Good Parenting Tip: Teaching Your Child About Money » Parent Plaza

Children can be very untactful, through sheer ignorance, but it can be embarrassing. For example, a child could easily ask the price of a gift that was given to them. Johnny, "Uncle, how much was that card you gave me?"

The question might not be entirely inappropriate, but the time could be improved. Johnny should have thanked his Uncle for the gift. Later on, he could have asked his parents to check the balance on the gift card for him online or at the store.

Teach Your Children to Value Money - But Not Too Much

Teaching the principle of giving is a good parenting tip because even small children can understand the need to give good toys to less fortunate children. We can explain that we shouldn't just give trashy or broken toys to charity.

An additional good parenting tip is to teach your kids that they cannot return a gift that was not completely identical to one they already have or just simply totally inappropriate. Otherwise, just having the option to take it back makes the kids dubious about whether they like the gift or not.

A good parenting tip that is given by many gurus in the field is not to pay your children for performing household chores. Everyone should pitch in - folding laundry and taking out the trash should be part of being a family. Mom doesn't get paid to cook, why should kids get paid to clean up the table? Their philosophy is that if money becomes linked to chores, kids can start demanding more money for even trivial things they should be expected to do like making their own bed.

Another good parenting tip to consider is to explain to your kids why it is financially prudent to use and to not be put off by good quality hand-me-downs. Instill excitement in sharing and swapping between cousins. "Oh Wow Connor, you're wearing what Riley was wearing on his fifth birthday in this picture…how lucky!"

You need to implement as many free activities into your family entertainment as possible. Children may find as much pleasure in a picnic in a park than a dinner in a fancy restaurant. It is parents who sometimes feel the need to spend on kids.

Finally, a very good parenting tip is to never try to purchase your way out of a predicament. If you have been neglecting your child because of some commitments and he has spent the entire week in front of the TV, do not buy an expensive toy to make up. Otherwise, this is what he'll expect every time you are away.

Spending your time with your children is probably the best parenting tip of them all. Get down on the carpet and play a board game or snuggle up in bed and read a book. That is the most important gift you can give your child.

Associated News Items

Ultracool Toddlers Party With Parents (ABC News)
Hipster Moms and Dads Strive to Be Cool. Is This New Trend in Parenting Problematic? ...more

Teens find safe haven in local businesses (Daily News Journal)
A teenager went into a Murfreesboro Kroger last week, not looking for groceries — but for help. The teen found support at the supermarket behind a big, yellow Safe Place sign. ...more

Alice Sawayer Column: Parenting the parent 04-29-2007 (Plainview Daily Herald)
I am sitting in my office Tuesday and the phone rings. It’s around 2 p.m., and I am diligently working at the computer trying to meet a deadline. I answer, and on the other end of the line, I hear this barely audible voice. ...more

Parenting by Marilyn Heins : Children need stability, predictability (Arizona Daily Star)
Q My daughter has a daughter who's almost 3 years old. She and her husband were separated on and off for the past year. Less than two months ago, he died suddenly. ...more

Teens linked to gruesome slaying (The Spokesman-Review)
Dan Wortham’s daughter was his whole life. Friends say the 39-year-old Spokane man raised 16-year-old Jackie alone after her mother left when she was a young girl. Wortham spent the past few years trying to find help for the troubled teen. ...more