Are you tired of your children trying to convince you to open your wallet?

They use pleas like:

“I'm going to the movies, can I have some money?”

“I want that McDonald's toy mommy”

“Will you buy me this sweater? I need it. Honest. I don't have a blue V neck, only a teal crew neck, a grey boat neck, a green polo and a......”

“Can you buy this book for me? You're supposed to support my reading ya know.”

What do our kids think, that money grows on trees? No, that’s crazy!

Every kid knows money comes from ATM machines. When we tell our children we don’t have any money they say, “just go get some more from the machine.”

I am a big believer in teaching children all about money. It’s a huge topic, starting from what each coin looks like and its worth, to more complex ideas like money management, savings, charitable giving, building credit, taking and replaying loans, the value of purchases and so on.

Money skills are part of life skills. Teaching these skills is a part of responsible parenting. We have to prepare our children for life outside the family nest. Hopefully they’ll have had a chance to build those skills before getting that first student loan. A good first step is to set your child up with an allowance.

Parents often like the “idea” of allowance but don’t know how to go about it. Here are the three most popular questions and their answers so you can get going:

• When should children get allowance?
• How much should they get?
• Should it be tied to chores?

Alyson Schafer is a psychotherapist and one of Canada's leading parenting expert. She is the host of The Parenting Show and author of the best seller " Breaking the Good Mom Myth."

Visit her at www.alyson.ca