Dentistry, Literacy and Currency

I took all the girls to the dentist today for a check.

We actually managed to get there on time despite the girls delaying our departure time. We are still doing a fabulous job of the mornings, but unfortunately the after school pick-up is repeatedly not going as planned. Hopefully being sent to bed 1 hour early tonight will fix the problem!

After “checking in” at the dentist I took all 3 to the bathroom to brush lunch out of their teeth. Leila looked at a sign on the inside of the door and asked “does that say please keep door shut?” It did!

I am so proud!

Leila got to wear the golden cape at school recently because she had learned all the “golden words”. These weren’t even golden words! I love it.

Bethany led the way in the Dentist’s chair, and happily let them clean and polish her teeth, getting a bit giggly in the process. Leila was a bit miffed that her teeth didn’t need cleaning, and (as usual) just about climbed on top of the Dentist to try to get a good look at all the action when her sisters were in the chair. I love how she is interested in that sort of stuff.

And Hannah, well what can I say? She was a total champion. I'm sure the good example of her big sisters made all the difference.  They were very happy to get their “free” toothbrushes on the way out the door. They only cost me $240… (you'd think I'd get toothpaste too).

After the Dentist we picked up some very pretty notebooks to use as bank cards/check books for the girls. I am changing the way I manage the girls savings and personal money, so that it is easier for me (and the girls) to keep track. One problem we have is that the girls lose their money and don’t remember how much they actually had. Also Damien leaves his pocket change lying around all over the house, so it gets a bit confusing. I’ve been worried on occasion that Beth may have eaten from the school canteen rather than her lunch box, and I’m not sure whose money she was spending!

The basic idea is that instead of having a large amount of cash in a jar, carrying too much money around, or having an inaccessible bank account, each child keeps a tally of savings and gift money in their notebook. The book gets taken along when we go shopping. If they want to buy something, they check to see if they have enough money, and then deduct the purchase price from the total (parent to initial the transaction details in the notebook, help work out the new tally if needed, and make the actual physical payment). In the future, I plan to have a jobs-for-credit system instead of pocket money, but not yet. There is a good description of this type of method at a website I like (values parenting).

I think Bethany understood what I was trying to achieve. Later this evening (while I got dinner underway and briefly skyped with Damien) I had the girls hunt around the house for stray coins and notes. Bethany found quite a lot! She wanted to sit down and count it all up, but her rotten mother wanted to serve her dinner, wash her hair and send her to bed early…

Oh, how I love these girls.