grades, or anything else. This was not from lack of funds -- we got what we needed and whatever "luxuries" were deemed appropriate by the management (my mother), mostly in the form of lessons of various kinds -- art, piano, guitar, etc. (As an aside: we had zero say in the "necessities" either -- we wore uniforms to school, and all other clothes were selected by my mother. No arguments. The only exceptions came when we were allowed to go through the bags of "charity clothes" (which my mother collected for the church rummage sales) before we turned them over to the church. Other little details, like hairstyles, spending of "free time," etc., were similarly tightly controlled.) The little bit of cash I ever saw as a child came from my Sunday morning paper route, which I had for a few years. (I mean that literally - I almost never saw actual, physical money.) All family finances, from my father's income to how much our house was worth, and everything else, were TOP SECRET. We were never told anything. As far as household chores and good grades -- these things were EXPECTED of us as normal responsibilities of living; we only heard about them if we screwed up. The thought of being PAID for such things seemed absurd, and the idea of an allowance was simply unimaginable. These rules applied not only when we were very young, but right up until we eventually left home. As far as I know, none of us ever considered all this extreme, or even unusual, in any way, (until later, of course), and I, for one, was always astounded by the revelations of other children about their allowances, "$5 per A, $2 per B" report card payoffs, etc., and considered these things as aberations. I don't have children, so I'm certainly not an authority, but I don't think this is the way to go. Has anyone else ever seen things done this way? If so, how did it turn out? W. Christensen
cb@hlwpc.UUCP (Carl Blesch) (09/13/84)
My wife never had an allowance as a child and was also expected to do work around the house without pay. Her parents started giving her an allowance (I don't know how much or for how long) when she and her sisters came home from school one day with a project. Seems the teacher told them they were going to make their mother a mother's day present in class, and they were supposed to buy the materials with their allowance money. The girls came home and asked their parents what an allowance was, and when the folks asked why they asked, the girls explained. Result -- allowance! Let me add that my wife and I never got money for good report cards, but we heard of our classmates getting $x for an A, less than $x for a B, etc. Both we as kids and our parents thought this was disgusting. I can see rationale for all of the allowance practices suggested on the net so far, but I'd really balk at paying for grades! Carl Blesch