The giving of this allowance must not be confused with the pernicious
habit of bribing the child to the performance of those little daily
courtesies and duties which he ought to be willing to perform out of
love and a sense of right. A certain part of his daily work, such as
seeing that the match-boxes all over the house are filled, or some
similar share of the general labor of the household, may be regarded
as that for which he is paid wages; and any extra task which does not
justly belong to him, he may sometimes be paid for performing; but not
always. For instance, he ought to be willing to run to the grocery
for mother without demanding that he be paid a penny for the job; yet
sometimes the penny may be forthcoming. The point is that he should be
ready to work, even to work hard, without pay, and yet that he should
never feel that his mother withholds pay from him when she can give it
and he receive it without injury.
[Sidenote: Spending Foolishly]
When the money is once his, he should be allowed to feel the full
happiness and responsibility of possession, and if he insists upon
spending it foolishly, should be allowed to do it and to suffer to the
full the uncomfortable consequences. If, on the contrary, he will
not spend it at all, his mother must use every means in her power to
lessen the desire for ownership and to increase his love for others
and his eagerness to please them.
As judgment develops the allowance may well be increased to provide
for necessities in the way of incidentals and clothing until at the
"age of discretion" he is in full charge of the funds for his personal
expenses. He should be encouraged to apply his knowledge of commercial
arithmetic in the keeping of personal accounts.
Experience in spending a fixed amount of money is especially needful
for the daughters. Most young men have the value of money and
financial responsibility forced upon them in the natural course
of events, but too often the young wife has not had the training
qualifying her for the equal financial partnership which should exist
in the ideal marriage.
[Illustration: THE INFANT GALAHAD--FIRST SIGHT OF THE GRAIL
From the mural paintings by Edwin A. Abbey in the Boston Public
Library]
RELIGIOUS TRAINING
[Sidenote: Sunday School Teachers]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account