LaToya Whitfield, 38, started teaching her nine-year-old twin daughters, Grace and Autumn, ‘real life lessons’ after they demanded expensive dinners twice in one week
A mum has begun teaching her nine-year-old twins “real life lessons” by making them pay rent, imposing fines for untidy rooms and even threatening “eviction”.
LaToya Whitfield, 38, imparts weekly lessons on money, responsibility and the value of hard work to her daughters, Grace and Autumn.
After the girls requested pricey meals twice in a week last month, LaToya set up ‘play money’ and established a weekly payment system.
The twins are required to pay $80 (£58) in rent, $10 (£7) for electricity, and $5 (£3) for WiFi and gas, with the threat of “eviction” to the sunroom if they fail to pay.
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She also penalises them for messy rooms but rewards good grades and behaviour with bonuses. LaToya, an HR recruiter and custom T-shirt business owner from Atlanta, Georgia, said: “I don’t want to make it hard for them.
“I just want to drop the seed inside of them for all of the lessons that they are learning during this time.”
The initiative started a month ago when Grace and Autumn asked to dine at Benihana, a popular Japanese hibachi restaurant, twice in one week.
LaToya recalled: “I asked the girls what they wanted for dinner and they said hibachi which can cost a little pretty penny.
“So I told the girls I didn’t have any more hibachi money this week and I would have to sell more T-shirts or something else in order to make the money.
“One of the girls said didn’t you just get paid and I thought ‘Oh that’s how you think this works’. So I got on Canva and I created a lease for them to make it feel real and it went from there.”
LaToya drafted a mock lease – similar to a rental agreement – outlining the costs Grace and Autumn must cover following payday.
Each Friday, the twins collect a wage slip from their postbox, which they exchange at the family “bank” before settling their dues. Their weekly outgoings include $80 (£59) for rent, $10 (£7) for electricity, and $5 (£3) each for Wi-Fi and gas.
They can also face penalties for leaving their bedroom or bathroom messy, or for failing to tidy up after themselves. If they don’t settle their bills, they risk “eviction” to the sunroom – a comfortable area rebranded as the “streets.”
The mum said: “I hope that this is something that will pop in their mind when they get older and they have to start making these decisions on their own.”
Beyond penalties, Grace and Autumn can receive bonuses for excellent marks or positive conduct, such as practising effective conflict resolution with each other.
LaToya hopes that those real-world lessons will embed sound financial responsibility in her daughters. She said: “The girls are very responsible and self-sufficient. They can cook on a gas stove by themselves and deep clean their bathrooms by themselves.
“They even keep track of their own grades. I am hoping that not only they will learn, but that they will remember this experience forever.”
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