Keep the Change!

My parents were divorced when I was a baby. I grew up without my dad being involved in any area of my life. In fact, I didn’t meet him until I was 22 years old. So, as a result I take the job of Dad very serious. As parents, my wife and I are very hands on in our kid’s lives. We try to use every teachable moment to our advantage, as I’m sure most of you do. We recognize the years with them under our roof are slipping by with increased quickness.

One area where I feel insufficient is finances. Over years of crummy salaries and poor economic choice M (my wife) and I have demonstrated what not to do in the realm of money. To some degree we are still living out the ancient saying, “the borrower is slave to the lender”. To improve our financial IQs and the overall quality of our childrens' lives, M and I went through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class this last spring www.daveramsey.com. Excellent class and I highly recommend it to anyone who deals with money.

Basically this is how it goes in our house. Every child including the 4 year old has a set of chores they have to do to get paid. When they do these chores they get paid a commission (just like people in the real world). On pay day the children bring 4 labeled jars to the kitchen table so mom can dole out their commissions. This goes for any money the children receive, including birthday money, found money, basically any money that comes into their possession. The money is divided into the following percentages then placed into the corresponding jar ; 10% Tithe (As parents who hold to certain Biblical teachings this is first and foremost), 10% Giving (for our family we support two children through World Vision), 30% Long Term saving, and 50% Spending (for whatever they want, with little to no input from parents).

One day a couple of weeks ago, #2 earned $15 by helping her mom sell clothes at a consignment sale (lots of good lessons throughout this process). She stacked the dollar bills on the counter in front of her four jars. She was having some difficulty breaking the money down into the appropriate percentages. As the ever-present father and eager instructor, I stepped into help her with mom close by for support. I began to lecture on percentages, division shortcuts and necessity of giving GOD 10%. #2 became frustrated. She didn’t comprehend how I was calculating $1.50 was 10% of $15.00. Furthermore, she was confused how she was going to pay $1.50 with a stack of dollar bills. Side note: her jar had change and we were hoping she would do some problem solving. However, becoming increasingly annoyed at the length of this discussion, she looked up at me and said,” Listen, how about I give God $2.00 and you stop the lecture!”My wife and I looked at each other and laughed! #2 took that as agreement and stuffed two dollars into her tithe jar.

A couple of takeaways from this story: 1. LAUGH (click here to get some help), your kids are hysterical! Have fun and be able to laugh at yourself with your kids, especially during these moments. I’m confident #2 will be able solve mathematical problems through her life so I don’t need to sweat it. 2. Get Involved in the teaching process with your kids, you have so much to offer them! It’s not just the mom’s job. You may not be an expert in a particular subject but some is and they can teach you. Beside you probably know more than your kids do, tell them what you know and learn the rest together. You can take a class or read a book, growth is possible and necessary. Dads we should never stop learning or growing. 3. Never, NEVER, NEVER stop your kids from giving more than is required, especially if they are giving it to GOD. How can anyone go wrong with giving more than is required? Especially to GOD. Maybe we can even take a proactive stance and encourage this attitude in our kids.

Although, this last lesson was unintended and the student operated as the teacher, it was a profound one regardless. It is a lesson I hope to live out daily to my GOD, my wife, to my children, and beyond.
Dads we have a challenging job, but a great one! I want you to know, I’m cheering you on, You can do it!
This week take some time to intentionally teach your kids something. Here are some ideas, how to change a tire, shovel snow, bake a cake, clean the bathroom, make their bed, fold a paper airplane, or do a somersault, get creative. I would love for you to leave a comment about what you taught them on my page! Let’s raise our level of DAD-ness!

Watch this clip from the Andy Griffith Show as Andy lectures Opie