Reasons for Allowance

I never used to pay my kids allowance. There is a lot of work to be done to keep a home running and part of being a member of a family is doing your fair share around the house. That was my philosophy. So the only way they got paid for chores was if they asked for, were assigned, and completed an extra job.

Surprisingly, no one really asked for these extra jobs on a consistent basis.

I realized that by not giving them an allowance, that I wasn't creating a situation to teach them about tithing, money management and financial obligations.

So we started paying them a weekly allowance that is equal to the amount of daily and weekly chores that they are assigned. I pay them the last Saturday of the month (I can remember it better like this- kind of like a bill).

Well, the boys have been getting invited to a lot of b-day parties- much more than the girls. They each got invited to a friend's party Friday night. All of these parties were getting old. So I put a new rule into place.

If you get invited to a birthday party and would like to attend, you are responsible for buying the gift. I thought this might deter the boys from wanting to go on Friday. Nope. They ponied right up! They each gave me $10 (all the money in their bank) to get a present for their friend.

At first, I felt a little guilty since I don't know any parent who makes their five year old pay for their friend's present. But then I realized that this helps them learn exactly what I wanted them to learn in the first place by paying them an allowance.

So tough or not- this is way we're going to roll when it comes to friend's birthday parties.

(Side note: Isn't it funny to watch how each child saves or spends their money? It's like an inherit trait or something. Haylee is our saver (she has over $50), Alex is our spender, too soon to tell about Logan, and Hannah has figured out that quality matters so while she doesn't save just to save like Haylee- she will save for a specific item rather than buy the first junky thing she sees at Wal Mart.)

Here? Already?

Hannah had her first babysitting job today.

So I was sitting around the house in the early afternoon just watching the first 4 episodes of Dancing with the Stars that I had missed in the last couple of weeks when a woman from the ward called and asked, "Does your daughter babysit?"

I said, "Well, she's 10."

Miranda: "Right. But she seems so much older."

Me: "She is very mature and very responsible and I do leave her home alone with her brothers and sister occasionally and she does a great job but she hasn't really had any official babysitting jobs."

This didn't matter to Miranda. She had called all of the YW and there was absolutely no one available. So I asked Hannah if she wanted to and she said yes. She ended up babysitting about 3 hours for Miranda's 4 year old and almost 2 year old.

She called me 3 times to ask for guidance.

How did I get here? When did I get here? Obviously I know the answers but for the love..... we're here already? It just seems like yesterday that the was walking around in her dress-up high heels and her underwear fully accessorized with a beaded necklace and tiara.

I'm old. My kids are old. And I want time to slow down.

I do feel proud and consider it a compliment however, that others think my daughter is responsible and mature. And I think it's to her credit as much as it is mine.

And now more than ever, I'm trying to "Enjoy the Journey" and not wish it away- because this is it..... I'm trying to enjoy each day I have with Hannah and my other children because it won't be long before they're gone.

Oh... and her and I are going to make a babysitting bucket this next week so she'll be prepared for her next job. At least she is still young enough to think that having her mom help her with this project is a good idea!

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday was great! Ed's sister, Melissa, asked him to bless her baby so we went down to Santaquin at 1 p.m. for a luncheon and the blessing was at 3 p.m. We did an Egg Hunt in between. We had several people taking our picture so half of us are looking at the wrong camera but this is as good at is gets.

The girls and I had kind of a black and white theme going on and the boys were supposed to be blue and green. But Ed wore a white shirt since he was doing the blessing. My color scheme obviously looks better when the boys and girls are pictured separately.

We finished off the day with a family walk around the neighborhood (it was beautiful here) and then while the kids played, Ed and I jumped on the tramp together. It was a very fabulous day!

I Fight Dirty!

27

This was on Dawn's blog and I thought it was funny. You have to think of the worst neighbor kid ever on your worst day ever. Then you'll get a high score!

A Little Ditty....

not about Jack & Dianne.

I must say the funnest (I know... not a word.... one more reason why my blog was rated at a Jr. High reading level! See Denise's blog for details) thing about blogging is coming up with funny titles. At least they are funny to me- I must say, I crack myself up! Nothing new to you though.

So- this is just a little ditty to say Hi and I'm thinking about all of you! I wish I had all day long to sit and blog- I absolutely love it. I was just re-reading some of my posts and your wonderful comments and realized that this forum is great for sharing my thoughts and feelings. Your comments help me so much. (BTW- damn you people for visiting my blog and not leaving any comments! ) Don't know if there are any of you out there- but there is your warning if there are.

Have a great Wednesday (hump day- what a funny term for Wednesday- I prefer Friday's for this). Ok- that might have been a little over the top but I know all of you are laughing your heads off! Probably laughing at me- but I"ll take it.

We all need to laugh more! Let it out- it's fun! Life is fun. Have a brilliant day!

Mary Kay Order

I'm doing a new MK order in the next week or so. I can't really publish the details so if you want something- just e-mail me and I we can correspond that way. What I can say is this, "ouya illwa etga yma iscountda ichwha isa iftya ercentpa." So e-mail me!

Yeah! I did it!

I was tired of my old background and it's 10:50 MST.

Which means that it is is 12:50 EST and that is the time zone where my Professional Blog Designer lives.

I guess I could have waited another hour and she would have been up at 2 a.m. but I thought I'd try it myself.

What do you think?

Title Piece

You know the name of my blog is Enjoy the Journey- and I just have to say, that I am!

Enjoying the Journey that is.

You know when the kids were young, I could never see the light at the end of the tunnel. I was convinced that they would be small and helpless FOR-EV-ER. And now, here it is, about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday- the boys are quietly playing downstairs, the girls are at Activity Days and the baby (who becomes a toddler next Monday) is sleeping. I am so blessed! Seriously, most of you had to suffer through me having four kids four and under- you saw the chaos. Heck- half of you were it the midst of the same chaos yourselves. I love this stage of my life where I have just enough time to myself. I'm doing so many fun things- some new some old.

I get to go to Book Club once a month. Just finished reading our March selection, "The Thirteenth Tale."

I play Bunco once a month. I quit this for about 4 months because book club and bunco were on the same night and I've been doing book club longer so I chose that. But now they are on different nights so I get to go to both.

I get my hair done regularly. Right now I get it weaved with 3 different colors. A blonde, a red (borderline fuschia - love it) and a dark brown. I love the way it looks! She does one red to every 2 blonde and brown so the red just adds dimension- it's not overpowering and obnoxious. And I have a style that is easy to do but looks like I spent a lot of time on it. Fabulous!

I am loving playing with "my look". I just got new glasses- they have kind of a deep purple frame. They have transition lenses when I walk outside so they turn into sunglasses. And I got some green colored contacts for when I'm not wearing my glasses. So cute!

And I love knowing my family is complete. It's such a great feeling knowing I listened when I had the promptings to have another baby. I have no regrets. Now that I can't have any more children, it comforts me to know that I obeyed when I was told to have more kids. Can you imagine my pain, my anguish, if in hindsight I had ignored those promptings? It's unimaginable to me.

I'm sure there are more things that I am loving about this part of my journey- actually I could go on and on. And I know that life will not always be about me and all the fun things I get to do but right now I'm enjoying it!