High Maintenance Mom

B has a long list of Thomas toys he would like for each birthday from now until he's sixteen. I've thought about getting it in writing but I don't think it will hold up. In addition to Cranky, Iron 'Arry, and Edward, B also wants Rovin' Rollers (see items of the month). He has a bunch of the Kid K'nex already but wants more wheels. He also wants the green eyes because he already has the Bug Eyed Buddies blue eyes and the Footed Friends with the yellow eyes.

I'm fascinated by what he is building and want to run out to buy him the new toys but I also want to help him begin to understand money. It was cute at two when he told me we could go to the store to buy more toys. But I'd like for him to take care of his toys, pick up his room, and all the other things I'm still learning to do but am now tired of doing for others. I'm sure it sounds early but he also learned to count early and his father was All-Canada Math Team or something...

The Wall Street Journal ran an article the other day on teaching kids to handle money. I, of course, left the article at the office with a pile of papers that I decided I wouldn't need tonight and it appears that my online account is no longer active. I generally remember the online account every 18 months, right after I've let it expire.

The article mentioned a quarterly clothing allowance for the writer's teenage daughter and a smaller allowance for his 12 year-old son. I'm struggling with how much to give B as a three year-old. The toy he wants costs $20 (okay, $19.99 but I don't plan to talk with him about the benefits of pricing at $19.99 instead of $20, or sales tax). I think we may start him out at $1.00 or $1.50/week.

In addition to the allowance, we have decided to let him help with chores, for which he receives one dollar. He was very excited. His first chore involved taking leaf cuttings to the recycling bin. He jumped around with the leaves and talked about it for maybe five minutes before getting bored and asking for the next chore. I explained that many chores take a long time and he needs to finish the leaves. So he went back to singing about chores (chores, chores, chores, I get to do some chores - chores, chores, chores...) while trying to get the leaves into the bin. We decided the effort was worth one dollar. On Monday he helped my husband at Home Depot and received a dollar for his help.

My plan is to hold onto his money until he's ready to spend it. We've talked about going to the store and he can't wait to buy it. He's still telling me about all the things he wants but and I'm wondering the novelty of chores is interesting enough to hold his attention.