A pretty common phrase heard in homes now days is, "What about my allowance mom?" For generations the debate about allowance has been a hot topic. Child development professionals and parents have discussed these issues about allowance for years. I know that numerous children received an allowance when I was a child and that was a few years ago, and everybody seemed to have different amounts of money, chores, and even school marks needed to get their allowance. Some parents do not agree with paying their children, my parents were of this belief. I was actually a minority in the allowance receiving world, which I am not sure was a good thing or not. As a child that never received an allowance I was still able to learn the value of money and learn how to save.

Many professionals talk about allowance's as an important tool to teach kids how to be financially responsible, teach them the relationship between working and money, and finally that money does not grow on trees, it's not unlimited. It is also felt that children need to learn about finances at an early age as they develop spending habits younger as well. Some professionals even believe the constant pleading and begging can I? Can I have? That occurs on every shopping trip you may attempt taking your kids on, can be stopped with an allowance. I'm not so sure about this, I found that my children would come up with logical rational as to why it would be better for me to pay for an item rather than them depleting their savings to buy yet a larger item. Especially if their savings were made up of "gift" money because "Grandpa wouldn't want me to use it on gum Mom". There have been many debates about allowance among professionals as well as parents and kids.

So, what about their allowance is soo great? I'm not so sure. As a kid that didn't receive an allowance I didn't miss out on learning the importance of finances, nor did I believe that we had an unlimited supply of money. Therefore, teaching children the value of money is achievable without an allowance.

The next big question is; at what age should a child get an allowance? Some believe that an allowance should be started as soon as a child begins to ask questions about money. That means that starting an allowance at age three is not unheard of. In my opinion the child should be able to understand what money is prior to even discussing an allowance. Others have said that by the time a child enters school they should start receiving an allowance.

Parents should think about what expectations they have of their child in order for them to earn their allowance. Should parents pay children for doing chores or not. Some believe that paying a child to participate in a family, and help with household chores is plain crazy. The feeling is that the parent doesn't get paid for running a household so why should a kid. Children need to learn the importance of freely participating in their families and home lives. Others feel paying money for chores done is what an allowance is all about. During my research I found that many child development experts feel that chores and an allowance go hand in hand.

Deciding what chores should be paid for and what chores should be done as an activity of daily living can be very difficult. Or should a child be paid an allowance even if they didn't complete their chores? Kids lives can become very busy. What with sports, music, and of course homework they may not have a great deal of time to complete their chores. Time scheduling usually is not the child's decision rather it is the soccer teams, cheer leading squad or even the teachers expectations that rule how the child's time is spent. So should they be penalized for not doing chores when they had to complete a power point about the life span of a frog? If anything I feel that encouraging the child to do their best work is way more important than doing a certain chore. One should keep in mind the child's time restraints when thinking about their allowances. Schools have the kids doing tons of homework at home, not to mention the amount of time that the child is expected to read each day. And of course children need time to play and grow relationships with their own friends.

Some experts feel that giving an allowance for a child for obtaining a certain mark in school is a great way to motivate kids. I feel that school marks should be a reflection of the child's best effort in school and not about an allowance. My concern is what to do when there are two or three children in the home with different grade averages, do they receive the same allowance or not. Or maybe one child finds school easy where another has to struggle for good marks. If you are paying the allowance on the grounds of effort made then the child who had to work so much harder for the same mark should get paid more. This isn't very realistic, and almost impossible to fairly pay kids equally.

Lastly deciding what amount of an allowance should be paid also is debated. My parents would allow me to go to the corner store with twenty five cents and I would come home with a bag full of candies and feel great pride that I was able to spend my money so thriftily. Although twenty five cents isn't going to work now days, that's for sure. The experts have also come up with rules to calculate allowance amounts. Giving a child fifty cents or a dollar multiplied by their age is one option. Determining the amount of money that you already spend during the ongoing Can I? Please!! shopping tours is yet another.

In conclusion I found that there are many child development experts and financial experts who have come up with a huge amount of rules and regulations about allowances. And I'm not so sure I agree with them or not. It may be because it was how I was raised but I think that no allowance might be the right answer. And, as my parents did, reward the child with an allowance, of sorts, for good behaviour. Of course good behaviour includes doing your chores, doing your best at school and obeying your parents always. Rather than handing over the dough every Friday without fail why can't you give a sort of allowance when ever? I especially enjoy giving my kids an allowance when they are least expecting it. It teaches them that good behaviour really is worth it, and that I'm actually paying attention to them and noticing what they are doing, good or bad. So Mom, when they ask, "WHAT ABOUT MY ALLOWANCE?" You can always answer " Yes son, and what about your allowance are we talking about THIS week?"

Come and check out my new website at http://www.talkaboutkidsissues.com. It's a brand new way to help parents understand and cope with today's kids issues. Allowing parents to take time to talk about their kids issues and get some parenting advice for themselves.

Entertaining tell all's from author Leanne Ferguson, a single mother of two teenagers.A nurse of 22 years, Leanne gives to the community, posting informative articles about keeping kids and families healthy. This recently divorced mom has had real life difficulties, kids issues and problems of her own. Writing stories based on her own life to help others in the same shoes. Articles about allowance, dealing with summertime and kids, how to come up with an allowance amount, sending kids to ranch camp, kids fitness and so much more. Sending out some advice for parents letting them know that she has been through kids issues too. How she has handled some of the ups and downs in life and survived. Even her kids survived.

By Leanne Ferguson

Good things can come from sour lemons – at least sometimes. Today at our church a merry gaggle of children organized a “Lemon-Aid” stand – complete with splattery hand-lettered signs. The lemonade tasted great, the customer service was fabulous and dollar bills fell into the collection basket. All of the proceeds will go to relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims.

It was a bright spot in a bleak week. If you’re like our family – you’ve watched the images on the news showing horrific devastation, separated loved ones, people pushed to the brink of endurance, and communities on the threshold of despair. The human suffering oozing from our TV screens is overwhelming and painful.

If you’re not in the gulf states, it’s easy to turn away and nuzzle back into our daily routines – and push the human tragedy from our minds. But we shouldn’t. Each of us can do something. This is the time to teach our children about giving back to the community and helping neighbors in need. There are lots of ways for your family to make a difference. Here’s ten ideas:
(1) Donate money together. Money is what is most needed after a disaster. Decide as a family to take money that your family had planned to use for something else – a dinner out at a restaurant, a special purchase, movie tickets – and donate it to help hurricane victims. Downscale your other activities appropriately – and you’ll teach your children money management as well as charity. Donate through the American Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund at 1-800-HELP-NOW or www.redcross.org.
To help your children understand where their money goes, talk about the meals and services the Red Cross provides to victims and visit their website for updates on relief efforts. Often the story vignettes online sharing an affected family’s story can drive home how important your donation is. If you’d like to explore donating to another relief group, CNN has compiled a list with links to aid agencies.

(2) Talk about the storm’s impact on pets and donate funds to aid in animal recovery. If your children love animals, the ASPCA, has a Hurricane Katrina relief fund to help reunite families with their pets and rebuild shattered shelter programs. Additionally, the Noah’s Wish shelter in Slidell has a large effort underway to reunite stranded pets with their owners and is accepting donations to support their shelter housing hundreds of animals separated from their owners by Hurricane Katrina. You can see pictures of pets online and talk with your children about how a family might feel about getting a lost pet returned after a disaster of this magnitude.

(3) Send a health kit, blanket kit or school kit. Thousands of families need the most basic supplies. The United Methodist Committee on Relief has packing lists online for organizing these easy kits. Many families and congregations like packing these kits because the aid is tangible – and you know that people in need will use items you personally pack. The United Methodist Church has a disaster response effort underway in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. Health kits and blankets are especially needed, and you can get packing instructions online.

(4) Pack a family food box. Louisiana Southern Baptists are accepting donations of “family food boxes” to help families get back on their feet. Each box contains dried food products to help families get back on their feet. It’s very important that packing instructions be followed exactly. This can be a fun family, neighborhood or church project and you can download packing instructions and photos of a properly packed box online.

(5) Organize a tool or blanket drive. Church World Service is encouraging congregations to collect blankets and tools. They can provide you with a video and other information to help you conduct a blanket and tool drive in your church.

(6) Help your children or teens hold a fundraiser. The “Lemon-Aid” stand is a great example of young people taking initiative to make a difference. Your children can probably come up with plenty of ways to secure donations to help hurricane relief. They can make “hurricane relief” bands, organize a bake sale, babysit and donate their proceeds, etc. If you want to multiply your efforts, invite your children’s sports team, club, or school to participate. Youth Service America has posted a website loaded with ideas.

(7) Adopt a school or club. Your child’s school or youth organization could “adopt a school” or “adopt a chapter” in Alabama, Louisiana or Mississippi that needs help recovering from the storm and develop a longer-term relationship. For example, the Louisiana 4-H Foundation has set up a relief fund to aid employees. Girls Scouts USA and Boy Scouts USA have issued suggestions for ways to involve local chapters.

(8) Plan a longer term service-learning project in partnership with young people. The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse has compiled a guide to help young people, college students and teachers planning service-learning projects to respond to Hurricane Katrina. Service learning projects typically involve assessing a need, designing a project to meet the need, and active reflection while the young person is implementing the project.

(9) Volunteer with your local chapter of the American Red Cross. Due to the ongoing disaster relief effort, more than 4,000 Red Cross volunteers have left their families and gone to the disaster zone. Local chapters will need even more volunteers to help with needs at home and answer increased calls from the public. Volunteering as a family or on your own can be a rewarding experience.

(10) Publicize relief efforts and invite others to help. Issue a press release about your relief project and invite others in your community to help. Place website banners for the American Red Cross on your organization, family or business website. Many religious groups have bulletin inserts or fliers for distribution at services – download these fliers online and distribute them.