The Bank of Reynolds

So we have started something new in our family- or another "PROGRAM THAT MOM WILL DO FOR A WEEK" as Linzie called it.  Actually, despite her lack of faith in me (or her too sharp memory)  we have been doing this for over a month I think now and I see the fruit is forming on the tree!!!  Are you so curious now?  We have started a Family Economy.  So now you are probably wondering what that is.  The short version is that we now have a family bank called the "Bank of Reynolds" that is the funding for all of the Reynolds children's purchases.  The way to earn money is by completing  your jobs and responsibilites throughout the week.  The payment is quite generous, at least for a kid, and even more so if all of you finish all of your jobs.  but in return the kids have to buy all of their wants and needs. 
I can't take credit for the plan, it actually came from Richard and Linda Eyre.  They have inspired me to teach my kids to not be ENTITLED!! I read the book "The Entitlement Trap" and my daughter kept telling me I should put that book down, it was giving me strange ideas.  Now don't get the impression that this has gone smoothly.  It has not.  Don't get the impression the kids love it.  I think they love to hate it but love it.  The cool thing is that they no longer come to me for random purchases and actually think twice about how to spend their money.  In fact, I have heard such phrases as "I'm not paying that much for shipping!" and "I don't want to spend my money on that" thrown around the house... It is like music to my ears!!!
In the long run, I think I actually am spending less than before on kid's wants because they have to make their own purchases rather than asking me for things and the money they are earning is really just the money that I would have spent on them for the same items.  Of all of the methods we have tried in our family to teach financial responsibility, I have to tell you, this is the first one that I feel has really worked.
I especially like that the kids are able to make a goal for something that is important for them and actually feel the satisfaction of earning their own money to purchase it over time.  It is teaching patience and rewarding with personal satisfaction.
The last great thing I found to go along with this is a wonderful phone app called "Bank of Mom" that keeps track of all of my kids' earnings and purchases so we have our own "virtual bank" and the kids always know how much they have and have a record of where their money has gone.

So any of you moms out there looking for a financial solution for your kids, I really recommend this method.  Handling finances is so tricky anyway, I am convinced that start some independence early will pay off (literally) later.

What I have been up to...besides the obvious

This past week was a really exciting one for me..so I thought I should let you know why.  I recently joined the board of an organization called "The Power of Moms".  I was not sure just what my fit was in the organization but knew that if I got my foot in the door and they got to know my strengths that eventually I would find a fit.  My cousin, Saren is one of the founders of Power of Moms and she has been really good at letting me find my niche.  I started as their Twitter person, finding time through the day to post once or twice and retweet some great posts.  The more I learned about the organization I began to gravitate toward possibly writing and speaking (training) for them in online and in workshops and retreats.  This, I knew, would require a lot of familiarity with the messages and some time to attend a retreat for some training.
Well, last week I was able to attend the retreat in Southern California.  I flew out and stayed with my big sister, Beverly.  Not only did I get to have a great visit with her and her husband, Terry,  but I was also able to see Amanda, her daughter and her husband, Kyle, and their sweet daughter, Remi.(Amanda cooked us an amazing dinner!)
I rented a car while I was out there and faced my fear...driving in Southern Cali.  I actually got some help from Bev's GPS (they call her Martha).  Martha and I were great friends by the end of my trip.
On Friday afternoon I drove out to the retreat in La Canada.  We had three hours of training on M.O.M. (Mind Organization for Moms).  If you know me very well you definitely know that I can really use this!! My mind was reeling with all of the info., but I knew that this was gonna be soooo good for me to finally get my schedule and life as a mom more organized and stop missing important events.
Saturday was a full day of training about differents subjects including family economies, discipline ideas, love languages and taking care of mom.  The women were amazing, so many brilliant, beautiful and unique people that all came together to learn from each other and really reach out to meet new people.  We talked about really important things and felt such a sistership while we learned together. 
I came home with a brain full of ways to make my life easier and to help my kids develop into great adults.  The kids have really wondered this week what they have gotten themselves into with mom doing all of this.  But I do feel like I have been empowered to do better and be better.

I plan to begin working toward holding my first workshop in the next couple of months.  I recently wrote an article for the website that I found out will be published soon! I am soo excited to find something like this that I really believe in and that embraces me as much as I embrace it.  I have felt the Spirit pushing me this direction for some time now and definitely know that this is what I should be doing.  I hope to have more to tell you in the future about my new venture.