Show Me The Money

Day 14/365

Alissa and I have a standing agreement about book orders. She can order up to $5. I used to make her get the $0.99 books and then another $3 book, but now I let her choose as long as it is under $5. When she asked if she could order something in that voice, I knew she was wanting something that was more than $5.

I braced myself for saying no. I'm not very good at it. The "N" word always makes me feel guilty. (Just in case someone reads this that never developed the ability to infer, I feel compelled to add the following disclaimer: By "N" word, I mean "NO." Not that other "n" word. That is not a word I use.)

Being a teacher, I see the result of all different parenting styles. And as much as I would love to give my daughter everything her little heart desires, believe me when I say that is not a good idea.

I set limits. I try to follow through. I try to be consistent. So I force myself to say the "N" word on occasion. (For those with short term memory loss, see the disclaimer above.)

It turns out I was bracing myself for no reason, as I discovered when she said "Well, it's $14." No need to brace to say no this time. I do not spend $14 on books for myself; I am most definitely not going to spend $14 on a book for my 10 year old.

I looked her straight in the eye and said, "No."

But that didn't deter my little angel. She had to show it to me. "It" was an electronic organizer. And you know it must be a good one since it is in the book order for $14!

"Mom, you always say I need to be more organized," was her strong selling point. Poor thing. She doesn't have a chance. She is my daughter after all, and organization is not one of my strongest traits.

Her next selling point was to offer to spend her own money. Alissa doesn't have a lot of her own money. She use to get a small allowance, but once she started participating in high school rodeo's I decided that her allowance needed to go toward her entry fees so that she would understand you have to pay your own way in life. So now her own money basically consist of change she finds laying around the house.

Next thing I know she is informing me that she only needed $2.25.

Yes, you guessed it, I caved. After she went to bed, I found this in my office. The book order was inside the bag. I guess she intended to turn it into her teacher like this. I had a good little chuckle and wrote a check.