THE HEART OF A SEMINARIAN

A Roman Catholic Seminarian opens up his Heart and shares the Faith he Loves.

ALLOWANCES & THE LACK OF VOLUNTERS

 

Over the past month in the parish, I have noticed several needs of the parish which can only be addressed by the volunteering of time, talent, and treasure from the parishioners.  This made me wonder if these problems for the parish would be less if parents simply did not give their children allowances.  I am not suggesting that the Church steal kid’s lunch money to help with the problems of the parish, but I am saying that allowances teach kids wrong attitudes on Christian living.

 So why do kids get allowances?  Many advocates of this practice say that an allowance teaches kids financial awareness and responsibility.  By a child earning his/her own money, they would learn about how much things cost and learn about saving money for things without always asking their parents.  (Did I forget any other reasons?) 

 An allowance seems like a good idea on the surface, but it fails in so many aspects. 

 First of all, tell me a kid that receives an allowance that is ever lacking in the area of needs.  There are none; there is no kid using their allowance to buy themselves bread to eat or medicine.  Instead, these kids are given money to spend on their wants.  E In the mindset of a child, every time they receive their allowance, they are triggered to think about their wants.  Once the money hits their hand, they either think of what they are going to immediately buy or what they are saving up to buy.  This is totally different from the mindset of adults, who normally has the initial thought on bills and necessities.

 Secondly, a parent makes the control of spending by a child harder by actually putting money in their hands.  If a parent gives a child money, then what is stopping that child from spending it on candy, soda, other wants, etc.?  To keep control of all money and not give them money is to help them learn financial prudence.  By this way, the child can never misspend and waste their money, but learn why certain things could misspending of money.  If the goal of an allowance is to teach financial responsibility, then there are more productive ways to teach it and for them to understand it.  For starters, involve them in the process of determining the budget by letting them know the money coming in and how the money goes out.  This will help them realize and learn the necessities of real life.  To give an example, let us say that a family would like to go on vacation in the summer.  A parent can show the family budget to the child and talk to the child about options for vacations with their costs.  The child can help determine what trip would fit in the budget or if the child wants a bigger vacation, then he/she can help determine the places in the budget to sacrifice such as clothes or junk food or maybe even cable.  Kids are amazing with what they can do, understand, and be willing to sacrifice. The bottom line is that this method is far more beneficial to financial learning than kid saving his allowance for a video game without any real sacrifice. Also, if the go out shopping for necessities such as clothes or groceries, then involve them by telling them the budget and letting them help with the purchasing choices.  This can be highly effective in regards to school clothes shopping.       

 Lastly, parents need to ask themselves about what an allowance actually teaches a child.  What saddens me about allowances is that it emphasis and creates an individualistic and contractual mentality for the kids.  No longer does a child do work at home because it a part of their familial responsibilities to contribute in the running of the household, but has now turned into $5 for the dishes or $10 for the grass or $8 for babysitting.  An allowance teaches the child to say “What do I get for it?”  Now, parents feel allowances are a quick solution for motivation with grades and chores. 

 What does this have to do with parishes?  As I look at the parish, I realize that many parishioners have the same mentality “What do I get for it?”  Gone are the days that people volunteered and gave to the Church because it is a familial responsibility to their parish family; now are the days of School Parents Volunteer Points for lower tuition and plaques on everything as a result of donations. Another factor too is the smaller sizes of families.   In my observation of large families, sacrifice and service are a vital and integral part of the family life for the child where you will see them take on many responsibilities at home to help their parents.  With the smaller families, there is not that necessity for sacrifice and service. 

 In conclusion, I am not blaming allowances for the lack of giving and volunteering, but I do suggest that allowances do not foster a mentality of sacrifice and service for children.  As I shown earlier, it is not even the best way to teach financial responsibility either. So my point is that I encourage parents to teach and emphasize familial responsibility in their homes without the use of money. By this, children will grow up most likely with a mentality of sacrifice and service for their family.  What do you think about allowances?  Am I wrong or off?

posted by: muniz at 01:50 | link | comments (6) |

NEWS AND NOTES

 

·        6,000 Hits: Friday, my Mom wrote me an e-mail with the subject “6,000 hits” saying “Kev, You just got a 1,000 hits without writing anything.  Is that that good or bad?”   To answer my Mom, that is horrible on my part.  So pray for me that I am able to write more often.  I have talked to my pastor and he told me to make this one of my priorities, so we will see.  The positive thing about this is that I have my schedule in line so I can write more.  Instead of making promises, I will just ask you to pray for me so that I can write more often.  If again it takes a week for me to post, then you have my permission to say bad things about me.  For my Mom, this just means you can continue to do what you always do. (Joking – My Mother is a wonderful person, who I am very lucky to have as my mother.  I LOVE YOU.)  She makes me say that every time I insult her.

 

Also, at each of these milestones, I want to take the time say THANK YOU to everyone who has read my blog and I hope that we may continue in the future to grow and learn from each other. Thanks again.

 

·        World Youth Day in Belleville, IL: This weekend was World Youth Day at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, IL, which was hosted by the Dioceses of Belleville and Springfield in Illinois.  It had a magnificent speaker from Louisiana named Mike Patin and music by Aaron Thompson.  These two were amazing.  Mike had the kids rolling while still bringing home an awesome message.  If anyone reading this was either there this weekend or has ever heard Mike speak, feel free to share your thoughts on his talks.  Aaron Thompson also proved to magnificent.  He is such a talented musician; again feel free to comment on him too.  On my blog, I don’t give praise and links to anyone, so click on their names to view their websites.  Also click here to view Mike Patin’s Blog.  Hats off to the Shrine for putting together another awesome WYD despite the rain.  

 

·        Next Sunday’s scripture.  Just click it.

 

What else?  Any questions or comments?

posted by: muniz at 21:58 | link | comments |

I WAITED 2 WEEKS FOR THIS?

Recently, I was talking with someone who made some very nice comments about this blog.  As she was telling me the postings that she enjoyed reading, I found myself wanting to talk about the content of those postings.  What is my point?  The point is that I realize and I hope you realize too that the postings I make are truly coming from my heart.  I love writing and posting and sharing the things that I love and sharing my thoughts and desires and sharing my life and journey to the priesthood.  I love this and I thank God for giving me the opportunity to do this.  Also, I wanted to thank you for being a part of this, I truly do appreciate it.  There is no special reason for this post; I just found myself reflecting on blogging and missed posting more often.  Excuse me as I stop, because it is really hard to type when your eyes are welling up with tears (joking).  Thanks again.

posted by: muniz at 00:26 | link | comments (1) |

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