A Boy and His Boots

 I have a ten year old boy named Aaron who would love to be a cowboy someday. He loves animals, thinks being a rancher would be a lot of fun and would love to be able to ride a horse. He also really enjoys his cowboy boots.

 His boots that he bought with his own money. Last year he decided it would be really fun to have some boots but he already had plenty of shoes and I wasn't buying anything that we didn't need (that was my challenge for the year but it is for the most part my lifestyle anyway) and so it didn't look like he would be getting any boots from anybody so he decided to save his money and buy his own.

    He and Jonathan started a little business shoveling neighbor's walks and with that money he was able to find some second hand boots in nice condition and buy them. I think there is a certain satisfaction that comes from working for and earning what you want on your own. Gifts are lovely but so is working for something.

   Ken and I do try to care for our children's needs and we enjoy giving them some of their wants at times too but we also want to teach them to be diligent workers, to earn money on their own and use it wisely and to have some self-control and a willingness to wait sometimes. Generally getting what you want after a bit of waiting makes it all that much sweeter and sometimes you realize that you don't really want it after all. Waiting is a good thing to learn whether you are an adult or a child.

   Do you have your children earn money for some of their own needs or wants? How do you train your children in handling money?

   A side note, Aaron doesn't wear his pant legs tucked in his boots anymore (though I find it rather cute) his Dad and Grandpa convinced him that was the way that Square Dancer's wore their boots but that working cowboys wore the pants on the outside. He has no desire to be a dancer but does want to be a real cowboy so out went the pant legs.