AngelsKiss
April 29, 2005, 06:02 PM
My Story: The Check Writer contributed by Trudy
What happens when your kids write the family checks?
My kids, like everyone else's, had very little idea what it took financially to run a household. When they wanted something, I could see that the words "we can't afford it right now" made little sense to them. Then, out of necessity, they discovered what those words meant.
I have multiple sclerosis. The disease has affected the right side of my body the worst, and unfortunately, I am right- handed. Writing out the checks for the monthly bills is a long, laborious project for me.
One day, I asked my 14-year-old daughter to write the checks out while I recorded them on the computer (left-handed of course!). Then all I had to do was sign the checks. I could see the truth of our economics dawn on her as she wrote out checks for electricity, gas, mortgage, and then also watched
the money in our checking account dwindle. At the end, she saw how much money we had left until the next paycheck. The next time she wanted something, she prefaced her request with "Can we afford this?" and offered to save up for the item if the answer was "no."
My 12-year-old daughter is now writing out my checks and my ten-year-old son is next. Even if you are physically capable of writing out your checks, I think there's nothing wrong with sharing the chore of bill-paying with your kids. It gives them a healthy dose of reality of what it actually costs to raise a family and run a household. The words "we can't afford it" will no longer be ambiguous.
What happens when your kids write the family checks?
My kids, like everyone else's, had very little idea what it took financially to run a household. When they wanted something, I could see that the words "we can't afford it right now" made little sense to them. Then, out of necessity, they discovered what those words meant.
I have multiple sclerosis. The disease has affected the right side of my body the worst, and unfortunately, I am right- handed. Writing out the checks for the monthly bills is a long, laborious project for me.
One day, I asked my 14-year-old daughter to write the checks out while I recorded them on the computer (left-handed of course!). Then all I had to do was sign the checks. I could see the truth of our economics dawn on her as she wrote out checks for electricity, gas, mortgage, and then also watched
the money in our checking account dwindle. At the end, she saw how much money we had left until the next paycheck. The next time she wanted something, she prefaced her request with "Can we afford this?" and offered to save up for the item if the answer was "no."
My 12-year-old daughter is now writing out my checks and my ten-year-old son is next. Even if you are physically capable of writing out your checks, I think there's nothing wrong with sharing the chore of bill-paying with your kids. It gives them a healthy dose of reality of what it actually costs to raise a family and run a household. The words "we can't afford it" will no longer be ambiguous.