My Kid's Allowance System

I have probably used about 85 different sets of job charts and allowance systems during my stint as a mom. Most of them don't work for me, because I am lazy and inconsistent and they end up being more work for me than the kids. I think I have finally developed a system that works well for the inconsistent lazy type of mom that I am.

Here's my "Mommy Command Station".  I thought about staging it for the pic, but it an effort to keep things real, this is what it currently looks like.

Hanging on the wall, is an allowance jar for each kid.  At the beginning of the month, I put $30 into each jar.  We've tried different amounts and putting it weekly instead of monthly, but this works the best for us.

These are the kid's jobs.  Pretty basic.  Mostly they just need to practice good personal hygiene habits and pick up all their junk. Any day that they go to school without doing a job, they lose $1.

 On Saturdays, they each have some additional chores that take them about 30 minutes (although if you ask them they would tell you that I make them work all day).  I divided up these jobs into zones: upstairs, downstairs, and bathrooms and listed very detailed instructions for each zone. I put each list in a page protector, so they can check off each job with a dry-erase marker when completed.  They rotate jobs each week.  If they fail to complete these jobs, I will take $3 from their jar.  

If they complete an extra job like mowing the lawn.  I write the date the work was completed and the amount I owe them and stick it in the jar. 

At the end of the month, we settle up.

They pay 10% to the Lord, 50% to savings, and 40% for spending.

What works for you?

School's Clothes Budget????

School starts around here and I am woefully unprepared.  I haven't not purchased a single school supply or back-pack.  My kid's also need some school clothes and I thought I would seek out some advice from my fellow moms about budget.  First let me tell you about my 3 kids:

Daughter- 15 year old: hasn't grown in years and has a closet full of clothes, but some of them are from 6th grade and new clothes are fun.  Between lifeguarding and babysitting she has a lot of spending money which she spends mostly on clothes.  I still buy her stuff now and again, and told her I would buy her 2 new shirts for school and a pair of running shoes.  I also pay for her swim team uniform. She thought that was fair. I also usually buy the fabric when I sew for her.

Son-12 years old: has grown about 6 inches and gained 40 pounds in the past year.  He needs pretty much everything. He doesn't care about clothes and was perfectly satisfied with the $10 Old Navy jeans and $5 I bought him at the outlet mall. What the kid does care about is shoes.  He is obsessed and can spend hours looking at them online. (I don't get it).  Because of him, we instituted the $100/year per kid on shoes rule.  Since he never spends his money, he has quite a bit save up and wants to be the above "pre-owned" shoes off ebay for $120.  It's his money, but this seems a little silly and the "pre-owned" part grosses me out.  Teenage boy feet are nasty and I wouldn't want to put my feet into something that had teenage boy feet in them.  

Son-8: He is almost 9, but still wears a size 7.  His closet is full of clothes he's had since kindergarten. We're hoping at some point the kid has a growth spurt.  He doesn't care about clothes, but he's been hanging out w/ his brother and he now thinks he needs expensive school shoes too.  However, kid sizes are about half as expensive, so I wonder if that's fair to have the same budget as his brother.  

So I was just curious how you work oyur clothes budgets to be fair in your family.

What I've Been Reading Wednesdays

We have had a lot going on this summer, and I have hardly been reading at all.  Here's what I have read:

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood. This is the third in a series which I first heard about from my friend Kammy.   Miss Penelope Lumley is a 15-year old orphan hired to be a nanny to three children that were literally raised by wolves.  The writing is borderline genius and manages to be both clever and silly.  This would be a great book to read aloud.  My only criticism is that I feel certain mysteries have been drug on too long, and I am ready for them to be revealed: What happened to Penelope's parents, where did the children come from, is Lord Fredrick some sort of werewolf or the children's true father? 

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey-
My friend Alicia recommended this book as no-brainer escape book.  It did not disappoint. It will not change your life, you will not learn anything, and you will not be a better person because you read it.

 When I explained the plot to my husband, he thought I was kidding. Two teenage descendants of the infamous Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde team up to compete in a chemistry scholarship competition and  to cure the Hyde family curse.  3 stars

I am currently struggling through Killing Lincoln for book club.  So far it reads way too much like a text book and I am bored, but I'll let you know if it picks up.


Have you read anything good lately?

Wedding Present

Someone contacted my etsy shop asking if I could make some long-distance love pillow as a wedding present.  I momentarily forgot how long it takes to hand-paint pillows and that I only like doing stuff like this for people I love and not for $.   

I hope the happy couple liked it.

Making A nightstand: Guest Post by Home Decor by Eva

Hello there! My name is Eva Stephen (owner: www.homedecorbyeva.blogspot.com) I am absolutely honored to be writing a contribution as a guest for Tales of a Trophy wife. Sharing my thoughts to Tara’s readers is indeed a pleasure. I hope you will enjoy my handy yet crafty DIY woodworking. Here it goes, T!

-x

Eva

DIY Woodworking: Making a Nightstand

Wood is the most pervasive building material around.  It’s used to make buildings, for art, and for the most functional things in our lives from shelves to doors to tables.  The material is beautiful, sturdy and can be very simple to work with.  Wood also reminds us of the living breathing thing it used to be, and daily inspires creation of something it’s never been before.  Today we are going to make a nightstand because it’s a simple project to start with, yet you can get really creative in the design and execution.  This project is designed to help you get started with wood working and make it clear just how easy it can be when inspiration strikes!

Materials:

Wood

Wood nails (if you don’t have than visit Wickes to see a great collection)

Sand paper – both fine and for raw wood

Hammer (or Hatchet) can be found at Clas Ohlson online store.

Need a new mattress or duvet to go with you fabulous nightstands? Check out the selection at Shop4Furniture.

How To:

The Local Hardware Store or Lumber Company

1.       To save money ask a staff person where the broken or unsellable pile of wood is.  Hardware stores and lumber companies inevitably have an area where damaged wood is saved and sold for very cheap.  If it’s a small hardware store the pile will be smaller, if it’s a lumber company I’ve seen massive amounts of this damaged wood to choose from.  I chose a beautiful Cedar plank and a painted thinner plank that they charged me $5 for.  This is a normal price for a damaged piece of wood, you get incredible deals.

2.       Figure out the dimensions you will need for the different pieces of the nightstand after settling on a design.  Measure this out on the lumber, and use a pencil to mark the wood with a notch.  Ask the lumber staff to cut the wood down for you.  Usually for only a couple pieces they will waive the charge for cutting.  I had them cut the Cedar into 12 inch pieces for the two shelves, one 26 inch piece for the back, and 26 inches for the legs made from the painted wood.  Base your dimensions on how much space you have around your bed, and what you fancy for a design to be the most functional for you.

3.       You’ll find all the other materials you need at the hardware store. 

At Home

1.        Always sand raw wood before you start the project.  Use Raw Wood Sandpaper to start with.  Focus on the areas that may have damages and could give splinters.  Sand those down really well, and then give the rest of the raw wood a once over.  Use your Fine Sandpaper to then go over everything again.  Always sand with the grain of the wood.

2.       Some of my wood pieces had some damages on them.  Strategically place these on the underside of the shelves for example.  I also used a piece that had a really beautiful wood knot for the top shelf to show off the character.

3.       The following picture is the shape we’re going for.  I find it’s much easier, especially as a beginner, to have someone lend you a hand for this part.  We’re going to attach the back to the top shelf.  Place one of the 12 inch pieces perpendiculars to the ground.  Have your helper hold the back parallel to the ground with the shelf at the top of the back piece.  Set the nail with your thumb and pointer finger at the base of the nail on the wood.  The most important thing is to drive the nail in straight.  If you start off or if the nail goes crooked, start over right away by pulling the nail out.  Use the hammer to strike the head of the nail firmly, but not so hard you swing and miss.  Safety first!  Drive two nails in evenly spaced apart for the first shelf.  Repeat for the lower shelf.

4.       The back and shelves should now be firmly attached.  Now we’re going to attach the two side pieces, one on each side.  They need to be spaced toward the front otherwise the nightstand will be off balance.  The more toward the front the planks are, the better balanced the night stand will be.  I thought this struck a balance between the design I wanted and structural integrity.  Drive in two nails per shelf on the side pieces using the same technique as before.

5.       You can see that even with the same size pieces there are multiple formations you can make!  This is a his and hers set.  The original design is good for me because I like to have a lamp at the bedside and I have room for books underneath.  The other design is great for holding more books because it’s a little more sturdy, but it can’t hold a lamp unless it’s tall and skinny.  I also added some neighborhood flowers in old beer bottles and canning jars which is a nice colorful touch!

Where Have I Been?

So I have been busy doing just about everything but blogging:

 Above is me at a 10K.  My cute mom showed up w/ a sign and water for all my friends. 

A few of my friends and I have decided to run a marathon.  We are on week 17/30 and I'm exhausted. I think all the training leading up to the marathon is almost as bad as actually running the 26.2 miles.  In case you forgot-I live in Texas and so it is like running in a sauna except with more humidity.

My husband has been in the Air Force for 9 years and is exploring other career opportunities all over the country.  This may be more exhausting than the marathon.  If you could live anywhere in the US-where would you pick and why? We are about ready to flip a coin.

We took a trip to Vermont for our anniversary.  It's beauty is poorly represented by the above pic, but I just didn't pull my camera out much.  The trip was great until our plane broke down at Laguardia and we got to sit there for about 10 hours.  It was ok since they gave us each a $6 meal voucher (I could almost buy a slice a pizza).  Then our flight was delayed and we had to taxi a taxi to JFK to make it home.  They did give us $25 in meal vouchers, which totally made up for the additional 4 hour weather delay.  We were in a similar situation a few years ago and were compensated w/ $400 travel vouchers each. No one likes spending hours and hours in an airport, but I thought that was fair.  Apparently, the max that Delta gives out is a whopping 9500 sky miles.  Hooray, if I am lucky, I may be able to buy 1/4th a ticket. Am I unreasonable, or is that pathetic?

Summer swim team is my favorite of all my kid's activities.  It's the only thing that all 3 of them do.  I spent at least 3 hours at practice each morning hanging out w/ the other swim moms (who are all amazing).  Every Monday night, we'd all hang out at the swim meet. So I got to spend at least 20 hours/week hanging out with my friends by the pool.

Guess why a kid under 16 shouldn't work?  Because they can't drive.  I spend a ton of time driving her to lifeguard and teach swim lessons.  

Those same marathon friends decided to do a cleanse and I signed up b/c I apparently will do any crazy thing my friends will.  I didn't fork out the $200 bucks for the supplements, but I followed the eating plan.  Basically, you eat twice as many vegetables as fruits and a 1/2 cup of either rice or lentils a day.  You can also drink protein shakes. I probably ate more fruit than I should have, but lost a few pounds and I am more aware of eating actual food instead of all the process junk that I usually reach for.  I will post some recipes I like later.

I also read a few books, that I'll tell you about later.

So what have you been up to?

What I'm Reading Wednesdays

I've been a little neglectful of the blog lately, and it is pretty much my kids fault.  They are just so much more work in the summer and have been really cutting into my soap opera watching and bon bon eating time.

Here's what I've been reading:


Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
So I'm still upset with her for her treatment of Jo's father in March-even though it won a Pulitzer, but I had to read it for book club.
This is billed as the story of a Native American that attends Harvard in the 1700's.  However, it is really more the story of a young girl that grew up with him and struggles with her lack of educational opportunities.  It is beautifully written and painstakingly researched, but it was very serious for my current state of mind.  I also had to read it in 2 days for bookclub, so I had to rush through it and it felt a little like a school assignment.  

Here's some quotes I loved:

"...we see this world, and our place in it through entirely different eyes." Page 39

" Does any woman ever count the grains of her harvest and say: Good enough? Or does one always think of what more one might have laid in, had the labor been harder, the ambition more vast, the choices more sage." page 256

"Ever happiness is a bright ray between shadows, every gaiety bracketed by grief.  THere is no birth tht does not recall death, no victory but brings to mind a defeat." 283

• “She was like a butterfly, full of color and vibrancy when she chose to open her wings, yet hardly visible when she closed them.”

Probably 5 stars, but I only got about 3 stars of enjoyment out of it.  


Age of Miracles by Karen Thomas Walker
The earth's rotation slows and the days grow longer and longer.  This wreaks havoc on the planet.
My friend Kammy's review is way better.
I liked the book (not as much as Kammy), but I was really unsatisfied with the ending.
3.5 stars


The Elite by Kiera Cass
After many wars, America re-emerges with a caste society.  Women are chosen from all over the country to go and live in palace and try and win the affections of the Crown Prince to become his bride (kinda like The Bachelor).  The palace is under constant threat of rebel attacks that want to get rid of the caste system. 

This is the second in the series and a perfect summer read.  
It's clean and fun, although I am tiring of the love triangle.
4 stars

Katherine by Anya Seton
This is my friend LeAnne's favorite books and it has been on my list for years.  It is the true love story of Katherine Swynford and the Duke of Lancaster.  Her brother-in-law was Geoffrey Chaucer and they are the ancestors of most of British royalty.
4 stars

So what have you been reading?