The Value of a Dollar

I was heading off to go shopping yesterday for baby formula (can I say I will be so glad when the baby can have whole milk?!), when my daughter informed me she wanted to come along. “Can I buy something?” she wanted to know. Which means, “Can I buy something from the candy aisle that will rot my teeth out and send me on a two-hour sugar high?”

I said, she needed to use money from her own bank. She disappeared upstairs and returned a few moments later. I asked how much she’d brought. She held out a handful of pennies.

Me: Um, honey, that’s not enough to buy candy. Eight cents won’t get you anything.

Her: But I have a lot!

Me: But it costs much more than that. You need at least a dollar.

Her: Oh. Well, how about this? (holds out a folded dollar bill)

Note: The last time I checked, the girl didn’t have much more than pocket change in her bank.

Me: Where did you get that?

Her: (looks guilty) Um, I found it.

Me: WHERE did you find it?

Her: (shifts feet around) In (older brother)’s bank.

Me: Does your brother know about this?

Her: No.

I explained to her that theft was not acceptable, and she had to use her own money, not her brother’s. She seemed somewhat confused about this, because after all, she FOUND the money.

It all worked out, however. Her brother decided to join us, and he was fine with giving her a dollar as long as she cleaned his room.

However, when we reached the store, my son got the idea that he wanted to buy a toy with his dollar. I let him walk through the aisles, and his jaw dropped at the prices. He couldn’t believe that the Batman toys he lusted after were $19.95 and up. Even the cheap plastic light saber was $7.95. He was nearly in tears when we left the section because he really didn’t realize how much things cost. I reminded him that he could write down the price of something he wanted, save up to buy it, and then we’d go back. Still, he was very discouraged to find out how little a dollar really is. I think it was a good lesson for him.

Pretty soon, we’ll have to figure out the whole allowance thing. I haven’t decided whether to just let him have a set amount for spending money, whether to have him do extra chores, or what. What did your parents do for you when you were growing up? Mine gave me a set allowance of around $5 a week.