Julie Stauffer

Example: Child wants music lessons. Parent pays. Child may or may not
want to go consistently. Does parent let them skip or force
"responsibility"?

Here is my thinking on this. If a child is old enough to research getting
lessons (knows when and where, what type of instrument he/she is interested
in), the child can probably handle a "budget". Why not sit down as a family
discuss how much money is available for things like lessons, classes, toys,
gizmos, etc.? Let the child know how much money they have available to
them, their "budget" if you will, and let them decide how to spend it.

That takes the burden of "money wasted" off the parent if the child isn't
really interested in the class or whatever. The child will choose to spend
money on things they enjoy, just like adults do.

Julie