05/08/2023
This is a face of a boy who just brought something with his OWN money for the very first time.
Do you remember the feeling you had the first time you saved up money and actually bought something with that money? Neither do I, but I wished I did because if you think about it, it’s a big accomplishment!
When we go out, of course as any kid would, my son Vince will ask me for toys, snacks, to play arcade games, etc.
As a parent, I want to be able to give him anything and everything he wants, but I don’t want to spoil him rotten. Sometimes I let him choose just one thing up to a certain amount, and other times it’s a “no.”
This past birthday, V received a wallet as a gift. And since then, he has been saving money that he’s received from family members, for doing chores, etc.
Now, when we go out and he says he wants something in particular, I tell him he can get it if he can pay for it out of his own money. His responses vary between “Noooo, mommy why can’t YOU just get it for me?” to “Ok, then I don’t want it.”
Recently, a classmate of his got a Lego backpack and being a huge Lego fan himself, he said he wanted one too. Every few days he would bring it up again so I knew this is not a one-time phase but something he set his sights on. So for the past few months when he says he wants something, I tell him that he can absolutely buy it so long as he can afford it using his own money, but the caveat is that if he spends his money on say the bouncy ball he’s contemplating on purchasing now, it’ll set him back that amount from purchasing the Lego backpack that he so wants. He would think about it for a minute and inevitably he puts the bouncy ball back on the store shelf.
Fast forward to this past weekend when we went to Legoland. At the end of the day, we made our way to the main Legoland store and we went up and down every aisle as to not miss seeing all the different options the store offered.
When V saw the row of brick backpacks lined up, he knew he wanted a red one. But it didn’t seem like it was our lucky day because they had every color except red. My heart sank.
(Continued in comments)