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C brought a large chunk of change to Faire, with the intention of spending a lot of it on rides. He managed that pretty well, as well as tipping several performers and two of the guys running one of the rides (the hammock swings he went on five or six times while waiting for M and S to be done watching the joust).
When he was contemplating spending even more money, I told him he had managed to spend over half his money so far, with very few actual things purchased (he bought a cloth fan and a DVD), and asked him what had he actually gotten out of spending all that money. He looked at me, and told me, "fun!".
......... Damn.
Some people do spend their money to gain experiences, rather than stuff. He got me, he did. Stopped that Mommy lecturing in it's tracks.
Perspective shift for me.
C saved up his money for the past few months, brought it to fair with intention, and had a really good time using his money the way he planned to. He was also incredibly generous - tipping every performer he saw, even if he only caught a small part of their act. He even insisted on paying M back a dollar when he didn't have to (I was elsewhere with his money when C wanted to tip someone, so M gave him a dollar for the tip). C also donated to one of the greyhound guilds.
I'm really proud of him. Dave Ramsey talks about helping kids understand 3 things about money - how to work to earn it, to save it, and to spend it wisely. C spent his money differently than I would have, but he did it thoughtfully and with intention, after saving it up for several months. He has lately been very good about feeding the cat, too. Not the most arduous work for his 3 bucks a week, but hey, he's only 8.
When he was contemplating spending even more money, I told him he had managed to spend over half his money so far, with very few actual things purchased (he bought a cloth fan and a DVD), and asked him what had he actually gotten out of spending all that money. He looked at me, and told me, "fun!".
......... Damn.
Some people do spend their money to gain experiences, rather than stuff. He got me, he did. Stopped that Mommy lecturing in it's tracks.
Perspective shift for me.
C saved up his money for the past few months, brought it to fair with intention, and had a really good time using his money the way he planned to. He was also incredibly generous - tipping every performer he saw, even if he only caught a small part of their act. He even insisted on paying M back a dollar when he didn't have to (I was elsewhere with his money when C wanted to tip someone, so M gave him a dollar for the tip). C also donated to one of the greyhound guilds.
I'm really proud of him. Dave Ramsey talks about helping kids understand 3 things about money - how to work to earn it, to save it, and to spend it wisely. C spent his money differently than I would have, but he did it thoughtfully and with intention, after saving it up for several months. He has lately been very good about feeding the cat, too. Not the most arduous work for his 3 bucks a week, but hey, he's only 8.
