It’s often hard for young kids to separate a need from a want. As parents, it’s our responsibility to help them learn to decipher on their own this difference. Tyler has developed a case of the gimmes. As we plan for our return to New Orleans, part of this planning involves having to totally restock our home including his bedroom, of course. As such, he has come up with a list of items that he wants. Notice I said “want” not “need”.
Some of these items include a candy machine, a file cabinet, a 40-inch plasma TV and a paper shredder. He also wants a tree house (although I have told him repeatedly that all of the trees in the back yard have been cut down) and a workshop with real tools and real wood. The list he came up with ran two pages long and contained maybe 10 items that he actually needed.
After explaining to him the difference between a genuine need and a want, we went over each item on his list and discussed which category each fell into. Of course, he tried to tell me that he needed each item on the list and you know it’s impossible to reason with a six-year-old. However, I’m determined to raise a child who does not feel like he has to have everything he sees. I don’t want “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme” to be his theme song.
One way to teach kids about need versus want is to make them use their allowance to purchase items they want. Tyler receives $6 a week (which will increase by a dollar as he ages) more than enough for him to buy things he wants. For instance, one of the items he wants is this fancy-smancy- CD-Ipod thingy. He saw it in a magazine and he feels like he needs it. Well it costs several hundred dollars and I refuse to buy it but if he wants to save his money and purchase it I have no problem with that. Of course, it’s going to take a while to save up enough to buy it, especially since in the meantime he’s going to want to spend some of his allowance for other things. However, this is one way to teach him the value of money and hopefully stop the gimmes in their track.
See also:
Teaching Your Children the True Value of a Dollar
Teaching Your Kids To Be Fiscally Fit
Five Tips To Help Allowances Work For Your Family