One thing I've always looked forward to is teaching my kids the value of money and wise stewardship. For Orion's birthday, "Neena" gave him $5 in his birthday card. Then Omega remembered the $15 that "Meema" gave her back in June that she never really got to spend. So I gave them their money and we went to the Family Dollar store. It was interesting watching them pick out something to buy. Orion picked out his pretty quickly. He found a tractor (shocking!). We didn't learn till later that it transformed into a robot man. It was $3 so I knew he'd still have enough to give for tithe and a little bit left for "savings." At first Omega picked out a little plastic dollhouse with all kinds of little furniture. I knew immediately that would be a failure of a purchase. I gently reasoned with her that those parts would get lost quickly. The house would break because it was cheap plastic. "But I still want it." she said. I could tell part of her wanting it was that she didn't see anything else. Her eyes were too focused on the toys in boxes that looked appealing. I reasoned some more. "But Omega, you're going to cry when it breaks and get annoyed that you can't find all the parts in a week or so. Let's see if there's something else." So I searched around with her and we found something better. She got 4 squishy/rubbery lizards and a package of 2 scissors. What was really neat about the whole experience is that she intentionally got something that she could share with Orion. Immediately she gave him two lizards and one of the scissors. She experienced more joy when she found something that both of them could enjoy together.
They even had the lizards climbing around in their crumbled up cornbread. Cute huh? I look forward to more teaching opportunities regarding money. Thanks grandparents for helping this valuable character development!
One thing I've always looked forward to is teaching my kids the value of money and wise stewardship. For Orion's birthday, "Neena" gave him $5 in his birthday card. Then Omega remembered the $15 that "Meema" gave her back in June that she never really got to spend. So I gave them their money and we went to the Family Dollar store. It was interesting watching them pick out something to buy. Orion picked out his pretty quickly. He found a tractor (shocking!). We didn't learn till later that it transformed into a robot man. It was $3 so I knew he'd still have enough to give for tithe and a little bit left for "savings." At first Omega picked out a little plastic dollhouse with all kinds of little furniture. I knew immediately that would be a failure of a purchase. I gently reasoned with her that those parts would get lost quickly. The house would break because it was cheap plastic. "But I still want it." she said. I could tell part of her wanting it was that she didn't see anything else. Her eyes were too focused on the toys in boxes that looked appealing. I reasoned some more. "But Omega, you're going to cry when it breaks and get annoyed that you can't find all the parts in a week or so. Let's see if there's something else." So I searched around with her and we found something better. She got 4 squishy/rubbery lizards and a package of 2 scissors. What was really neat about the whole experience is that she intentionally got something that she could share with Orion. Immediately she gave him two lizards and one of the scissors. She experienced more joy when she found something that both of them could enjoy together. 
Is that a "hint, hint" ? lol
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that she was able to listen to you with an open mind and learn from the experience.
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