DD just called me from school to remind ME to sign her Wednesday folder when she gets home. My response "You do know its YOUR responsibility to bring that to me, right?"

"Yes"

"So bring it to me when you get home"

In fact its all of the kids' responsibility to manage their own paperwork. With four kids, work, and studying and trying to keep up with DH's crazy schedule - I can't keep up without their cooperation.

I also make them follow a budget. They had been doing well with it for months, $20 at the start of every month for school lunches at $2/lunch. They'd sit down at the beginning of the month and plan out which days they would buy and which they'd make lunch.

Well, they didn't do that for February and just started buying whenever they felt like it. I got into them today and said they need to have a budget otherwise they are spending money they don't know if they have & then when they run out they'll have to owe the cafeteria money (since I know they won't let them go hungry).

I was tempted to force them to draw up a budget before spending, but then thought... What if I let them fail this time? If they learned the lesson now of what it would be like to owe money and not have any - maybe they wouldn't make the bigger mistakes later in life? If I didn't rescue them when it comes to a $2/lunch - maybe that would be a better lesson.

I swear, if my kids do nothing else... I will be soooo proud of them if they can learn independence, responsibility, and accountability. Because I know if they have those skills, they'll succeed in whatever they put their mind to in life. Of course I'll also teach them about doing things for the benefit of the family & community, but its just soo important to me for them to want more out of life and demand more of themselves.

BTW, this is my 9, soon to be 10, year old. Oddly enough, my 8 year old is more fiscally responsible and can manage her paperwork. Which is surprising because my 9 year old is more conscientious and my 8 year old is more absent-minded. However, the 9 y/o wants to be a fashion designer... the 8 y/o a veterinarian. So I think my 8 y/o developed this philosophy because we tell her all the time that vet school costs a lot of money. Meanwhile, my daughter who wants to be a fashion designer just sees so many things she wants to buy because she loves fashion.

My 5 y/o isn't held to these standards yet. But he's pretty down-to-earth and wants to be a police officer. At this rate, I feel like my 2 y/o could do anything. She's musically inclined and loves animals.