As social distancing and "safer at home" policies ramp up, millions of US parents are working from home and/or homeschooling. In addition to perpetual anxiety and stress management, they're trying to figure out what to prioritize, what to let slide, and how to best organize their kids' time. Is that math lesson a must today? What about a quick bike ride? How much screen time is allowable?
A mom named Stephanie Craig recently took to Facebook to share the genius way she's encouraging her 9-year-old son to spend his time at home: by doing chores to earn Monopoly money, which can be spent on his favorite snacks and activities.
Craig shared photos of the "store" where her son can spend his faux dollars, as well as the ways he can bring in beaucoup bucks.
The mom of one from Austin, Texas, explained that she's working from home for at least the next three weeks, and this is her solution to her child's boredom.
"During my working hours, the store is open," explained Craig in her post. "He can buy TV time, XBox time and game time."
A few examples: Craig's son can earn 50 Monopoly bucks for every 30 minutes of exercise, 20 for cleaning his room, or 10 for doing dishes. Say he makes 100? He'll have 50 to put toward Oreos and 50 for 30 minutes of TV time.
Craig also explained that next week, she'll be homeschooling her son, so his focus will shift.
Since it was posted on March 20, Craig's brilliant idea has earned 361K shares, countless comments and over 100K reactions.
Craig tells CafeMom, "I’m so happy other moms like this idea."
Craig wanted her son to be able to have fun while contributing to their household.
"I knew I’d be working from home and wanted him to have something fun, yet productive to do," she explains. "This allows him to earn screen time and extra snacks instead of just sitting in front of a screen all day."
So far, the 9-year-old is "loving" his mom's plan.
"We’ve gotten a lot more done today than the first day we started it," Craig tells CafeMom.
Plus, the system has a real world application and a built-in math lesson: "He’s also learning to count out money and pay for the things he wants," she points out.
In her latest post, Craig featured a photo of their "shared working/learning space."
The image included printed worksheets and planned activities, as well as a schedule.
Although Craig's son will be focusing more on schoolwork than chores now, the Austin mom reassured her followers that he'll still get to "go shopping," writing, "Don’t worry y’all — he can earn 'store' money when he finishes each subject on his breaks."
No doubt other parents are going to want to jump on Craig's brilliant, interdisciplinary bandwagon.
