When I became a parent, I wanted to provide my boys with a foundation that would serve them well in the future. Yesterday, I sat back and relished in the reality that my job is almost done and I can bask in the glory of success. Really, you ask? Really. Here is why:
Teaching Them About Finances
When I was growing up, I heard this phrase a lot “we don’t have any money” which unraveled my security. I was convinced we were going to be thrown out on the street and live in our car. Consequently, I didn’t have a healthy relationship with money. I didn’t know how to save it, spend it wisely, and I was always in fear of not having enough.
When the boys were younger, I started showing them our bills so they had an idea of where our money went. Bryce knows how much we spend on his tuition and Bailey is working on understanding that his bank account doesn’t have unlimited funds. Now, we share these things with them to educate them and help them have a healthy relationship with money.
Since Bryce is working, he is doing a great job of putting money in a savings account in an effort to have a cushion. These are things I never did at his age because I wasn’t taught to be fiscally responsible. You can’t teach something you weren’t taught. Fortunately, it is never too late to learn, so I grasped new tools while teaching my boys.
Waking Up
When the boys were younger, I was the alarm clock, but as they got older, they were responsible for that part of their world. Both of them have no problem getting themselves up in the mornings that school and work are on the agenda. It provides an excellent tool when they are out in the world. One less thing on my “to do” list.
Chores
I come from the mindset that our home is a community and everyone needs to do their part. We don’t pay our kids to do the assigned jobs in the house because, well, that is simply ridiculous. If I wanted to pay someone to do the work in the house, I would be hiring a maid. Consequently, my offsprings can do their own laundry, run a dishwasher, cook, clean bathrooms, well, you get the gist. It gives them a sense of contribution to the household and that will serve them well once they are out in the real world.
Those things might not seem important in the grand scheme of child raising, but for me, it is a demonstration of them being accountable for themselves. Since I am a recovering control freak, this type of letting go serves us all well. Parenting is hard enough, but when you equipped them with sufficient tools, you can nudge them out of the nest knowing that you did everything you could and the rest is up to them.
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