Finally I landed on the perfect job: clean the window sills. Our windows are old and when it gets windy, dust often blows through them around the edges. The basement window sills were especially dirty. I told Jay if he cleaned all of the window sills in the house he would earn four dollars. He had to first wipe them all with a wet rag and then go back and wipe them with a Clorox wipe. He eagerly set to work. Ten minutes later he joyfully called out that he was done. My first inspection helped him realize that this job would take a little longer than ten minutes. I showed him how to wipe dirt OFF instead of smearing it around. Then I showed him how to wipe in the ditch where the window slides open. He worked and worked on those window sills for much longer. Near the end I went around with him and showed him what else needed to be done. I wanted him to feel the sense of accomplishment from doing the work himself, and I wanted him to understand that earning money takes actual work, but he is only six after all, so I did have to be slightly more involved in the process. Plus, I didn't want him to think that he could just smear some dirt around and get paid for it! Oh the principles of parenting.
Since I was quality controlling the cleaning process anyways, I took the opportunity to practice with the new camera.
I didn't get dressed till an hour later than normal that morning, with all that window sill policing I was doing! Jay finished his work and I paid him and he took out his tithing and then said "now can we order the Minecraft handbook?" He's had the first three handbooks for a while, and he has been wanting to get the fourth. We got onto Amazon and discovered that the book he wanted was actually $6.88. Oh boy, I thought. Another job. I had Jay clean the very dirty glass back doors for another 75 cents. While Jay was doing that, the tooth fairy suddenly remembered to get that tooth that had been under Jay's pillow for the past week, leaving a dollar behind.
Jay's wallet was approaching $6.88, but he was still a few cents shy--tithing kept knocking his total down. I tried to be flexible and willing to give him another job to do because I didn't want tithing to become a drudgery. I could see his disheartened expression whenever I cheerfully suggested that he take out his tithing money, and I did my best to walk the narrow line between over paying for his small jobs and overworking him till his spirit was dampened. Whew, it was a tricky, emotional burden to shoulder first thing in the morning!
Next he went downstairs and wiped down the basement toilet for another 50 cents--a job which was borderline payable because bathrooms are regular chores, not paying jobs. That 50 cents minus tithing, added to what he had already earned and the few coins he already had before this ordeal squeaked his total funds up to $7.05. He paid it all to me and I ordered the book for him (which, incidentally was $7.38 with tax--don't tell, I really really could not think up another age-appropriate non-chore [I don't pay for normal chores] job to pay Jay to do). After an hour of working, (and an hour of me watching him/directing his work) Jay had his book ordered! He was triumphant.
Over the next two days while Amazon Prime did its thing, Jay was constantly asking if his book had come, or if the mail had come yet, etc. Finally the UPS truck delivered his book on Friday afternoon. "It was jubilation galore" (to quote a favorite book--Bubba and Beau Meet the Relatives, by Kathi Appelt).
Throughout this whole experience, I can only hope I managed to teach Jay that earning money takes lots of work and that we always pay tithing first, no matter what. As a parent I want to make sure my kids understand the relationship between work and money, and between money and God. It felt like a whole lot more work for me than for Jay, but I guess that's how teaching the important lessons goes.
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