"Things just never work out for me."
Words similar to these are what Gracie mumbled through her tears Saturday night right before bedtime. Earlier in the evening, she had seen this Crayola item at Target. She and I both were mesmerized by this toy until I saw the $79.99 price tag. That is definitely a "birthday" or "Christmas" item, not an "impulse" item! I know she would love it and I'd love for her to have it, but I'm not about to plunk down 80 bucks on a whim for it.
It's tempting, but I know it wouldn't be the right thing to do. For one thing, $80 is alot of money for this 1 income family. My husband works hard and has a great job, but we have to be sensible. $80 here & there adds up quickly. For another thing, I'm not sure it would be teaching her the right lesson. We're trying hard to teach her that "stuff" isn't important and that she needs to be thankful for what she has and that others aren't as fortunate. (Tough concept for a 5 year old~and a 33 year old!)
Chris told her she could do some odd jobs around the house to save up for it. I quickly looked at him and said under my breath, "It's $80!" I'm thinking, "How much does he expect to pay her for cleaning the bathroom?!?!?" In his defense, he didn't realize it was $80 when he offered this solution to her. (I'm not sure what he was doing when we were discussing the price at Target!) Also, we explained that some jobs she just needs to do because she's a responsible 5 year old, like cleaning her room, taking her dishes to the sink, etc. Earning this money will be for extra jobs like cleaning the bathroom sink and.....I'm not even sure what else. Of course, Chris told her if she mowed the yard he'd just buy it for her! Yea, right!
She's in there right now cleaning the bathroom. She cleaned the sink and is now hanging up all the extra bows that were lying around. She already tried to get me to come help her because "it will just take too long." I told her she didn't want that toy very badly if she was already to give up. She went back and is working hard!
3 comments:
I definitely think you did the right thing--what would life be like if we got everything we wanted right now?
I saw that at Target today from a distance and thought it looked cool. But I had no idea it's going for $80! Yikes!
TEACH HER TO DO LAUNDRY!!!!
Imagine how much easier life would be if you could get that delegated!!
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