Arranged love - jaylor AU

welcome home

- taylors pov - 

After our little talk in the hangout room, I take her back to her room to show her the last bits of it, first her bathroom. «Towels are in the cabinet as well as washcloths. I wasn't sure what hair products you use, but they told me that you had blond hair so I got the same I use but we will figure out what's best for you and what you like. Same with body wash. there is toothbrush, toothpaste and a hairbrush there. As well as hair ties and div bathroom stuff that I figured could come in handy. If you run out of anything, just tell me and I will fix that» I tell her. I show her where the extra toilet paper is in her room but also tell her that the cleaning lady comes Monday through Friday to take care of cleaning and refilling that stuff, so she doesn't need to worry about running out. 

«Here is a hamper that's split. If you could put towels and washcloths in one of them and clothes in the other, it would be helpful so it's easier for Clara to do the laundry» I tell her and show her where it is. I don't know what kind of laundry situation she is used to, so I just tell her what goes on here. «She changes the sheets once a week too so no need to worry about that. If you spill anything on blankets or anything like that you can just put it in the hamper too or give it to me and I will deal with it. It would be nice if you made your bed just like the other kids but don't stress about it» 

Eventually I will set the same expectations as I set for the other kids, obviously age appropriate, but she just moved in so obviously we are going light right now. We want her to be a part of the family in every way and that includes the things the other kids do too. 

«You mean I don't do my own laundry?» She asks timidly and I shake my head «If you really want to, I'm not going to stop you. But the other kids don't do it, so you don't need to do it. I won't make you do something they don't have to do. You're our child too now and we want to treat you like we treat them. With respect, love and reasonable expectations» 

We aren't against discipline as long as it's reasonable and the exceptions are as well. We expect the kids to keep their room tidy, throw away their trash, do their homework, put their clothes and towels in the hampers, if they take out toys, they need to put it back and other things like that. If they do that, they get their allowance, but if they don't, we have a reduction system accordingly to the task. It's our way of making the kids responsible and earn money. If they want something up and beyond that they are free to ask and we will discuss it with them, most of the time we tell them to save if it's something big, or we will negotiate something they can do to earn extra money. How to handle money is a big thing that kids need to learn, ever as young as the twins. Obviously, expectations to them are different than the once we set to Lilly though. 

For Lilly she gets a set amount of money each week transferred to her debit card. before each season we do shopping together so she gets everything she needs clothing wise, but if she wants random things between that she needs to get it herself, she has more than enough money to do it. Sometimes I do get her pieces, but I try to limit it to teach her how to prioritize her money. My parents did that when I was a kid and it made me value money way more than most kids probably do. My family had money to buy me whatever I wanted, but they taught me important values with the use of money. The twins' moneys are in cash for now because they are too young for debit cards. They have wallets for it and piggybanks too. If they want a toy when it's not their birthday, they need to use their allowance. It's obviously less than what Lilly gets though since they are younger and don't have the same need as she does. Elena will fall somewhere between them. 

Our bank has this debit card that's made especially for kids, so Elena will get that because it's easier to handle than cash in our eyes, and safer. But we will probably need to teach her how to use it because I don't think she has used one before, one thing at a time though. We don't want to throw everything at her at once because that would be too much for anyone. But the last thing I want to show her is her phone because it's good to have it if she is too scared to go upstairs to our room if she wakes up at night. That way she can call or text me or Joe so we can go check on her. If I was her, I would probably be too scared to go upstairs to someone's bedroom, so when I was out with Lilly on Saturday, I got a phone for Elena too.