To Be A Mother Should Know Kids Manage Money With An Allowance

Did you know that by giving your kids an allowance on a fixed basis you are actually nudging them to cultivate good money management habits? Well, you are. For those of you who require more testimonial, information, recommendation, expert views (whatever your mind deems as the most critical deal breaker) before joining the rest of us on the ‘Allowance Bandwagon’, I’ll put forth my best effort in convincing you there are merits to it.
The only way kids learn to manage their money is through trial and error. What better way than to start them off on something small and manageable. Today, kids have more money to spend (compared to us when we were their age, that’s for sure) and as such, they are developing their own financial styles or habits knowing or unknowingly. Kids who develop good or bad financial habits will foreseeably take those skills into adulthood. If the latter is their money blueprint, then there could potentially be painful and expensive money lessons on his/her horizon. The education system is definitely not helping raise awareness and/or instill structured money management skills for our next generation. Heck, we ourselves were never taught the same during our time. And for those of your luckier ones, your parents were a great role model for you financially. If you were one of them, be thankful. It’s time to pay it forward and teach your kids the same or better.
To be fair, you should only start imparting the basics of money management when your child is able to understand the basic concept of money. Interest is key here as would be case for all other things in their life – music, swimming, ballet etc. For me, the two compelling reasons why an allowance is a must for my kids is to force them to think of how much something costs and to weigh their spending choices as they only have a fixed amount of money. Let them make mistakes with their spending choices – no one gets it right the first time especially when you are only 4 or 5 (maybe even younger). It’s better to learn from those mistakes when the ‘tuition fee’ is only $5 or $10.
As a parent, you must sit them down and tell them exactly (clarity, clarity, clarity) what the allowance is for. Not the specific things that they can or cannot buy, but the 3 main areas the allowance is meant to provide for; namely saving, spending & sharing. Make a list of things the allowance covers so that he/she knows that they cannot come back to you whining and begging for more money as they NEED to spend on something they forgot to allocate for that week.
When I was about 8 or 9 years old, my father insisted each of his children keep a log book to pen down all the details of our spending. He would then go through it on a weekly basis, asking us questions and imparting some advise before he gave us the next allowance. If we wanted a raise in our allowance, we would have to tell him / write in our log book the items in which we wanted to purchase/spend on but could not due to the limitation in the dollar amount we received. In retrospect, I realise that this interaction created an opportunity to discuss and realign my money management education as a child.
The savings from each weekly allowance payout will then be banked into a kids saving account monthly. He would take us all to the bank and we made the deposit jointly. Afterwhich, he would explain to us the details in our passbook – how much we had accumulated and the interest given by the bank. Experts today recommend that 10% of your kid’s allowance should be allocated towards savings to build this good habit. Make sure that the allowance is given on a fixed interval, ideally weekly, as you are leading by example. Also, stick to your word as kids wise up pretty quickly when they spot that you do not act according to the financial discipline you preach.
One final question to answer – can I tie in the allowance amount to household chores completed? I will recommend no as it is the responsibility of each family member to contribute towards the household chores. These responsibilities should be separate and apart from the allowance given as the latter is aimed at teaching them the value of money. Be focused and remember that the allowance money lesson is aimed at building a longer term foundation to carry them in the right directions as an adult.

What Is To Be A Mother

Mothers are destined, by God, to bring up children for heaven. This is their grand mission. What a happiness, what an honor for a mother to give angels to heaven!

Would to God she only knew the real dignity and importance of her mission, and comprehended the qualifications in the moral and religious order that best prepare her for the duties of her sublime calling! What mission can be more sublime, more sacred, what mission can be more meritorious before God than that of giving to the young child the primary lessons of religion? There is indeed nothing more honorable, nothing more meritorious, nothing which conducts to higher perfection, than to instruct children in their religious duties. This instruction of children is a royal, apostolic, angelic, and divine function. Royal, because the office of a king is to protect his people from danger. Apostolic, because our Lord commissioned apostles to instruct the nations, and, as St. Jerome says, thus made them the saviours of men. Angelic, because the angelical spirits in heaven enlighten, purify, and perfect each other according to their spheres, and their earthly mission is to labor without ceasing for the salvation of man. St. Peter Chrysologus calls those who instruct others in the way of salvation, "the substitutes of angels." Indeed this mission of mothers is divine; they are called to carry on the very work of God Himself. Everything that Almighty God has done from the creation of the world, and which He will continue to do to the end, has been, and will be, for the salvation of mankind. For this He sent His Son from heaven, who enlightened the world by His doctrine, and who still continues to instruct His people by His chosen disciples. Those mothers, then, who direct their children in the paths to heaven, who allure them from vice, who form them to virtue, may fitly be termed apostles, angels, and saviours.

Oh! what glory awaits those mothers who perform the office of angels, and even of God Himself, in laboring for the salvation of the souls of their children. If this employment is honorable for mothers, it is also not less meritorious for them. What is the religious instruction of children, but conferring on a class of our race, the weakest and most helpless, with inconceivable labor and fatigue, the greatest of all blessings? For while the physical development of the child advances with age, it is not so with the mental; for religious instruction only can develop the noble faculties of the soul. The soul of a child, so to speak, would continue to live enshrouded in Pagan darkness, if the mother did not impart and infuse the light of truth. All the gold in the world is but dross in comparison with true religious knowledge.
Our Saviour says: "Whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones, even a cup of cold water, shall not lose his reward."--(Matt. x. 42.) May we not infer that those mothers who bestow upon children the treasures of divine knowledge will receive an exceedingly great reward? If God denounces so severely those who scandalize little children: "But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he there drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matt, xviii. 6), what recompense will mothers not receive who instruct and sanctify them?
Mothers who give their efforts and means to this object, choose the surest way to appease the anger of God, and to insure their own salvation. They choose the best means of attaining a high degree of perfection. Almighty God gives to each one the graces proper to his vocation. Mothers, therefore, who are devoted to the religious instruction of their children, must rest assured that God will give them extraordinary graces to arrive at perfection. "Whoever," says our Lord, "shall receive one such little child in My name, receiveth Me."--(Matt, xviii. 5.) Whosoever, then, believes that our Saviour will not allow Himself to be surpassed in liberality, must also believe that He will bestow His choicest blessings on those mothers who instruct their children in the knowledge of God and the love of virtue.
What obligations have not the "angels" of children "who always see the face of the Father Who is in heaven" (Matt, xviii. 10), to pray for these mothers--their dear colleagues and charitable substitutes, who perform their office and hold their place on earth. The children will pray for their mothers, and God can refuse nothing to the prayers of children, and their supplications will ascend with the prayers of the angels.
Do you desire, O Christian mother, to be saved? Do you wish to acquire great treasures in heaven, and to attain great perfection in this life?--Employ yourself diligently in the religious instruction of your children. Do you wish to gain the love of our Lord, and to deserve His protection?--Teach your children to fear and love God; you cannot do anything more pleasing to His Divine Heart.
It is related in the Gospel that mothers brought to Him little children, that He might touch them. And the disciples rebuked them that brought them. And when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said to them: "Suffer little children to come to me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God: and embracing them, and laying His hands on them, He blessed them." If Jesus was displeased with those who prevented little children from coming to Him, what love and tenderness will He not have for those mothers by whose means they come to Him?
Oh! how consoled will they not be in their last hour, when they shall see the souls of those whom they prepared for heaven, accompanied by their good angels, surrounding their bed of death, forming, as it were, a guard to protect them from the snares and assaults of the enemy!
This is a happiness which those mothers may confidently expect who labor assiduously to give their children a good religious education. Ah! would to God, I say once more, that mothers would understand their sublime mission on earth.

Remember Mother‘s Day

mother’s day can be traced back for centuries with various connotations.the Greeks, for instance would celebrate a mother’s day, but not quite in the same way we would associate motherhood today. mother of the Gods is wroshipped by them yearly.
　　AS to the modern of celebrating love and thanks to our matriarchs is similar as many traditions in our country, a biblical and religious celebration in which Mary, the mother of Jesus was worshipped. Eventually, as times changed, this ‘Mother’s Day’ became a day in which all mothers were worshipped, no matter who they were. However, for the most part, the church was still a huge focus for this tradition.

　　It wasn’t until the last century that presents started being given to commemorate the day. The reasons for this are unclear. Perhaps as church fell out of favour with some families, they needed another way to mark the occasion or perhaps, like with so many things, it was a case of marketing and commercialisation on the part of major companies that was the cause.
　　Whatever, the reason, the idea of giving presents should not be frowned upon. However, when you do give presents ensure thought has gone into it, so as not to cheapen the occasion. Flowers are one of the most popular gifts, and Mother’s Day flowers can be some of the most special flowers a woman ever receives. The rise in sales of bouquets at this time of year is testament to just how popular a gift they are and just how much the right bunch can say.
　　Therefore, for those who want show how much their mother counts , a bunch of Mother’s Day Flowers could be just what you need. But this is not confined to time.