Last weekend I was looking for something fun and different to do with Chloe. David was busy for the day and I wanted to do something she’d enjoy. I don’t live in a metropolitan area, so my choices are limited unless I’m willing to drive for a while.
My sister had recently reminded me of the community ice skating rink in our town. It sits back from the road so I had forgotten about it. It’s free for anyone to use, so I thought Chloe and I would check it out. When I was a kid/teenager I knew how to skate and enjoyed it so I thought it would be a fun thing to introduce to Chloe.
I don’t have ice skates anymore and neither does Chloe, so we just walked out on the ice in our boots and pretended to skate. I was showing her how to glide on the ice, rather than take steps. Before long she was giggling and her eyes were sparkling as she watched another little girl glide along in her pretty pink skates. That’s when she said it -
“Mommy, maybe we should buy some skates.”
I’m a mom and she’s my only child. I wanted to toss her in the car and drive the 25 minutes to Walmart and buy some … but I didn’t. That would have taught my daughter to value impulse shopping and instant gratification. Instead, I said -
“Maybe we’ll come skating on our boots a few more times and if that’s still something you think you’d like then I’ll talk to Daddy about saving up some money to buy a pair for you.”
That satisfied her for the moment but as soon as we got home she ran right up to David and told him we needed to save up money for ice skates. It’s cute when your kids get excited about something and they are tough to resist when they ask for something very politely. I went online and found double runner skates for around $20 – not a huge purchase.
The huge-ness of the purchase isn’t the point though. Buying things you don’t need on impulse is the point. We’ve been doing a lot less of that for quite a while now and it feels good. The mom in me wants to say yes to everything Chloe wants but more than that I want her to have a good grasp on how to use money properly. Waiting on purchases is an excellent habit to have. Even though it’s difficult for me to say no, I’m going to because I want to instill healthy spending habits in her young.
She’s asked several times again about the skates, so I think we’ll probably start setting some money aside for them. Do you have any ideas how she could help earn them? She’s only 3-1/2 so she doesn’t get an allowance or anything like that. I was thinking of asking her to help with some extra “chores” like folding laundry with me or feeding the cat all week. Then every time she did a chore we could add the money she “earned” to the savings for the skates. I want her to take ownership of the saving process.
What do you think? How do you teach your kids to think about purchases or to wait on things they want?
Why I do what I do ~ When asking David if we could save the money for the skates, what she actually said was “Daddy, can we ‘up save’ some money for ice skates?” SERIOUSLY difficult to say no to that cuteness.
If you enjoyed this post you may want to subscribe to free updates by RSS feed or Email.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
You gave an excellent on-the-spot answer to Chloe’s question. We haven’t encountered anything like this yet, so I’m interested to hear what your other readers have to say.
I had a thought that you might be able to find a pair of ice skates at a second-hand shop. Especially since Chloe probably won’t wear the same size next year.
Elisa | blissfulE´s last blog ..picture this
I thought of that too Elisa. Our second-hand stores don’t have any. I checked craigslist and ebay too, but with the shipping they end up being the same price as buying them new.
All of our kids have weekly chores. The youngest two, age 6 and 7 get $2 a week and help with sweeping the kitchen floor (since they make the biggest mess of it!), trash collection on Sunday, cleaning their rooms and playroom. Occasionally my youngest will me help dust if he’s in the mood. Sometimes I’ll have them clean the hardwood floors with the swiffer. I probably didn’t have them do too much when they were 3 & 4, other than picking up toys, but folding towels would be a good idea, and helping with emptying the silverware (no knives) out of the dishwasher.
Lisa´s last blog ..Lisa’s Sweet and Spicy Chinese Chicken
I read your blog all the time but never comment. This post inspired me to finally come write something though, because you? Are my hero. This is exactly how I want to react to things when my son starts asking for them (he’s 18mo now). And I love that you point out that it’s not the cost, it’s controlling the impulse- that’s something I tend to forget, and it’s something that leads to $5 here and there and all the sudden you’re $100 off your budget.
As far as earning the money, I’d say picking up toys, but I’m torn on that because that’s something you probably expect her to do for free and you don’t want her to start expecting pay for it. My parents used to have us pick up sticks and leaves in the yard and pay us by the item- same with weeding but they paid more for that. Dusting, folding towels, and basic dish help like Lisa said seem like good ideas. Maybe sorting laundry? That could help her learn colors as a nice bonus.
Cat´s last blog ..Online Dating
We don’t do an allowance. We do have daily responsibilities for each of the kids but we usually reward them for completing all their tasks for the week with a movie night or something. One thing I use for rewards is I have a jar for each girl and we fill it with marbles when we catch her doing something she is supposed to be doing. When it is full she gets a special treat. Though, this takes a while so if you want it full before the ice melts you might want to chose a small jar
Andrea´s last blog ..A whole new world
Oh I like the marbles in a jar idea!
Hi, I’d like to nominate you for a Beautiful Blogger Award. Thanks for doing what you do.
Lisa
Lisa´s last blog ..A Nice Surprise!
I don’t think she’s too young for an allowance. I wouldn’t tie it to chores, but that’s just my personal opinion. It doesn’t need to be much – I think when my son was that age he earned about $1 a week. You could tell her that she is going to start getting an allowance and this is a way that she can earn money for skates. Find a small jar, give her the allowance in coins, and when the jar fills up, she can buy the skates (or something else, of course).
Alison@This Wasn’t In The Plan´s last blog ..Faith and Spending