Why Chores are a Terrible Way to Teach Your Kids How to Earn Money

As a mother of two children (Girl 10, Boy 5), I often hear the words, "Mom, I want to earn some money!" In the past, I’d make up a list of chores they could do around the house in addition to the ones they already did in exchange for food, clothing, and shelter.

The Girl child quickly decided earning a dollar to clean each bathroom wasn’t worth it.

The Boy child on the other hand, immediately counted all the bathrooms in our house and realized he could earn $4.00.

Armed with plastic gloves, a scrub brush, and Clorox cleaner, he was scrubbing away. About twenty minutes later he emerged with a smile on his face informing me, “ALL BATHROOMS ARE CLEAN!” I checked his work and indeed, the bathrooms were clean.

He happily accepted the $4.00.

 A few minutes later he said, “How can I earn more money, Mommy?” The parent in me scanned the house trying to find more things for him to clean. The business-person in me knew there was a much better way for him to earn money, even at the age of five.

 His bright blue eyes innocently looked up at me with excitement, anticipation and suspense as he patiently waited for me to tell him how he could earn more money.

In that moment, I knew asking him to clean something else would have done him a great disservice. I took the opportunity to teach him the same thing I teach my clients.

I asked him, “Do you love cleaning the bathrooms, son?”

Long pause...“Um, no, Mommy,” he reluctantly replied.

I said, “Look around our house, is there anything you would love to clean?”

 I knew he was completely perplexed by this time, but he glanced around the room and responded, “No, Mommy. I don’t love to clean the house.”

“Ok, then little man…tell me what it is that you love?” I said.

“I love my rock collection.” he replied proudly.

“Excellent,” I responded. “Would you be willing to part with some of your rocks if someone paid money for them?” 

“Someone would give me money for my rocks?” he asked.

“Maybe! Why don’t we see if we can sell some of them?” I encouraged.

For the next hour, an incredible transformation of learning began for my son that no amount of cleaning would have given him.

I taught him how to place value on his goods, where he could sell his rocks and how to sell. His little mind was expanding at a rate even I could hardly keep up with.

He quickly set up a “store front” on our sidewalk, carefully displaying his precious rock collection and setting a price for each one.

As he saw passersby, he’d call out to them “stones for sale, precious stones for sale here!”

And he patiently waited for customers.

 After thirty minutes, a young man walking his dog stopped at the make shift storefront. My son held his breath and looked up at me. I grinned, gave him a big wink and a thumbs up.

He exhaled and began telling his first customer the story behind each stone, where he found it, why it’s unique and the price.

I will forever remember the look in my son’s eyes when he closed his first sale and his customer handed him two dollars. It was a proud moment for me.

More importantly, it was a proud moment for my son.

He’s now introduced to the most valuable of business skills a person can have…to love what you do, do what you love and sell it.

 It beats cleaning bathrooms any day.

*****

Tiffany Jones is a highly spirited business owner/entrepreneur, writer, speaker, and advocate for women in business.  

She also coaches business owners and entrepreneurs. She most recently launched the Entrepreneur Academy which provides training for aspiring entrepreneurs. 

She is the co-founder of several successful businesses including:

Ideas, Art & Code, a Los Angeles based digital agency serving global clients such as Sony, Samsung, Activision and Kimberly-Clark. She holds many titles at her company including President, VP of Sales, VP of Client Services & Delivery and bad ass barista.

Adopt Your Ghost is a new Halloween tradition for children of all ages who are eager to welcome a ghost to be a forever member of their family. Tiffany serves as Director of Ghost Operations and her daughter is the Chief Ghost Officer. 

L.A. Office Staging is a premiere, southern California based commercial staging company. Tiffany is a partner, investor and advisor.