Our nine year old has been wanting a Very Expensive Doll for quite a while. She actually has one that was given to her as a gift, but, even though she likes it and plays with it, it isn't the exact one she longs for.
After much thought and with our permission, she is planning to use the money she has earned from working for my husband.
She has exactly $100, but we went to the website of the Very Expensive Doll and showed her that with the tax and shipping included, she did not yet have enough money.
Since she is no longer working for Daddy (new job doesn't accommodate child labor), she was very disappointed, so much so that I was tempted to give in and go ahead and make up the difference. Before I could suggest that, though, she had the idea to earn the extra money by cleaning my bedroom and bathroom (including the toilet) each day.
She makes the bed, vacuums, picks up stuff (of which there is plenty, since my bedroom seems to be The Gathering Place), sweeps the bathroom, tidies the counters, and cleans the toilet. For being diligent in doing that each day, we agreed to pay her $3/week.
She has figured that she will have enough to order the doll in three weeks.
Once or twice she has asked if we couldn't just go ahead and order the doll and she could pay us back, and once or twice I have been tempted to say yes, but have thought better of it when I consider the lesson she is learning in perseverance and patience.
Today was her first pay day and she is very excited to see that she is slowly working her way to the goal.
20 comments:
When I was her age I wanted a Very Expensive Doll, too. But my mom told me No in no uncertain terms. So I played pretend with the catalog. lol
Good for her for working for it, and you for not giving in!
I think we have a couple of those Very Expensive Dolls lying around. My dh's aunt sells collectible dolls, so my girls are often blessed with dolls at Christmas.
I think you're teaching your dd a priceless lesson. Have you checked Ebay? I think that's where dh's aunt got a couple of the Very Expensive Dolls. You could combine a lesson in frugality with the lesson in saving for the things you really want. ;-)
Good for you! We did this with our boys when they wanted to go to camp. We told them they had to earn a certain portion of the cost to help out. They brought the borrowing thing up, too and we said no each time. They were so excited to go yesterday and I think it will mean so much more knowing they contributed.
I think the lesson you are teaching her is very important considering our economic times. We just have to learn to teach people that they cannot spend money that they do not yet have!!! She will have learned that important lesson early on in life. Good for you!
I can remember getting a Very Expensive Doll when I was nine. I saved up half of the money and my parents gave me the other half as a birthday present. :-)
Good for her for working so hard to earn her doll! :) We have a handfull of them here--I keep finding them at garage sales. :)
Now teach her a lesson about taxes and take away 1/3 of her hard-earned money and give it to her siblings who were slacking in their chores.
(perhaps you are not so cruel to actually do that...)
Yay for you and for her!! I bet she treasures something she worked so hard for.
Great Post. I have a nine year old who has much less expensive tastes (webkinz) but the same entrepenurial spirit.
Kris, We checked Ebay after you suggested it, and they were HIGHER than from source! Crazy!
Junk Male, No one could be that crue... oh, wait... never mind.
Awesome! I am such a push over I usually give in to the requests to advance the last $1 or $2 in exchange for a certain number of chores but always regret it. It is better to work for it first then get what you want.
What a great idea! She's learning so many great life lessons and how wonderful that she thought of the idea! ...I only wish my kids were old enough to be hired as my maids! :)
awww poor kid. But yea, she sounds very determined to get that doll. :) I shall cheer her on.
But just curious, what doll costs 100$? That's a lot for a doll...well not really. One of my dolls (its a plush of a comic book zombie girl) cost me like...60$. HAHA
What a great way to teach a child the value of things. I keep waiting for our children to wish for something that they don't have so that we can teach them to save for it. However, so far our children have accumulated "large" amounts of cash for birthdays and work and don't spend any of it.
Either they don't know that they can actually purchase things with their money, are very content or we spoil them rotten! :)
What a great job you are doing in traing your child. My 9 year loves those dolls too. I think this may be put to use at our house! Thanks for sharing!
What a great idea.
It really is a valuable lesson, good for you! What a bonus that you get a clean bedroom and bathroom too! I remember working as a child (mowing our lawn) to save up money to buy a pair of binoculars. I still have them too.
And it will be so worth it.
I have to admit, I usually cover shipping. But she will be so proud that she did it herself and take very good care of the doll.
And here is a website to save on very expensive doll clothes--for her future reference: www.dollclothesstore.com
I think it's awesome that she is so willing to work for the items she wants.
It really does help kids learn that if they want something, they need to work for it and it also teaches them to learn to evaluate, "yes it was worth it" or "wow that wasn't worth it"
We just got a catalog for Very Expensive Dolls and my daughter proceeded to go through and circle everything she wanted. When I saw how many things she'd circled I told her to guess how much it would be. She guessed, "$1000". We got the calculator out and found out that she really wasn't close. It was almost $2300! Sorry...NO! :-) She is saving up for some things, but she'll outgrow VED's before he earns that much money.
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