September 18, 2012

Time to buy or time to think?

Since it is September, that means parents are apparently supposed to be Christmas shopping. I know this because the giant toy catalog arrived a few days ago. So I grabbed my daughter and we looked through it to see what she likes.

And she proceeded to tell me that she wanted EVERYTHING. She even SANG that statement. I want everything! I want everything!

And while it is typical for children her age to WANT EVERYTHING, I stopped her each time she pointed to something and asked her WHY she wanted it.

What was it about it that she liked so much? Somethings were pretty, other things looked cool and other things she wanted just because she wanted it. It really was quite insightful!

And while I'm all for buying what you want when you can afford it, I also want her when she is older to be an educated consumer. Make sure you really want something before spending the cash on it.

I remember one time when I was a kid I was shopping with my mom and saw these sneakers I really wanted. They were something like 90 dollars. They were multi-colored and reminded me of something Punky Brewster would wear. And I just LOVED Punky.

My mom said I had to do chores to help pay for them and if after that time I still wanted them, we would get them. I never ended up buying them.

Sometimes when you have an entire toy catalog at your fingertips, it can seem like you want EVERYTHING. But when you think about it, take time to ponder it over, the shine on that purchase begins to fade.

Let's hope I remember that when the new iPhone comes out.

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