Breeding Philanthropists

I have finally agreed to myself that I DO want to give the kids some allowance (monetary) sometime ago especially after THIS episode with Sya. But still it wasn't an immediate thing, but alas it was something that I felt like giving in the hope of teaching them other things, Insya Allah.

So we sat down and discuss the list of things that they must complete every week in return with some "salary". The earnings is really little actually. Seriously. It's only half of daily allowance to some people. But to them it's really big. You should see their exhilarated look on their face when they put that amount of money into their respective wallets and guard them precious paper, like its the whole gem in the world.

This allowance also come with a warning. If any of the task is incomplete or work is not done to par (my standard), I won't hesitate to cut off 50 dirham of each of the task. There will be checking day which is on Tuesday where preliminary warning is given. Come Friday, if the task is still not completed, I would cut their allowance. And believe me I have done that. There are times that they only get QR1 a week. I am yet to execute that they got none.

You would see them really cleaning up after their Fardhu Ain class on Friday. And you may also witness one of them would complain that the other is doing nothing (always Sya) or that one is doing extra job (always Sya again).

Extra jobs, if considered worthwhile, will be rewarded with bonuses and this is solely my discretion. Ohh I am so powerful.

I also reward things for extra good behaviour: like when they behave when we entertain people, being brave : when they pull out their tooth themselves, when they show tremendous progress : naik juz quran and also doing well in their studies.

Ad these will all be recorded in a balance sheet. A simple one with amount, credit and debit column and balance. And the last check, Batrisyia had her balance sheet not balanced. She had lost her money and also the other week she had more money than what she recorded. Isk isk. I think I need to concentrate on her adding (and subtracting) the bigger number (which is not lah so big).

So far so good. The room was way better than before and the cooperation (and reporting of lack of work) has also increased. But I am also doing this, because I WANT to give them allowance and to have them feel the idea of managing money and earning (somewhat).However, so far they have not been using it. So the balance sheet has always been in the adding column. But Haziq has been planning that when he has reached certain amount, he wants to spend it on something. Well he earns it.

The other day, Sya's school asked if we would like to donate to the fire victims in the Industrial area here. This area also housed rumah kongsi labourers. They lost everything. Their savings. Living quarters. Food. Everything. So I looked for dried food that can be given like flour, sugar, salt, biscuits, milk and also blankets and shirts. I also gave some money.

Then a thought crossed me. I asked the kids, whether they are willing to part with some money to give to these poor people. Amazingly, they said yes without any hesitation. Sya gave half of what she had. Haziq gave slightly less but was still alot.

I was seriously taken aback. It is not easy to part with money especially they did have much to start with. You can tell, I was extremely pleased. And that was the beginning of a bracketed number in their balance sheet.

Sya kept on asking whether Allah would be pleased with her. Oh Sya also mentioned that she took months to collect those. Heh heh. Ada jugak tu.

I seriously wanted to reward them. At first I thought of returning the same amount of money and doubling it. Then I thought it would not be so good. It might take away their "ikhlas" in the future. My lover suggested that we reward them extra during eid without direct mentioning to this philanthropic behaviour.

I know this is only one thing. Doesn't qualify them as anything. But I hope to encourage them to have this value in their life. And pray that Allah makes it easy for us to part with our worldly belonging to help others and eventually help ourselves in the world after.

Seriously that day. I learnt from them.