Over the weekend, while shopping in Meijer for Christmas decoration stuff (more on that later), I saw that Webkinz were on sale for $7 each. So, I got the kids each a new Webkinz to replace the ones whose tags had been lost in the move (for those who don't know, they are little stuffed animals that come with codes to use online. You put the code in, and your animal shows up on the screen, then you can take care of it online.) Anyway....
The appearance of new Webkinz, and the ability to actually play with them online, sparked a new excitement in the kids. They all declared that they wanted at least 2 more for Christmas. I told them that Christmas shopping was already pretty much done, but if they wanted to use their own money that they had been saving, they were welcome to do that. So, I promised to take them to the store after school the next day (which was yesterday), and they could use their money to buy Webkinz or whatever else they wanted (as long as they had not already asked for it for Christmas).
After school yesterday, we came home, counted out how much money each had saved, and then headed over to Meijer with their little zip lock bags full of bills and coins. I told them they would each be responsible for paying for their purchases directly... meaning, I wanted them to actually use THEIR money from the bags rather than just giving me their money and having me pay for them all together. The reason is, I wanted them to begin to understand the idea of tax on items, and also to get the feel for making a decision to buy and then having to hand over the money they had earned. I realized it would be necessary when Sebastian counted out his money and had $28 and a few cents. He said, "Then I can get four Webkinz since they're $7 each." I explained tax, and that each $7 item would actually cost him about $7.50. He wasn't too thrilled with it, but understood and complied.
Anyway, the outcome of the shopping trip: Sebastian got 3 Webkinz and decided to put the rest back in his ATM machine. Isaac bought one set of smaller Webkinz that came 2 in a box. He also bought a box of Megablox dragon / fighter ship something or other. And Meagan got one Webkinz and a Barbie electric guitar that sings Cindy Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" (which I, therefore, have been singing to myself for the past 10 waking hours). They were all thrilled with their choices. They learned about only buying what you have enough money for, and they all had a bit left over to put back into their ATM's for the next time.
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