I have a five-year-old kid who is not familiar with coins and paper bills. Well, they have money lesson in school where they introduce different coins and paper bills. But of course he doesn’t know how to use it, I never gave him money to buy something in store or grocery. He has no allowance in school so I was having dilemma before on how to teach my son to save money. I shared that story here.
If you remember my Smurfs 2 post, my son and I watched a movie together with his classmates. Yes, we had fun but after watching a movie and waiting for his daddy to pick us up, we stroll around the mall. One of his friends wanted to buy Minion so his mom bought the toy. Another friend wanted to buy the same toy and his mom bought it too. They were having fun with the stuffed toy and suddenly one kid said to my son “Kami meron nito, bakit ikaw wala?”
At that moment, my son was sad and felt that he is missing something. He is not saying anything to me but I can see in his eyes and I feel that he wanted me to buy the toy. But I did not buy it. I received a call from his daddy that he was already in the parking lot so I said goodbye to my friends and we left. While walking to the parking lot, my son was walking so slow and I told him to walk fast because his daddy is waiting then when I looked at him, he was already in tears. I asked him, why he is crying?. He said “I want Minion”. I told him that we don’t have money for Minion so I just carried him all the way to the car.
Of course, his daddy asked me why my son was crying and I told him the story. He asked me “Magkano ba yun?”, I said the price and he said: “Mura lang pala bakit di mo binili, kawawa naman Tantan ko (Ethan)”. I can’t remember the exact price but range is P120-170 for mini Minion stuff toy which is not expensive. But I did not buy it because we went to the mall to watch Smurfs 2 and not to buy anything.
I want my son to learn...
1. That we are not rich
We don't come from rich family, we live from paycheck to paycheck and we cannot buy everything for him.
2. Not because his friends have it, he will have it too.
3. If he wants something, he needs to save.
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So few days before his birthday, we bought a piggy bank. I told him to save so we can buy Minion and last weekend we opened the piggy bank and he was able to save P702.55. Since he has no allowance he got coins from loose change, sukli sa pinamalengke, sukli sa tolgate and coins from his daddy’s pocket.
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I asked him, what he wanted to buy and he said: “I want Minion”.
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Deep inside I can still feel the pain “di pala nakalimutan ng anak ko yung time na hindi ko siya binili ng minion” but on the other hand I feel happy because he still remembers what I’ve said. “If you want to buy minion, save for it”. This is just the start of teaching him how to save, I know we have a long way to go.
Care to share some tips.
Galing! That is my daughter:)
ReplyDeleteMy kids are 1 and 2 years old, but we try to teach them early on the art of delayed gratification. We don't want them to grow up thinking that buying on impulse and throwing tantrums to get what they want is okay. Some parents think it's crazy that we let them cry for something so inexpensive, but we believe that this lesson is an essential life lesson.
ReplyDeleteTrue, whether we have the budget for inexpensive toys if there's no reason to buy it, we won't.
DeleteIt is better to start them early. I know its hard when you don't give in immediately to what they want but in the end its them who will benefit from what you're teaching them.
ReplyDeleteSo true. I really need to get my act together and include this in our character training. Although my kids are now seldom bothered when their friends have toys they don't (we went through years of training for this one, too), they need to learn that money does not grow on trees and that though I love him and would love to buy him everything in the world, it's not always right to do so. Thank you for sharing your story! Kudos!
ReplyDeleteKids believe that there's always money in the ATM machine. :)
Delete*though I love them and would buy them everything in the world....
ReplyDelete(sorry, couldn't edit my previous comment)
Naawa ako kay ethan bigla, naiyak ako as in when I was reading this (babaw ko talaga ever)... i'm not sure if I can do this, can't bear seeing kids cry. :( but i don't want my baby to be spoiled so sooner or later, I'll need to learn this too. Sana kayanin ko. Ang galing mo michi!
ReplyDeleteBaka preggy hormones. Mahirap talaga tiisin pero need ng tough love to discipline. :)
DeleteYou know, #2 is a really important lesson. My brother and I had a lot of friends growing up who were really well-off. Sometimes, you can't help but feel jealous, eh. Specially if you're young. But we were taught by our parents to appreciate what we have, and that really made a difference.
ReplyDeleteYes, we should learn to appreciate what we have.
DeleteSaving is really an important lesson for kids to learn. They need to know that if they want something they have to work hard for it and that they have to be patient. Good to know you were able to teach that to your son.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteThank you for the tips. It is important for kids to know the value of things that they already have and the importance of money.
ReplyDeleteGood job! I admire you for sticking to what you said. I, on the other hand, need to learn how I can teach saving and money handling not only to my kids, but to myself!
ReplyDeleteIt's very imporatnt that we teach our kids to save. That's also what I do with my daughter.
ReplyDeleteSaving is very important. These days, better start them young. Many adults now just know how to spend but never save.
ReplyDeleteGreat lesson. Try reading Rich Kid Smart Kid too :)
ReplyDeleteGood job, mommy! My Little One is 2 now (turning 3 very soon) and I just started instilling in her the value of money. It's hard pa naman not to spoil her lalo na when the things she wants are inexpensive nman, Pero in the long run, you have to think nga na it's for their own good.
ReplyDeleteNow, I tell her what we'll be doing when we go to the mall. nd I'm not ashamed to tell her pa na we don't have the budget to buy that now. She's starting to understand naman so now, when I say we don't have money for that, she just stops and thinks then we go walk again.