I forgot to include this information when I posted our chore charts.
I have three children, and every week they take turns being "the special helper." It just rotates. This week, my oldest is my special helper. Next week, it will be my middle child, and then the following week, it will be my youngest; then, it starts over again. I have a chart specifically for the special helper posted. It is in a page protector, and I can use a wet-erase marker to write in who is the special helper that week and then take a wet paper towel or cloth and wipe it off to add a new name the next week. (Yes, I know that was a terrible run-on sentence).
Anyhoo... The Special Helper has extra responsibilities for that one week, such as cleaning out the kitty litter box every morning, using the Dustbuster on the floor and in the kitchen after meals, and helping me with dinner and clearing the table after dinner. They are also the child who I will usually ask to help me with anything else during the week - it helps me to not only pick on one child. :)
The Special Helper also is given extra privileges to go along with those extra responsibilities, such as the first to use the computer during free time, the first scoop of ice cream or the biggest cookie if/when we have dessert, and one-on-one time with Mommy that week. This also helps me to be consistent and fair so that each child doesn't feel like they have to compete to "be first" or compete for my attention.
This has worked really well for us this past school year. Halfway through our school year, my husband and I started talking about allowance. I know there are many schools of thought out there with regards to allowance. I do not claim to have the perfect answer for your family, but this is what works well for our family right now. I'm sure it will change over the years as our children grow, but this is what we have done this year:
Each child has a small plastic cup in a different color with their name on it kept on their school desk. I bought a bunch of raffle tickets - three different colors to match each child's cup. At the beginning of the week, well... actually on Saturday night. Let me back up. Saturday night is our "family night." We usually will have a movie night or a game night on Saturday evenings. Before playing our game or watching our movie, we take care of allowance for the week.
So, on Saturday night, each child is given ten tickets to put in their cup. Each day, they can earn more tickets. They earn tickets for completing their chores and school on time. If they have a bad attitude while doing chores or school, then they do not receive their tickets for that day (and they still have to do what's expected). At the end of the week, on Saturday night, they get their cups, and I get my money jar. :) Each ticket is worth... are you ready for this??... five cents. Yes, just one nickel. We realize it isn't a lot; however, we really can't afford to pay a big allowance, and our children are young enough now that it is sufficient at this time. We are merely trying to teach a few concepts.
We want to teach them that in this world they will have to work to earn a living. They will not just have everything given to them. They must work for it. We also want to reward them for completing their expected tasks with good attitudes. In His word, God Himself blesses and rewards people for making wise and right choices. We also want them to have some experience with money... with spending and saving, etc.
They each have a Giving Bank, which is a bank that has a slot for spending, a slot for saving, and a slot for tithing. Each child has a turn figuring out how much money they are owed. (They are learning math!) Their tickets are exchanged for coins. Then, we help them to divide their money up between each part of their bank. They also put an amount in our "Family Fun Jar." This money is used for whatever we all agree on... going out to Dairy Queen or going out to play miniature golf... we all agree on what we are saving up for and that is what that money is used for.
The kids really enjoy this, and as they have s-l-o-w-l-y saved up spending money, they have sometimes used some of that money to buy themselves a small toy or what not. It's just enough for them to have so they can learn how to handle money (somewhat), and it's not too much that my husband and I can't afford to pay them.
Sometimes if we ask them to do a big, special job that they normally would not do, then we will give them extra tickets - like 20 tickets! That's huge for them! That's only $1 for us, but it seems like a lot to them.
Having their own money has also been a good learning tool in certain situations. For example, when one of my sons broke his sister's special princess pencil, he had to go fetch a quarter out of his spending money and pay restitution to his sister for breaking what belonged to her (along with an appropriate apology). It means more to them when it comes out of their own bank!
These two things - the ticket system and the special helper - have been great tools that have worked well in our family.
How about you? Do you give allowances? How is it determined in your family? How do you determine how much money to give to your child? How do you keep track of it? I'm always interested to hear how other families handle this issue... especially for older children, as mine are growing up fast! :)
Blessings,
 ~LISA
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Of course... that is not yet perfected. Hee hee. But, it does help in that I can just say, "Please go look at your chart... have you done everything?" I put clipart next to each direction so my younger two wouldn't have any problems figuring out what their jobs were.
