Money…

October 15, 2007 /

I have a question for you…a ‘what to do’ type question. Here are the specifics:

Maya’s girl scout troop is planning several outings this year, including a sleepover at the zoo, and two camping trips. The total cost of these outings is somewhere around $150 per scout. Some of this cost may be deferred by cookie money, but not the majority of it. I kind of feel like Maya should put up some of this cash herself, as these are things she is opting to do, rather than school activities, etc.

Maya and I recently split a cat-sitting job for the neighbors’ cats. We went over twice a day…me in the morning, she in the afternoon. I got the ucky job of cleaning the catbox, but she spent more time with them, as she would sit with them for an hour to an hour and a half each day, keeping them company. The neighbors were gone for 2 weeks, so this human contact was important to them. We were paid $100, plus the neighbor made me a lovely necklace. Maya wanted to split the money with me, so I gave her $60, and I took $40, since she spent more time with them and I got a necklace. I then said that my $40 could go toward the girl scout outings, and that she should come up with some of the other money herself.

She had some cash in her wallet lately…$60 from catsitting, some still left from the discounted earrings she bought awhile ago, and some from allowance. But it turns out her school is collecting money to donate to Unicef .  They heard about how much it costs to bring clean water to a village, and what a difference that can mean in the lives of the children there…from being healthier, to being freed from the task of bringing water from the river, and thus being able to go to school for the first time in their lives.  They heard about the education challenge in Iraq, and what Unicef is trying to do to make it safe for children to go to school again.  Maya donated $65 of her own money. (Gulp).

So…I was thinking she would use some of that money for girl scouts, and now it’s gone to more altruistic causes. I have several options, all of which sound fair-ish to me:

1. We can pay for the girl scout outings, reasoning that they are educational and we usually pay for educational things. The problem is that I already told her I wanted her to pay for at least some of it.

2. I can have her ‘savings’ part of her allowance ($1 a week) go toward the scouts, and tell her that we will cover whatever’s left, because she was so generous with her own money.

3. Tell family and friends that what she wants for Christmas this year is money, and tell her to save it for scouting.

4. Make her save the money with her allowance, and if she doesn’t have enough for all of the outings, she doesn’t go on all of the outings. The money isn’t due all at once, some of it not until spring.

5. Some combination of these.

6. Some better solution that I haven’t thought of yet.

So, dear readers, what would YOU do?

14 Comments

  • ML

    October 15, 2007 at 6:40 am

    Maya was VERY generous with her donation to Unicef instead of spending it on herself. Major points in my opinion!

    I opt for #3 – Tell family and friends that what she wants for Christmas this year is money, and tell her to save it for scouting.

  • Ginger

    October 15, 2007 at 11:17 am

    That is really amazing that Maya gave all that money from her own heart (and wallet). I would say #2 or #3. Our kids ask for money (from grandparents) now because they want larger ticket items that we think is too much for one gift.

  • Jenny

    October 15, 2007 at 12:41 pm

    I say that you go with option 1 and option 2. She can pay part since she opted to do it and you pay part because it is educational.

  • ann adams

    October 15, 2007 at 9:53 pm

    Any except #4 which seems extreme since it isn’t as if she spent it all on one trip to the mall.

    Maybe with a stern warning to discuss any altruism with you in future.

  • J

    October 16, 2007 at 6:23 am

    Thanks all. 🙂 She actually DID discuss this with us, and we haven’t yet even determined how much of the costs she was supposed to cover anyway. I have been waiting until we find out from the scouts if they’re actually going to be going on all of these trips, and how much might be covered by cookies before sitting down to make a decision (which is why, as you can tell from Py’s comment, I hadn’t even talked to him about it yet)…but the Unicef threw a new twist in, and I thought it might be interesting to hear what you all thought we might do.

  • Maya's Granny

    October 17, 2007 at 12:31 am

    Ask Maya and Py what they think. She is a smart girl, and it would be respectful to give her a say. Also, as you outline your ideas, don’t be surprised if she comes up with another.