It may be junk to you, but it's not junk to me!
This summer, we had a little weekend getaway in Kingston, Ontario. During our last day, we visited Fort Henry and stopped in at their gift shop. Like a typical kid, my daughter kept asking for this and that. There was no real rhyme or reason for her requests other than she just wanted something. Anything.
At one point, I got a little impatient with her and said that I wasn't about to waste money on junk, something that she'll just discard in a few months, or maybe even in just a few days. (The item in question was a small plush toy goat.)
Well that's when she freaked out and yelled at me "I'm so sick of you saying these things are junk. They may be junk to you, but they're not junk to me!"
In all fairness, my daughter has a greater challenge controlling her emotions than the average kid and tends to overreact at first when things don't go her way. She's working on it. And although these reactions are often very unpleasant, I really admire the fact that she can speak her mind.
While it may be true that junk for me might be treasure for her or another person, I'm the parent. While she's in my house and I'm paying for her things, I will not be contributing to acquiring these types treasures. If they mean so much to her, then it's up to her to earn or save up the money and pay for them herself.
I've often acquiesced to her requests only to end up utterly frustrated and insulted to find the so called treasure destroyed because it had been lying on the floor and was stepped on, or crushed by another so called treasure.
While I do like making her happy, part of my job as a parent is to teach her what I think is right. At the moment, I think that spending money on necessities and experiences is much better than spending it on transient treasures.
At one point, I got a little impatient with her and said that I wasn't about to waste money on junk, something that she'll just discard in a few months, or maybe even in just a few days. (The item in question was a small plush toy goat.)
Well that's when she freaked out and yelled at me "I'm so sick of you saying these things are junk. They may be junk to you, but they're not junk to me!"
In all fairness, my daughter has a greater challenge controlling her emotions than the average kid and tends to overreact at first when things don't go her way. She's working on it. And although these reactions are often very unpleasant, I really admire the fact that she can speak her mind.
While it may be true that junk for me might be treasure for her or another person, I'm the parent. While she's in my house and I'm paying for her things, I will not be contributing to acquiring these types treasures. If they mean so much to her, then it's up to her to earn or save up the money and pay for them herself.
I've often acquiesced to her requests only to end up utterly frustrated and insulted to find the so called treasure destroyed because it had been lying on the floor and was stepped on, or crushed by another so called treasure.
While I do like making her happy, part of my job as a parent is to teach her what I think is right. At the moment, I think that spending money on necessities and experiences is much better than spending it on transient treasures.
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