(Don't you just love these irrelevant pictures?This is a Scottish Highlander Cow over at the fair.)
I am done with school shopping, what with the baby in college and all, and it is not a task that I will miss at all. If I never again have to compete with herds of other harried parents for the last pack of three by five cards in the state or spend money we don't have for expensive gadgets that could be replaced by lined paper and a pencil I will rejoice with hosannas. To never buy another five-inch binder (yeah, I know what they cost) or graphing calculator will make me a very happy woman.
However, a post by my friend Ann, had me remembering just how creative a
They were then permitted to each take a shopping cart and buy exactly what they wanted-the catch being that it had to go them for the whole school year. If they had money left at the end of their initial shopping session (when the prices are lowest and the crowds most insane) they could put it away for school needs during the ensuing year. If they had any left come summer vacation it was theirs for whatever they wanted.
If the clothes they bought were poorly made or seriously ugly, they had to cope with the consequences. Skimping on things on the class lists brought the teacher down on their heads not mine. (Well actually I put my fingers in my ears and hummed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony while the teachers yelled at me on the phone but the offspring had to come up with a way to fulfill their commitments....)
You might expect that this would be fraught with comedy and tragedy and that they ended up short of needed funds, out of paper and bereft of pens.
It wasn't.
They weren't.
Maybe because they were farm kids and simply had to be practical and independent to get from day to day, they did just fine right from the very first year. Alan and Liz, the practical pair, had money left for summer. Becky the generous might have had to borrow paper from someone half way through the year, but she got by and got to choose clothes that she liked (I shuddered but she was happy).
It worked for me too. I was there in the store to offer advice if requested but I never had to fight over what color or price of notebook or tee shirt. If they wanted top of the line stuff they made do with less...willingly because they got to choose between five notebooks for a dollar or one for five dollars.
Today any one of them can take X number of carefully hoarded dollars to the store and come back with the maximum amount of appropriate products that those dollars can purchase. They can grocery shop for the whole family on an extremely tight budget, buy vehicles, animals, feed, or whatever and the oldest is only 24. I know I was a real mean mom, but most days I am quite glad of it.
Posts
13 comments:
What a great way to teach financial responsibility and the virtue of being frugal. I can't think of a better way to introduce kids to the value of a dollar, budgeting, and the consequences of financial decisions than giving them a real world "project" to do, one they have complete vested interest in! I will definitely be trying this with my girls. Mean mom? No way! I say brilliant mom.
Ah but you're a woman after my own heart! I learned a lot of those things the hard way but I learned 'em fast!
You know you LOVED my slogan tee's. Heck you bought some for me! The one with the donkey saying I'm a smart one and the "If at first you don't succeed, lower your expectations" were your purchases. Also I still have some of those shirts. And all of Lizzy and Alan's school supplies are LONG gone. So who got the better deal, hmmm?
Voice in Head
Oh, you old meanie! Look how "bad" those kids turned out too ;)
I wish every mom I have to listen to whining about buying another new laptop for her kids would have been taught by such a mean mother.
I like the idea of letting the son have the cart and go do his shopping then I will go through and weed out what he don't need and so on.
My God. I could wish a mean mom like you for every spoiled, over-indulged, over-monitored kid in this country.
We'd be a heck of a lot better off.
The proof is in the pudding. You should be mighty proud.
Sounds like you did a fine job.
Now, how'd you like to go to Albany and/or Washington and teach those same lessons to our duly elected nit wits?
You have given your children the greatest gifts a parent could give. We had very little when I was growing up and while I hated (or thought I did) growing up with little monetarily - I learned some of my best life lessons from it.
I wish I could do that with my son but I am afraid he would wsnder into the video section and we would be in the store forever. I will be happy when school supply shopping is over for me but have some years to go, the lists they send home seem to be getting longer and I love when they stress what brands to buy also. When I was in school all I remember needing was pens, pencils, paper and folders ( and crayons and tissues in the early years).
You are a damn fine women! Good Job.
I like your style! We were really mean parents also. But I notice that my daughter is teaching her little ones in the same manner. Pretty cool.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/
Sounds to me like you were more of "here's how you learn" Mom than a mean one. I wish all parents would follow your guide.
Kristen, we were fortunate in how it worked out and I suppose it could have been very different....It was nice though, not to have to fight over every pencil. Thanks for your kind words
Linda, My brothers and I had to learn fast when we were kids too. It was a way different world
Beeze, you know I think you are a peach
Nita, thank you. I know just what you mean. Maybe it is a just the farm thing. Sometimes I feel as if I live on a different planet.
Lisa, I suppose we sort of eased them into it. Liz was always very independent and capable and we were looking back and figured out that she has been doing the bulk of her own shopping since fourth grade. I was always there to help them calculate and choose if needed, but they did most of it themselves...and boy was a grateful. lol
Cathy, thank you, I am grateful for them. We have our days like every one does but for the most part they are nice people. I enjoy their company a great deal.
Joated, thanks! Wouldn't that be something? A practical person in Albany or DC? It boggles the mind.
Teri, thanks, you said a mouthful there. So many kids today are downright jaded. It doesn't hurt anyone to grow up with a little less, within reason....makes appreciation for what you eventually do have so much easier.
TMM, I think I got away with it because I really am a meanie. lol. They knew if they didn't purchase what they had to have they wouldn't get it later on my nickle. And I know just what you mean about the burgeoning amount of stuff that is absolutely essential for school today. We did fine with so much less.
Dani, you are a dear and I thank you!
Linda, thanks, that is the proof right there. And I know you have delightful grandkids
IslaG, thank you. Of course I only tell you about the things we manage to do right....lol
Post a Comment