The boy and I were out and about yesterday running errands—haircut
and a bit of shopping. While at
Wal-Mart, I was buying plumbers tape, the boy was browsing the Lego aisle. He had some Valentine money and his
allowance. He spotted a building set
that had 5 mini-figures and two builds for $15.
It fit in his budget and yet he still was having a hard time committing
to the purchase. (It is very hard for
him to spend his own money!) I told him
that with 5 mini-figures in the set, it was a good deal as mini-figures can be
quite costly. After some deliberation, he
decided. (I love it that these decisions
are difficult for him!)
When taking the box to the check-outs he then pondered aloud
if the mini-figures in this set would be some he could trade. Trade?
Yep, trade!
At Legoland the employees will trade mini-figures. Think pin trading with Cast Members at
Disney, but with Lego mini-figures instead.
Ah, we’ve traded pins, we’ve traded Vinylmation, and now we want to
trade mini-figures. Got it.
Our walking conversation continued. When we stay at the Legoland Hotel, there
will be a bucket of Legos in our room.
He said he knew that and was planning on building something. And, we talked about building our own raft at
the Legoland Waterpark.
I asked if he was more excited for Disneyland
or Legoland this summer. He said both,
but Legoland a little bit more. I
understand.
Since our errands were done by lunchtime, the afternoon was
dedicated to building the new set of Legos. At least until it was time for indoor soccer.
Its so nice to see kids learning the value of money. My 6 year old DS wanted a mario kart game and the store had a new one and a used one, the used one was nearly $20 less, so we talked it over and he decided to get the used one and save the $20 to save and put towards another set of Tinker Toys that he wants. He's so proud of earning money and always really gives some serious thought before spending. It's always great to see financially responsible kids. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story! Sounds like it just as "painful" for your son to spend his own money as it is for our son. And, yes, raising children to be financially responsible is another parenting challenge!
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