What was your first allowance?

Since I am taking at random slips of paper from a "journaling jar" that my mother made for me years ago, I do not know what is coming up next. This particular slip is interesting.

I honestly do not remember ever getting an allowance. Sorry, Mom, if you remember differently.

I do remember starting fairly young going out and earning money doing anything I could do. I would help moms around our little community with whatever they needed done and I was capable doing. I never asked for money, but they would usually give me a nickle or sometimes even a dime. That does not seem much now, but in the 1950s that was a treasure for someone under 10.

Five cents would buy two candy bars. I must admit we were not allowed to have candy much then, plus I was not hooked on chocolate as much as now. I did love soda, especially Nehi Grape or Orange sodas. Yummy. Our local market had one of those coolers that you put in your money and then slide the soda off a runner over to where it would come out the cooler. They looked like chest freezers of today, only they were just refrigerators that held sodas. I must admit that I loved going and getting one of those.

I was lucky to live in a small community that had no rules for kids. We could get on our bikes and ride almost anywhere and have a great time. We only had to be home in time for dinner. The market, which was just a tiny little country store, was about 2 miles from my house. So by the time I did the work, got paid, rode my bike to the store, sat and drank the bottle of soda, played on the "monkey bars" at school across the street, and rode back home, no calories were gained. I was always skinny back then.

Since I often watched the neighbors' kids while the moms did their work, the moms became very sure I knew what I was doing and could be trusted to baby sit. This is where I really earned my money. During the summer and on weekends, I would babysit for anyone who called me. I got called often. I started doing this the year I turned 11 or 12. Wow! I was so grown up.

Now remember late 1950s early 1960s this took place. I never stated how much I would work for. Most people were more than generous. I did have one family pay only a penny a hour, which I felt I worked way harder than that. I always had to play with the kids outside, bring them in, bathe them and put them to bed. Then do the dinner dishes and fold the laundry. The rest of the evening was mine to read or watch TV. I guess they felt that was enough or they were too poor to pay more. I accepted it, but I also would wish they would not call on me.

Most others would pay me either 5 cents or 10 cents an hour. One family actually paid 25 cents an hour. That was great because if I worked for 4 hours, I would earn a whole dollar! If we paid a teen or even a pre-teen that amount for four hours work, we would never get them to do anything or get accused of child abuse.

Now let's put into perspective what a dollar would buy then. I started sewing when I was very young and when I was 11 I started sewing my own clothes. Simple blouses and skirts and short pants, but it gave me a bigger wardrobe than I was used to. So patterns cost 10 cents each. Once I bought a pattern, I could make a whole bunch of clothes off the same pattern. Technically that made it a one time purchase for that style. Often I could borrow patterns from neighbors, which dropped my costs down considerably. Fabric, cotton fabric that today costs over $10 a yard, you could buy three yards for a $1, making it 33 cents per yard. Three yards for a small girl was enough to make more than one item.

So I did not get an allowance? So what? I learned how to sell myself as a moms helper. I learned how to babysit. I learned how to work in a kitchen as an assistant. I learned to have a great work ethic, though most of that learning came from my mom and dad.

I am thankful for the training and the freedom I had as I grew up. I am thankful for all those other moms that looked out for me while my mom worked full time. I am thankful for the blessed childhood I had. I wish all kids everywhere could have such a carefree time in their lives.