Happy Anniversary!

by Dr. Mommy on August 26, 2010

Wow!! I can’t believe it’s been a year since Retro Parenting began.  Well, it didn’t truly begin a year ago, since I’ve been a Retro Mama for 19 years, but what has been a year is the sharing of this site.

A year ago, Retro Parenting was brought to the masses as a style of parenting that works.  It involves bringing back some of the good from the past years and bringing it to the present.

Happy Anniversary and thank you for being a loyal reader and friend.  To celebrate our first year, we would love to gift you with this ceramic travel mug, filled with yummy chocolates and a StarBucks Card.

For your chance to win:

  • Leave a comment below

Then one or more of the following:

Winner will be chosen using random.org and will be announced on Tuesday, September 7th.

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{ 6 comments }

Allowances – Good or Bad?

by Dr. Mommy on August 21, 2010

So the topic of allowances has once again come up in our home.  The funniest part is that our older children will take over the conversation and merely answer for us.  You see, we don’t give our children an allowance.  They proceed to tell the younger ones that the reason that we don’t merely ‘give’ them money is because we are preparing them for the ‘real world’.

Wow! I was very impressed with that comment so I allowed them to continue.  So, I asked them, what exactly does that mean?  They proceeded with the explanation that money is something that should be ‘earned’.  They continued with the following: ‘Mom and Dad provide us with food and shelter and clothing and more.  If we ‘want’ something more, than we must earn it.’ Can I just say that hearing that was music to my ears.

It is true that we provide all the necessities for our family and yes, we also provide them with ‘fun and entertaining’ items, but for the most part they have the opportunity to earn money to purchase items they want or desire.  For instance, our children have responsibilities in the household such as cleaning their rooms, helping with the dishes, laundry, and up keep of the home.  However, for extra activities such as cleaning our office, filing, washing the car, or pressure washing the fence they actually will earn money.  The money that is earned is then divided.  They have a savings jar, tithing jar and spending jar.  They make the choices of what to place in each jar.  This teaches them the act of saving and tithing as well.

So, are allowances good or bad? It truly depends on how you determine that in your home.  I am not here to give you the answer to that question.  However, I am here to remind you that our roles as parents is to love, nurture, and teach our children  but also to ultimately prepare them for adulthood.  Our goal in our family is to raise independent thinking children and ones that will learn how to manage their hard earned money.  So far it’s working.  A great example is the following.  My oldest son was ‘given’ a laptop for Christmas one year, because we thought he would need it for his schooling.  Indeed it came in very handy but we also noticed that he was not taking care of it as he should.  Ultimately his computer was hacked and contained numerous viruses to the point of no repair, not to mention that it looked like it had gone through the ringer.  His laptop was literally unrecognizable.  The choice now was to either purchase another laptop for him or have him use his ‘earned’ money to purchase one.  Can you guess what we chose?

Yes, he purchased his own laptop. Amazingly enough, he takes very good care of this laptop unlike the one that was simply given to him.  This example showed us in more ways than one that our children will take care of items more when they purchase them than when they are merely given to them.  Now, don’t misunderstand; we still give our children plenty of things, but costly ones they must earn if not completely at least partly.

So, what do you think? Is allowance good or bad?  Should they earn their money or simply be given it for things that they normally should be responsible for?  Would love your feedback.

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Simple Parenting – No Manuals Necessary

August 12, 2010 Parenting

There is no one easy way to parenting. With that said; you will notice there are different styles of parenting. Yes, I said, different styles.  However, the most recent labels are a bit alarming.  What labels? Perhaps you have heard of helicopter parenting, stealth parenting and even over-protective parenting.  What ever happened to merely, Simple [...]

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16 comments Read the full article →

Learning From Our Kids

August 3, 2010 Parenting

Yes, you read the title correctly…you too can learn from your kids.  You may think I’m contradicting myself but before you say anything…keep reading.  Yes, we are to be the ultimate role models for our children but let’s not forget the lessons they can teach us. For instance, as adults we tend to put limitations [...]

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2 comments Read the full article →

The Ugly Truth Of Parenting

August 1, 2010 Parenting

I may upset a few with this post, but it is something that has been bugging me for quite some time.  What you may ask?  It’s the ugly truth about parenting. Many parents will be disappointed with the actions of their children for some reason or another.  Many still, will think it is the child [...]

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8 comments Read the full article →