A variety of authors have written over the years what should be
the amount of allowance a child is provided with or if a
allowance should be provided at the first place. Different
people follow different practices and the issue here is not
what is better, but rather what parents consider to work best
for their kids. The amount of money a child receives as a
reward or a weekly stipend is not the only thing important.
What I consider to be extremely important is the way kids learn
to spend the money they receive for whatever reason since the
responsibility lessons these practices provide will shape the
children's character and will direct their actions for the rest
of their lives.

I remember one sunny day, while sitting on a bench in my home
city's park and reading a book, that I was given the
opportunity to become a witness of a rather unusual, at least
for my experiences, event. As I was near a children's
playground I was able to hear parents talking to their children
and them screaming their answers, laughing and playing with
friends. At some point, a lady came and sat next to me, holding
a kid's bike. A few minutes later, I watched her son approach
and asking her if she wanted anything. That made me stop
reading and I raised my head to observe the child better. The
boy was not more than ten years old and seemed a very pleasant
and happy kid. He was looking at his mother, who was in her
early forties, while pointing at an ice-cream selling machine a
few meters down the road. I listened to her as she replied that
the ice-cream would not be a good idea for neither of them at
this point, since he was still playing football with his
friends and he has been sweating. An ice-cream or anything
really cold would probably harm his throat and he would not be
able to speak later. The boy heard the reply and as this was
not what he expected to hear, he decided to put on an unhappy
face and beg for the ice-cream. His mother did not back up from
her original decision and argued that since he is a big boy now,
he could make his own decisions. But, since she was still his
mother, she would not jeopardize his health by giving him money
to buy something that could later trouble him. The boy then
decided to follow another strategy and responded that he was
going to buy as many ice-creams as he wanted with the money his
dad has given him earlier during the week, as a reward for his
school performance. The mother agreed that if this was where he
wanted to spend his money on, she was not going to stop him. She
just added at the end, as the kid was looking at her with a
suspicious face since he could not understand why his mother
agreed with his plan, that "in case you do buy the ice-creams
you want now, instead waiting for an hour to eat the one we
have at home, you will decrease the amount you have been saving
in order to buy that special basket you want so much for your
bike. But if this is what you want, I will not stop you."

As one can probably imagine, the boy did not buy the ice-cream,
but instead found the right opportunity to begin describing this
"special" basket and a while later he joined his friends again.
The mother when the kid left the bench smiled and so did I.
What I realized by witnessing this conversation between a
mother and her son, was that kids when treated as adults,
instead of listening to their parents yelling, and threatening
their existence, can become responsible individuals and
understand why some things value more than a simple buying
impulse. It is not only when or how much you reward your child.
It is also how you teach them why and when the money they
received can be spent that counts. I hope I will remember the
incident when my future kid asks me for that exciting,
wonderful, but totally unnecessary thing.

About The Author: Kadence Buchanan writes articles for
http://familyinform ationsource. com/ - In addition, Kadence also
writes articles for http://iwomensworld .net/ and
http://thegemstonec enter.com/