Got to Earn a Copper or Two...

What a lovely morning we had today! Warm and sunny and whilst hubbie left early for work this morning to earn pennies for us, we eased ourself into our Saturday morning with milkshakes, toast and talked about "earning pennies" to spend on our Saturday morning shopping trip.

I have been a bit cross lately of the "I wants" in our house. "Mummy I want a Humungasor" is the latest request that I hear from morning til night at the moment. (It's a Ben 10 toy in case you didn't know!). Both our two are very lucky and probably have been a bit spoilt of late, and it is getting a bit difficult to walk from one side of their bedroom to the other sometimes. Little bits of everything, polly pocket, playmobil, bits of I don't know what that we have seem to have accumulated from car boot sales, things everywhere... )

(this was after the big tidy up!)

So, for a while, no more things are going to come into the house, unless they have earnt them themselves. We are going to encourage them to earn pennies by doing jobs around the house and save up for something that would like. They are only 4 and a half, so as we have only just started the "working for money" concept, I figure that I am going to have to show the work/reward principle fairly promptly so the message works. I decide that we will earn the money and then go straight out and spend it this morning on whatever they choose.

My daughter is the first to cotton on. She likes this idea. I say I will give her 10p if she makes her bed. She does and asks to make ours too. Another 10p. She asks for something else to do. She can tidy her room. Soon she has earnt 50p and is eager to go and spend it. It takes a lot more explaining and cajoling to persuade my son to tidy his room, make his bed (of sorts, but its a bit tricky being a cabin bed), and then get dressed and put his shoes on himself, soon he also has 50p.

Right! We're ready.

First to the market. I buy some red ribbon to make my Sarah Smith Bunting (I will show you this soon!). Then we look around the charity shops, known to my two as "the shops where the Grandmas work". After long deliberations, toys were carefully selected.
Both proudly told "the grandmas" what they had done to earn the money and handed over their hard earnt pennies. A lovely lunch and a coffee and then home to a nice surprise for me. Want to see?


It looks like a parcel for me!

What could it be!

A treat for me! I figure I've earnt a little something too!

So everyone had a good day. It will remain to be seen how long the spirit of entrepreneurship remains...