allowances

in case you haven't noticed, i haven't blogged in a while :) so, i thought i would start off the month of february with a BANG and try to post every day this month! although the last several months have been filled with fun and adventure i've decided to release myself of any need to write about what has happened in the past months (unless of course i want to) and instead focus on what is happening in our lives at this moment.....

today we are introducing allowances to our kids. yes, dave and i may be a bit on the delinquent side of this however we just hadn't ever really sat down and came up with a good system in which to distribute money to our kids and in turn help them to understand what appropriate giving, saving and spending looks like. now i'm not saying we came up with a fool proof plan/idea however i am excited to begin this process of stewardship with our kids.

although all of the kids will be receiving their first allowances this week we decided that the amount in which each child will receive is dependent on their age (caleb $2, Luke $1.50, Lilly $1). however, in an attempt to make our lives easier and help the kids to feel as though things are more equal we came up with "diller dollars", theylook similar but each have a different value. this way we are will be able to distribute our "diller dollars" accordingly each week and then have the kids cash in their "diller dollars" at the end of each month for real money which we can then help them divide into what will be given, saved and available to be spent.
in accordance with receiving their allowances we are also establishing a "responsibilities" sheet for each child. this sheet will list out each of the kids daily & weekly responsibilities which will be expected of them in order to receive their allowance. at this point we have kept them pretty basic, because at the end of the day i really want my kids to stay kids for as long as possible.so, now i'm curious.... parents, how do you "do" allowances with your kids? what are your thoughts on allowances? how did receiving or not receiving an allowance shape you?