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My teen son
was away one day last week working with my brother. On his way back home, he
called me with one request. “Ma, can you make spaghetti for dinner.”
The request
was not difficult. However when I
checked the cabinets, I didn’t have any spaghetti sauce, nor enough ingredients
to make homemade sauce. Since Granny was driving him home, I told my son to ask
her to stop by the store for a jar of spaghetti sauce. This would save me time
and I could get the food started.
My son’s
first question was, “Are you going to pay me back if I spend my money?”
“It shouldn’t
cost more than a few dollars,” I said.
“Yeah, but
you don’t know how hard I worked.”
“Hmmm, I
think I know a little about hard work, but just get the sauce and we’ll figure
things out later, I said.
Before the
situation of the spaghetti sauce arose, I’d told my son that he would have to
give me $10 of his hard earned money.
This would be a partial repayment (at a much depreciated value) for a small bathroom
cabinet he sat on and broke. My son’s agreement to this arrangement was a low
grunt, “mmm.”
After a
yummy dinner of spaghetti, garlic toast and tossed salad, I asked my son for my
$10.
“Oh, I have
to get change.”
His belly
was full and I guess he thought my mind was so full that I would forget about
the money he owed me. “Ok, we’ll stop by a store tomorrow and you can get
change.”
The next day
we stopped at a store for snacks and my son was able to get the money he
planned to give me. When we got back in the car he handed me $7.00.
“Where’s the
rest of my money?” I asked.
“I kept the
$3.00 as payment for the spaghetti sauce.”
“That wasn’t
what I planned, but ok.”
I later told
my son that I was planning to take the $10 he would give me and put it into a
bank account for him. I didn’t have to have the money repaid, but I wanted to
be accountable for breaking the cabinet.
Since my son
only gave me $7.00, that’s all that would be deposited into his account. And
that may not make it into his account if I decide to buy lunch. If that
happens, my son would have lost $10 on a $3 jar of spaghetti sauce.
There is a
moral to today’s blog post…don’ try to outsmart your parents, it could be
costly.
What lesson
has your child learned lately?
Hmm, not sure what lesson my children have learned lately, but this is a good post. I have one who always expects to be "repaid" and one who willingly uses her own money, regardless of the situation. The third isn't old enough and has not had enough money in his possession to determine his generosity level yet. :)
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