Do you remember the first thing you bought with money that you saved? I think mine was a box of Drumsticks Sundae Cones, which I bought and then ate all for myself.
Yaks has had his eye on a Buzz Lightyear action figure since summer began. With no birthday or Christmas in sight, we told him that if he wanted it, he was going to have to save for it. We got him a container for his money, and gave him a list of jobs with $$ amounts attached that he could complete in order to earn money for his Buzz.
The weeks dragged on, and on Saturdays we would faithfully go to Wal-Mart and visit Buzz, making sure he was still there. :) I would check the price tag, hoping the price would GO DOWN. Yaks was determined that Buzz would one day be his.
He saved and saved, keeping constant track of his money jar. Occasionally, he would set his sights on something else that he wanted, but all I had to say was, "Well, if you choose to buy that, you'll have to work longer to buy your Buzz." I was so proud to see him turn down other "temptations" and keep on track with his goal.
Family members came to visit us this summer, and kindly gave him jobs (and dollars) to help him out. Thanks, family!
In a world where we can still (despite the economy) can get anything right NOW, I'm proud of Yaks for patiently saving his money and working towards a goal. He's a good example to all of us on how it SHOULD be done.
After a tough lesson in tithing ("Bishop can't take all my money for my Buzz!"), we visited the city over Labor Day weekend with enough money to purchase his toy. He turned over all his wrinkled dollar bills to Josh, and we swiped the debit card and took Buzz home. Finally! Mission: Accomplished.
8 comments:
So funny! We had the same tough lesson last week with Josh! Now he keeps giving me extra pennies to give to the bishop. He's saving for what apparently will amount to the entire collection of Zhu Zhu Pets.
That's wonderful! I need to be better about letting my girls earn their own money and spend it themselves.
Love it....To Infinity and Beyond! I'm a sucker for all things Toy Story, you held out mom, nice going!
I don't think I can remember what a first saved for (although I do remember my old box dived into three sections: save, spend, tithing). I'm sure Ben will remember this lesson!
Yaaay! I'm so glad he was able to get his Buzz! What a determined kid... I'm impressed!
That's such a great idea. I bet the toy will mean even more to him, too.
Yay!! Ben did it! I wish we could have been there with you for the purchase and the opening of the box! We are both amazed at that boys determination and patience, not giving in to other petty distractions along the way (which most DO, even at our age)!
This reminds me of Elder Uchtdorf's talk on patience from last conference. He tells the story about kids not being able to wait to eat an experimental marshmallow and how it was an indication of their future self restraint later in life.
http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1207-20,00.html
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