Don’t Do it Yourself, Do it Together

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Category: Personal Finance Tips

Home is a shared space. The ongoing power struggle may ebb and flow but, at the end of the day, the whole family is in it together. So, lets make it better.

Obviously, like any child watching Saturday morning television knows, you have to ask the bill payers permission before you make a call. However, there’s nothing like working on something to engender a sense of ownership. If you want the whole family to take some responsibility for this shared space, it’s a good idea to get them to invest in it. Now, putting the little one’s pocket money towards the mortgage probably won’t get the desired response but a team effort on the home improvements just might. Improving your home together can increase the family unity, increase your child’s sense of responsibility and increase the value of your home.

So, home improvements can build a sense of camaraderie but this doesn’t have to mean building an extension. There are lots of manageable jobs that the family can work on together.

The summer months are a great time to get out and enjoy the garden. But after a wild winter, it might not be look too inviting. With the children off school for the holidays, your whole team can get out there and make it a better place to be. After all, the family garden should be agreeable to everyone using it. Get the children’s input on the kind of things that the garden should have.

• Patios can be hard work but they can provide a dry place to play through the winter too. This will be the area where you’ll barbeque and sit together outdoors, so talk to the family about it. Again, you want it to feel like a shared space, so make it together.
• A nice piece of lawn is the ideal area for play. However, children also love those secret places and hidden corners. In smaller gardens, a simple open area can be the only way to accommodate the football pitch though. So talk to the children about what it is that they want from their garden. If you have the space, you can always use lawn shapes to create those quiet corners.
• To get you child to start thinking about the upkeep of the garden, get them involved in planting. Try growing fast favourites like runner beans, radishes, and sweet peas. You could even try experimenting with giants, like sunflowers and pumpkins. This won’t only look great in the garden but it will also get them thinking about where their food comes from and the importance of maintaining the space.

As your children get older, the look that they want for their own room is going to evolve with them. If you speak to them about the type of room they want, come to an agreement about what it looks like and then work together to make it a reality, they’ll have a sense of the work that goes into it. This responsibility will promote the upkeep of their new space. They’ll have pride in the space that they’ve had a hand in creating and look after it accordingly.

• The constant struggle to keep their room tidy can be given a massive boost if they have a real desire to keep their room looking it’s best. The best way to generate this sense of pride is by allowing them to set out their vision for the room. Talk about what they want and, within reason, try to accommodate them.
• Creating a window seat can provide an excellent study space and be a lovely, sunny place to sit. However, knowing how quickly a child’s taste can change, rather than building a bench in the window, put a box there. This will allow them to re-organize their room.