Allowance

We decided to start giving Will allowance so he has his own money to buy every Dr. Seuss book possible on his iPad stuff.  Ideally he will learn the value of and usefulness of money and become more empowered.  I’ve thought about the best way to do this for a while.

A couple of weeks ago I took Will with me to the store and he wanted some books.  I told him “no” because he doesn’t always get something when he goes to the store.  Apparently I’ve bought him something the last several times or he really, really wanted those Dr. Seuss books because he was upset and it took a significant amount of my strength to get him away from the book aisle.

Naturally by the time we left the store I forgot about the books but William hadn’t.  He bolted back in.  When I stopped him and he realized that he wasn’t going to get the books he started crying and sat down in a mini (though loud) temper tantrum.

The experience in the store made me realize that 1.  Will is huge.  2.  He has no control over what he gets.  3.  If I say “yes” to often it becomes an expectation that every time he asks for something he gets it.

Admittedly, I’ve said “yes” to a lot of things lately because I’m so excited that he wants something.  He didn’t want anything for years so my inclination is to say, “Oh, you want a pony?  Sure, we’ll keep it in Bri’s room.”