Bribery vs. Work Ethics

Remember the days when a quarter would get you something?

A piece of bubblegum

A pack of Wrigley gum

A phone call at a payphone (I remember when you could page someone with the payphone number and they could call you for free!  I had a great pager when I was in high school.  It was green and alpha-numeric.  I digress.)

For two quarters you could by a soda

Air (for tires)
A pack of baseball cards

But now-a-days a quarter doesn't get you too far.  However, in the Davis household, a quarter will get Maddie up and out of bed, she will do chores, help clean up, set the table, get water in the glasses, and many, many more things.  Kara will eat things she otherwise wouldn't eat.. and So will Andrea (for a couple quarters anyway).  For a dollar or two the dog poop will be scooped, the dishwasher unloaded, the house vacuumed, etc.

At first I though it might be "wrong" to try to "bribe" the kids to do things.  But I am the queen of rationalization and I think that I am not bribing... in fact I am encouraging good work habits and ethics.  I have to get up every morning.  Why?  Because I need to make money.  I have to get up and go to work.  My boss is bribing me with a quarter (obviously on a grander scale) everyday and in order to get it, I have to do certain things.

I would rather reward the kids for doing something to earn money as apposed to dishing out allowance for them doing nothing out of the ordinary.