Earning While Learning In Time For Christmas!

Christmas is quickly approaching and with it the inevitable purchasing of Christmas gifts. Every  year Emily makes her very own purchases for her dad and I and her two cousins whom she loves dearly. In times past she has always used her leftover birthday money or change that her grandparents and her dad and I have given her throughout the year.



This year however, she doesn't have quite as much cash too spend, so I decided we would start a new tradition ~ earning while learning. I thought, now that she is almost eight, this would be the perfect time for her to learn the valuable lesson of earning her own money  by working for it. Now don't get me wrong, she has chores that she does on a regular basis like feeding and watering the cat and making her bed; but these are things she does without pay because she is part of our household and should therefore be a contributor to it's smooth operation.  



The work I have in mind are the extra chores that always seem to pop up at this time of year like raking leaves, washing windows, or sweeping out the garage. Just the other day she had her first opportunity to earn two dollars by picking up twigs and branches up out of the front yard. We had had a fierce wind storm the night before so there were lots of branches and leave clusters. She happily donned her coat, hat, and gloves and went out to work. From time to time I would check on her progress and much to my surprise I found that she had gotten a rake from the garage and was raking leaves to the curb as well.



Needless to say, I was so excited that she had gone above and beyond what I had asked that I gave her three dollars. She was extremely proud of having earned her own money and quickly ran to put it in her purse. When she came back down from her room, she asked if I had any other jobs she could do. Later today I think we will work in the yard some more so she has a good chance of increasing her earnings. Meanwhile, I smile at the thought of how much she will enjoy purchasing her gifts this year knowing how hard she worked to earn the money.



So ends another episode of Kids Korner with me, Children's Author Aileen Stewart. Join me next week for another exciting episode same krazy time, same krazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal blog Aileen's Thoughts any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, and life in general.
www.BooksByAmanda.com