Logan and I went to the dollar store tonight. Originally this was just to pick out some Christmas presents for some dear friends of ours, but when Grandpa heard where we were going he couldn’t resist giving Logan a few dollars of his own to spend while we were there. Logan of course was very excited to get to pick some things out, but more importantly it provided a perfect opportunity to teach him a mini lesson on some rather important topics in today’s society.
While he is only four, he was able to understand that two dollars can only go so far, so he knew he needed to choose wisely. At first he grabbed just about every toy in sight. Then when I reminded him that he only had two dollars he decided which things he really wanted and which ones could wait until next time. After some thought I was surprised that he spent one dollar for him and the other for Grandpa. That sweet little boy wanted Grandpa to have something too, so he sacrificed one of his dollars to get him a toy too.
Logan has always been pretty good with money. He is a good saver. He has a piggy bank full of coins and only uses them if he really, really wants something. If he sees a toy at the store that he just can’t live without, we count his pennies up and see if he has enough, if he does a few little extra jobs around the house for Mommy and Grandma until he does. He knows that he has to work hard for his money and he appreciates things that much more when he was the one that worked for it.