Alex and I have decided that we want to start teaching out kids the value of money. For a while we have given them "coinees" (as they kids call them) for doing little things to help out around the house without being asked. They have slowly graduated to getting dollars from time to time. Well, here lately we have been offering Maddie dollars for every time she wakes up dry, since that has been a struggle for her. Ashton, however, has earned his in all kinds of different ways.
Well, a couple of days ago, I had to run to Target to pick up a handful of things and Ashton and Maddie decided they wanted to carry their wallets and pick out something to buy with their money. Ashton has been our very frugile child that doesn't like to spend any of his money, therefore having a decent amount and Maddie is our child that has a dime and it will be burning a whole in her pocket. So, I knew going in that Maddie wouldn't be able to get much of anything and Ashton would. A problem!!! I thought I could do some damage control before we went in to save myself, so I explained to Maddie that she didn't have as much as Ashton and so she'd probably need to look for something little in the dollar zone at the front of the store. She was fine with it, but couldn't find anything she wanted to buy. We headed off to start tackling my list and she spotted a microphone in the party supply section and we had a winner. YAY! One child down and happy, now just one left. Boy, did I have my hands full with that one. Ashton is so tight with his money that we literally spent more time looking in the isles of toys than I spent collecting ALL the items I needed to get on my list. He was being so picky trying to find the perfect toy that would allow him to have a "great" toy, but yet not spend too much of his money. WOW, it was a process and I was beginning to loose patience. FINALLY he chose a truck pulling a trailered four-wheeler and we were headed for the checkout. I decided that they needed to get the full experience, so I made them pay for their toys each on their own and put their change back inside their wallets. The man at the checkout was very patient with us and the kids felt so big doing it. What I got the biggest kick out of was that they both wanted to keep their receipts! How odd?!?!?! After we got home, they were talking over lunch and I heard Maddie ask Ashton why they had to keep their receipts because threw hers in the trash. LOL I love these two kids and I hope that one day, this process of teaching them about money will pay off.
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