Today I participated in the Warrior Dash in Glenworth Valley, NSW. This is the only Warrior Dash in 2011 outside of the USA, and touted as “The best frickin’ day of your life’, how could you not want to give it a go?
Me and my Turkey leg 🙂
My verdict?
Absolutely glorious fun! Obstacles and mud were the order of the day and there were very happy people all round, in all states of dress (or undress) and covered from head-to-toe in mud. Mud, glorious mud! I ran the race with my buddy Ben and once I got stuck in the mud and lost my shoe, I knew Ben would have gone on ahead. The odd thing is, once I caught up to him he told me he was attempting to catch me as he thought I was ahead of him! Still, the mud pits, water crossings and obstacles were all a great challenge and helped me scoot past some of the field, even with only 1 shoe! I had made the decision to stick with Ben and race together rather than blaze ahead and achieve a great time.
Ben’s friends Alison and Shaun came with us and ran in the next wave, with Alison achieving a sub 42-min run! For some reason the men’s resiults were broken so neither Shain, Ben or I found out our time. It wasn’t a worry as we’d had pies (the meal of champions), Turkey legs and beer and were all very happy bunnies!
What I learnt:
Dried-on mud does keep you warm…for a short while
Dried-on mud causes chafing
You won’t be the first nor will you be the last – there were sprinters, walkers and everything in between. This is something anyone can do of almost any fitness level. I promise you will have fun should you wish to do it 🙂
The black mud was the worst – it stains and stinks and removes shoes very easily!
I lost a shoe in the black mud and donated my remaining shoe to Shoes for Planet Earth. I hope there is a one-legged person out there who can make use of the right shoe!
Turkey legs are pretty meaty and filling, and were a great way to end the day 🙂
If you get the chance to run in one of these, I strongly recommend it! What’d you do this weekend?
This is a continuation of the story of my motorcycle crash on 9th November 2006, 20km out of Orbost on the Bonang Highway in rural Victoria. In this part of the story I will share more of my thoughts, insights, learnings and realisations in the time since the bike crash.
“Any crash you can walk away from, is a good one” – Launchpad McQuack
Crashed VFR800
At the time of the crash all I was thinking about was how to tell my wife that a) I was OK and b) the bike was not. At 7:30pm that night (the first opportunity to relax a little and make the call) I called my wife and said “Hi darling, I’m fine, but I’ve written off the bike”. Succinct enough and should get the important stuff out of the way. Well, it does convey the message succinctly, but no matter how it sounded (both in my head and in actuality), it did not get interpreted the same way. It also didn’t help that the crash happened so far from home and she felt completely helpless – questions start piling up but it’s not the time or place to ask them. To me, I was fine and that’s the most important aspect to it.
One other thing to note: this was a crash. It was an ‘accident’ insofar as it was not intentional (i.e. I did not intend to crash the bike), however I feel calling it a crash is the most realistic way of conveying the event. Plus, the word ‘crash’ also conjures up images of something hitting something else quite hard – which is exactly what happened.
In the weeks and months after the accident, I had been asking/answering questions and pondering quite a bit in the time after the
Having a nap
crash. Questions like:
Did my life flash before my eyes (no)
Did I feel lucky (yes – extremely so – more on this later)
Was I angry about the crash (no – these things do happen)
Was I sad about it (yes)
Did I cause it (yes, I should have read the warning signs re: fatigue and lack of concentration)
Do I know why it happened (yes, with hindsight and calm recollection)
The first question is the most interesting as many people seem to ask it of you when you have a serious crash. It’s true that a crash on a motorcycle is usually far more serious than a crash in a car as you have no crumple zones, airbags or seat belts to help keep you as safe as possible. At no stage did I fear for my life nor see my life flash before my eyes.
Bruised Leg
So what’s changed since the crash?
I now know & ride within my limits. I was fatigued and lacked concentration at the crucial end of the day. I had been riding well up until that point and did not know I had crossed an imaginary boundary that would rob me of such critical skills when I would need them most.
Any group rides have very clear rules set out and understood by all. This is something that will resonate with any of my fellow riders from the East coast on the Black Dog Ride (as part of the Riding4aCause project). I played ‘Dad’ a few times making sure everyone knew where we were headed next and even headed back to chase up the stragglers on a few occasions. To my OzVFR buddies this may be a change from my earlier riding!
No matter what you say, your message may be interpreted differently. What would you say in your first phone call to a loved one to let them know that a) you’re OK and b) the bike (or vehicle) is badly damaged?
I began working from home full-time. At the time, I had all the things in place to do so, but still felt a need to go into the office 4 days a week. Not being able to do more than just hobble around on my sore leg soon showed me I could do my job from home and be just as productive. I had wonderful support from one of the best managers I’ve worked with and she continues to be a wonderful friend and confidant to this day.
I realised I was put on this earth for a reason, and that I had not yet fulfilled it. I wasn’t sure what this was (at the time) but knew I was here to do something wonderful. I spent the next few months trying to work out what that was, but didn’t realise it. You know how the more you look for something the less likely you are to find it? This was one of those moments.
No matter how good you are; you can always be better. Up until the crash I thought my riding was brilliant. We’d
The OzVFR Guys
travelled 650+ km’s from Jindabyne to Orbost and I was feeling good, being able to keep up with the others in most areas (I was not afraid to slow down to a pace I was comfortable with on some of the roads). History shows I didn’t truly learn from this…
This is by no means the end of the story, there are more thoughts to be shared with you in the 3rd and final part of the story where I will expand on the last 2 points and share with you exactly how this crash has changed my life and outlook. How have ‘big events’ in your life changed your views/outlook on life?
This is an abridged version of my motorcycle crash on 9th November 2006, 20km out of Orbost on the Bonang Highway. This is Part 1, with Part 2 to follow soon after. 95% of this was written in December 2006 with a few minor updates made at the time of posting.
I’d gone down to the Snowyride with a few mates from the OzVFR group, and we’d been on a HUGE ride from Jindabyne to Orbost. We’d left the “90km winding road” sign heading up the Bonang Hwy out of Orbost (VIC), and after a few km, the other guys had gone on ahead, with me bringing up the rear.
I’d gone about 20km along the Bonang Hwy when the crash occurred.
Crashed VFR800
I had failed to make a slightly downhill right handed bend, and ended up hitting an embankment then a tree. The bike was dead, and I wasn’t, which is the best part of the story! It happened at 4:40pm. The bike hit the embankment at approx 60km/h, then my thigh and forearm hit the tree (and I still remember both impacts on the tree) My leg was then sandwiched between the bike and the tree.
After it all stopped, I crawled out from under the bike, turned off the ignition and removed the key (One of my mates said “Why – were you afraid someone might come to steal it?“) I did the systems check – fingers…check. Toes…check. Legs…check (although I was able to put weight on my right leg, it was quite sore to begin with, and I hobbled around a bit. Eyes…yes, they could see but weren’t really registering the damage done to the bike (or myself).
I was amazed and astonished that I could stand and hobble around, which I am VERY LUCKY to have been able to do.
Tree damage
I removed my luggage and rummaged for my mobile phone, only to find there was no network coverage. I had a drink of water and wandered around for a few mins with many things racing through my head, including:
“If I call the boys, they can come back and get me“
“I can call Stewie(*), who can rescue the bike – it shouldn’t take too long, we should be home by dinnertime“
“I’ll just pick the bike up and keep riding, just like in MotoGP“
Great thinking when there’s no mobile phone coverage! Anyways, it took a while before someone else came along the road:
about 40 mins after the crash, a fellow on a trail bike [who had somewhere else to go] would alert my mates if he saw them and promised to help on his return journey
A young lady in a car packed to the gills with belongings (and looking deathly frazzled) stopped and offered help in some way, but she looked to be in more trouble than me – kinda like she was running from something or someone!
About an hour after the accident Pete arrived. Pete stayed with me until my mates arrived (they had been a further 50km up the Bonang Hwy before realising I wasn’t coming, and we were reunited about 2 hours after I crashed).
Bruised Thigh
Pete is an absolute champion in the true sense of the word. Typical of most Aussies, he stopped what he was doing to help out – he drove me to hospital in town, picked up his trailer and (with the help of the boys) loaded the bike up and took it back to Pete’s place. I went to hospital for a checkup, no broken anythings just bruising, miraculously! By now we’d realised we had to stay the night in Orbost. We stayed in a motel (arranged by one of the nurses); went to the pub for a beer (the motel called the pub to make sure they were still open for us; and then proceeded to drop us at the pub!
Orbost is full of lovely people and we certainly appreciated their hospitality 🙂
Next day, I called & claimed on insurance, and after saying bye bye to the bike, I was a pillion for the 600-odd km trip back to Jindabyne (the long way).
What contributed to the crash & lessons learned (with the wonderful benefits of hindsight & discussing what happened…)
It was late in the day and we had done 600+km already, fatigue and lack of concentration are likely contributors
I had the wrong line into the corner, with not enough ‘space’ should something go wrong. There was a bump in the road (as I started to tip in) that upset the bike. I must have tried to correct it somehow or probably stood the bike up ready to tip-in again. Either way I was into the grass/leaves/gravel off to the side of the road quite quickly, and it went from there.
My skills in slower/tighter corners was always my weakest point, and something I didn’t readily look forward to a similar incident had occurred earlier in the day when I was distracted by something – again a ‘lack’ of concentration.
AB looking on
As with anything in life, it’s what happens when things go wrong that proves how well you come out of it. I was with a great bunch of the OzVFR guys (AB, Greg, Trev & Dan) who were very accommodating and in a way I felt sorry for them having to endure the event because of my crash. Thanks all.
There will be a follow-up post to this to really bring to light why this crash was one of the most important parts of my life to date. Stay tuned for part 2!
* the owner of the place we stay during the Snowyride…270km away in Jindabyne
On Sunday, I wanted to go for a swim and rallying the family to get ready to get out of the house was proving too difficult. In order to make great use of the beautiful Sydney sunshine, I decided on a slow ride to the beach (I usually like getting the heart rate up and tearing along as quickly as I can). I left everything at home except a beach towel in my backpack. I went down the path of simplicity – no phone, keys, wallet or other belongings!
I can confidently say I still suck at it and still don’t like swimming, BUT decided to spice things up yesterday by adding in other elements of a triathlon (Cycle and Run)! After my slow and stuttery 350m in the water, I went for a soft-sand run, doping 3.5 laps of the beach I was on (later calculated to be 1.2km total).
As I had done the swim and the run, I was left with the cycle – so I rode home (again, at a leisurely pace).
This was mostly a spur-of-the-moment morning, as I’d only decided to go for a swim the night before; the actual decisions made on the day were mostly free-form and made from a just ‘do it’ perspective. Lesson: You don’t have to overanalyse every decision you make – just make it and move on. 🙂
As you may know, I’m comfortable going for a ride (2010 Gongride) or going for a run (my 2010 City 2 Surf story), but leave the swimming to others. I’ve read numerous articles on how great swimming is for you as it’s low impact but a great all-over workout.
I don’t like swimming.
Let me go back a little to fill you in. At school, when they had swimming carnivals (and ‘everyone’ had to participate) I was one of if not THE slowest swimmer. Always last in the last race and likely the last out of the pool. Although some may say it probably scarred me in some way back then, I don’t think I’ve done too badly today for it. I’ve hardly swum in the intervening years, happy to splash around and ‘knowing’ how to swim should the need ever eventuate!
Have I mentioned how I do not like swimming?
As part of my journey to becoming better, one of my main focuses was on exercise – dusting off my bicycle and getting into the cycling, also including some running (check out my 2009 & 2010 goals). 3 weeks ago, I needed to get out of the house (working from home has one major drawback, sometimes you can go a long time without leaving the house, and it does start to mess with your mind and sanity) – it was a beautiful morning, so I packed up the boys and we went to the beach. I had a desire to just go for a swim. After hating it for so long!
I do appear to have absolutely no co-ordination for swimming gracefully. Mentally I know the moves to make, but together, it just doesn’t work. So I plodded along, making the moves, stopping every 15-20m but continued to work at it for a total of approx 300m. I then repeated this feat the following week, and again yesterday.
After 3 early morning swims, I don’t like swimming. I tolerate it. In the words of the Zombiefit team, this is my “ISuckAtThis” exercise!
What about you? What sports/activities do you tolerate in your journey to betterment? Let me know in the comments below!
Note: It’s OK to not be great at everything, in fact I don’t believe I am great at any sport in particular, I just happen to dislike swimming and enjoy running. Please do not see this post as an attack on ‘swimming’ – it’s my view of one of the activities I’ve been performing of late.
Edit: I have just written a quickie post about my own mini Triathlon – read it here: “My Own Tri”
I heard that one of my friends (Roger Lawrence) had taken up a new challenge in time for Christmas. It didn’t take much for me to decide (being the proactive fellow I am) to join him on his quest to be able to perform 100 pushups by Christmas.
Boys & Sand
I invested a few $ in the official app to help me stay on track with the challenge, and so far it has not killed me. I decided to do this to help support Roger (and I found out later, our mutual friend Robin Dickinson), but also to improve one of the 2 things I believe everyone should have: health and fitness. I’ve never been one for feats of strength but know this will benefit me in the future 🙂
Sandringham
Last week I decided to look into completing at least one triathlon (swim, run, cycle) in 2011. Many of you know of my exploits on a bicycle or my penchant for a half-marathon or 2, but nothing about swimming: namely because I have a strong dislike of swimming. In our family, my wife is the swimmer, and I’d be more than happy to do the swimming on behalf of…but it doesn’t work like that! Swimming is my “ISuckAtThis” activity, probably through no fault of its own. I know at school I hated the swimming carnival where they forced everyone to have a go, even when ‘having a go’ included near drownings on a regular scale!
To make the most of the great weather we had on Sunday morning, I took the boys to the beach where they played in the sand and I cranked out 10 laps of the swimming enclosure (approximate 300m or so). I know my form is crap and I had numerous stops (no-one said they were nonstop laps ;-)) but did complete what I set out to achieve. I am not sure how well I will go with the swimming in the future as my breathing sucks and my form is bad, both of which I hope to make better in the future.
It helps that the day started out perfectly – you can see from the pics that the day was simply great, weather-wise. I’ve decided to give swimming a chance; what sport, activity or exercise would you say is your “ISuckAtThis” that you could work on to become better at?
* Edit: I neglected to mention that the idea of the “ISuckAtThis” is not new – I was introduced to it through the Zombiefit Workout of the Day.
I was riding extremely well and even commented to my riding buddy Kenny that I was riding much better than last year – in 2009 I had walked up a few of the hills as I was buggered! We’d been stopping at the major rest stops along the way for a stretch, a feed and a rest. We’d discussed various topics, commented on some of the gear and bikes we saw along the ride. Up the hills I would power my way past a number of other riders, and hang around somewhere near the top for Kenny (more a testament to having shoes that clip into the pedals than anything else :-))
Loftus pit-stop
However, after 70km of the 90km, my right leg cramped up and I could barely ride up any of the remaining hills – some so small you’d swear I was being a wuss! I decided to just keep on pedaling until I reached the finish as I had plenty of gears to help me along. Up the hills I was riding as slow as 8km/h (I’ve famously said that when you ride at less than 6km/h, it’s easier to get off and walk, and I was determined to not have to walk!), but on the flat I was still able to ride above 20km/h. Up the hills I had nothing much left and at the time I thought I’d hit the wall.
I did finish the ride as I don’t stop until I complete my goal!
During the ride I made sure I had a decent rest, food and drink. By the time I had finished the ride I’d drunken more than 4L of water. Perhaps it still wasn’t enough? On the train ride home, Kenny remarked that I didn’t seem my usual self; usually I’d be bouncy and chatty but I just wasn’t – I just wanted to be home lying on the couch. Something was up, but I could not put my finger on it, and I don’t think I worked it out until today.
On the ride
I have had a headache on and off since the end of the ride, as well as feeling exhausted. This isn’t normal, and am wondering if this is a carryover from the cold/flu-like symptoms I’d had a couple of weeks ago? Tomorrow, if I’m not feeling much better, I’ll go and visit my doc.
So, what lessons did I (and can you) learn from this?
Don’t give up – despite feeling bad, I did feel the sense of accomplishment for continuing to stick out the ride. Time will tell if this was the right thing to do. To me, it was.
A continued, small amount of effort can still reap great rewards. Despite riding at 8km/h at some stages, it still helps you progress towards your goal. Sometimes you’ll RUN towards your goals, sometimes you will CRAWL. No matter which it is, you will eventually get there.
If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t – If you’re not feeling well, consider how that affects everything – and get yourself to your doctor.
Along with many other V8 Supercar fans, I was furious & livid (furiously livid?) with Channel 7 for delaying the telecast of the 2010 Bathurst 1000 by up to 37 mins. I, too joined the multitude of people on Twitter to express my anger and disgust at the situation and how it played out. However, here are some of my thoughts and links to other responses on what I think could have been done better on the day. 2 things I’d like to bring your attention to before I start:
(Self-promotion) My passionate side project My Proactive Life is to find ways of doing things ‘better’ – the below is my way of trying to make the TV broadcast ‘better’ next year!
So here’s my list of things that Channel 7 could do better next time:
Tell us (the viewers) what you’re doing: The underlying message (which transpired on the Monday after the race) was that of NMAT: Never Miss A Thing. This is something a number of people picked up on, but had to deduce ourselves. There’s nothing wrong with a desire to ensure viewers “…not miss a moment of action“, but tell us that. Chances are, we’d understand your decision points and ‘live with it’, as opposed to becoming more vitriolic and angry at the lack of information being shared. One of the interesting aspects to this is whether it was advertised as a ‘live’ race or not? Everyone with even a modicum of interest in the Bathurst 1000 knows this to be the pinnacle of Australian Motorsport. Some would argue with the accolades it’s received in the past (including 6 logies since 2000), and the number of cameras/locations they have them (168 in total, embedded in the track, spoiler, mirror, inside the cockpit, under race cars, etc) tells the world “we’re serious about this race more so than any other race on the planet”.Your message got lost somewhere that you had our best interests at heart (NMAT).
You defended yourself the following day (see ‘Horse: has bolted’) by saying “it was never said the race would be live”, but to even say that knowing how prestigious the event it in the eyes of the consumer is a show of utter contempt for the many race fans around the country who could not make it to the race. Are we second-class citizens? Why did residents of South Korea (as an example) get to view the race live? (“I’ve got friends in South Korea that watched the race live, but anyone living in the country where the race is an icon was not afforded the same luxury.” –Mic Cullen)
Don’t point the finger at your business ‘partner’: One of your team blamed V8 Supercars, who in turn said “the decision to time-shift the live telecast was not in its control and the blame lay with the network“. Ouch. You need to respect your business partners and accept responsibility when you can. Both parties.
Social Media is here to stay – don’t ignore it, embrace it: Now we’ve got it, there’s no way it will ever disappear from our lives. No matter which tool (Twitter, chat rooms, Facebook chat, etc) is being used to have the conversation, the conversationsare taking place. You cannot ignore it – race fans (along with NRL fans, AFL fans, soccer fans, and fans of almost any other sport) are using these tools to have a conversation with friends and observers. Twitter is like hanging with ‘mates’ at a virtual pub, you have a yarn, throw around your opinions/ideas and chat about what’s happening in the world. Twitter conversations allow this to be on-topic through the use of hashtags (view the spike in #Bathurst tweets on the 10th October as an example).V8 Supercars fans use Twitter.
Please do not expect your broadcast(s) to be viewed independently any more. At other race meetings, some fans resort to switching off social networking sites when viewing a broadcast (to not spoil the results for themselves). However, when I asked a few of them (through twitter), almost all mentioned that they did not expect time-shifting to occur during the Bathurst telecast. Watching the racing now without twitter is like leaving the pub/dinner party to go home and complete your tax return – Twitter adds a lot of perspective, humour and opinions to the broadcast (you often pick up small details you don’t get from the commentators). The future of any broadcast media consumption (notably television in this instance) will undoubtedly include social media as mentioned by Adam Turner “..people tend to blend television and social media into one activity, watching the television with a notebook or tablet..“
Channel 7, you need to find a way to integrate Social Media more into your TV broadcasts. It’s a complementary (not replacement) technology. Break away from your traditional media tag and become a revolutionary. It doesn’t take much! If you need help with this, please let me know, as a fan of both V8Supercars and social networking I’d love to be involved to making things better!
Here are some other thoughts:
You had 168 cameras, but we hardly saw more than a few seconds of some of them – I do not recall seeing the wing-mirror cam on Mark Winterbottom’s car except in the top 10 shootout. We saw a few seconds of footage from the rear wheel camera on Rick Kelly’s car. My tip: we need more Picture-in-Picture (PIP) footage. Showing a lap of Mt Panorama with no commentary: PIP the footwell camera footage with the external view + include an under-car camera as well. AND do more of it!
PIP your ads – I’d be happy for you to do a PIP of an ad with audio whilst being able to see the the race continue in the main screen. If something major happens in the race, immediately switch to it (like Channel 10 used to do). I believe this could have worked well in 2010 as some of the race without safety cars was mundane. We see more racing AND you get to show ads.
Release a DVD set of the entire race alongside the ‘packaged and polished’ highlights DVD. Do it. There’s a market out there.
Broadcast it in HD. Please don’t use the “Delhi Commonwealth Games” excuse for not having HD cameras in 2011. As mentioned earlier, this is the pinnacle of Motorsport in Australia. Treat it as such. If you can’t, tell us.
Talk to us. Don’t leave the conversation to be too one-sided. Mark Beretta is one of the beacons of greatness in your organisation, but he needs help and support from above.
The tweet that sums up my post
Oh and to the advertisers:
KFC, I will NEVER leave my house to buy your products during a race broadcast! If you offered zinger burgers by home delivery (in under 2 mins) it may be a different story 🙂
Armor All: no-one’s likely to polish their car during the race. Reminding us 27 times won’t change us.
Super Cheap Auto: your stuff will still be there on Monday 🙂
What’re your thoughts on the 2010 Bathurst TV coverage?
If you are wondering how you can get more done (this could be seen as doing something better than you are currently), here’s a fabulous, succinct response to a question posed to David Allen (the fellow behind the Getting Things Done (GTD) movement).
—
Q: What’s the one thing that we do that gets in the way of us being productive?
A: It’s not one thing, but five, all wrapped together:
People keep stuff in their head.
They don’t decide what they need to do about stuff they know they need to do something about.
They don’t organize action reminders and support materials in functional categories.
They don’t maintain and review a complete and objective inventory of their commitments.
Then they waste energy and burn out, allowing their busy-ness to be driven by what’s latest and loudest, hoping it’s the right thing to do but never feeling the relief that it is.
—
You may or may not agree with the concept of GTD, but in David’s answer above, I am sure you can identify one (or more) in yourself that you can work to improve on! For me, the 1st is the one that affects me the most, and as of mid-October, is something I’ve been proactively working on through the use of better application of technology. I’ll share more with you soon!
Give yourself 1 min to think through the list above – identify one thing you could do now to improve & leave your response in the comments below!
In 2010 we implemented a pocket money system for our boys (now 5 & 8). Once we decided that we will provide pocket money to the boys, we discussed whether or not to make it earning-based or simply as a treat/reward. There are 2 main schools of thought on this:
Pocket money for no reason
Pocket Money for completing certain {household} tasks
Pocket Money for no reason: We decided against this one fairly early on as it does not mirror the reality in everyday life. No-one gives you money ‘for no reason’ in our society. One of the goals of parenting is to raise functioning members of society, and to us, one way to help with this is to try and mirror the real life ’employment’ model to help them understand how money works. In other words: you have to perform something in order to receive payment.
For this reason we opted for model 2: They would receive payment for completing certain household duties every week. Some duties are mandatory to receiving their pocket money, however there are other tasks available to allow them to earn a little more if they wish to! However, there are sites/articles explaining that this could be fraught with danger (such as this raisingchildren.net.au article). However, to try and prepare our children to contribute to society/understand how the world works, we decided to push on with this model, and for our family, it works.
What they need to do – The Basics & the Extras
The Basics: Here’s the standard list of duties:
Making their bed
Putting their clothes away,
Keeping their room tidy (relatively speaking)
Packing away toys (especially in the lounge as we don’t have a large place so no rumpus room for our boys to spread their stuff)
Unloading the dishwasher
They also have a rotating roster for setting/clearing the table at dinner time, putting the rubbish out and watering the plants
The Extras: Here are the tasks that can earn them extra (note most of these are performed in conjunction with one of us):
The boys each have 4 moneyboxes (combination of jars + moneyboxes) that relate to the following categories. There are rules around what they can spend their money on, and in essence they do not need to spend money on Clothes or food or any other necessities:
Long-term saving (20%)
Mid-term saving (40%)
Spending (30%)
Charity (10%)
Long-term saving: This is for once-a-year purchases, such as Christmas presents and a birthday present for their brother.
Mid-term saving: Similar to long-term, this can only be accessed every 3 months and can be used to supplement Spending, should the need arise. The goal of this is to use it to save money for something for themselves. So far it’s been used to buy toys and a video game.
Spending: This is their money to do what they like with. If they wish to go to the corner-shop and buy lollies and ice cream – they’re welcome to! If they want to buy bread to feed to the local birds – they’re welcome to! We will offer suggestions on what may have longer-term value (a lolly is gone quickly, a toy car or pack of cards will last longer).
Charity: This money is used for donations to any worthy cause. Quite often during the year, the school will require a gold-coin donation to participate in mufti-days or special activities. We also encourage the boys to regularly donate some of their money to charities.
Why we’ve chosen this & Our hopes
We’re doing this to teach our boys the value of money (we believe it’s best to learn it in the home and learn it early!)
It’s also important to teach them how to handle money
We wanted to balance the concept of spending (immediate gratification) and saving (delayed gratification[1]). Another way to look at it is to determine what is worth buying now vs. worth saving for.
It’s hoped our boys will eventually become better members of society; through understanding the link between work and reward, as well as being able to manage money and not fall into the trap of excess consumption.
I would love to hear from other parents out there (either for or against pocket money for kids) – leave a comment!
