Already burning a hole in the pocket.....

So we thought it was time for Hunter to start getting a small allowance. After much discussion about the things that needed to be done around here, we decided that if Hunter could have a clean room when I put him to bed at night, then he would earn himself a quarter. There are two reasons for this: One, I am trying to teach him the value of carefully saving and spending money as I hear requests for things all the time when we walk into stores, and birthdays just seem a loooong ways away for little guy. And two, getting him to clean his room is a fight every single day. He hates putting things back after playing with them. I figure now he can save up for his own HotWheels Cars. We told him 4 nights is a car (worth one dollar). Yes, it's not much, but really, what does a four year old need to be spending money on? Hunter thinks we just handed him the moon! He was not so thrilled when I explained he also would need to give one to church when he gets 10. But when I explained it was for Jesus, to be used for other people Jesus loves, he was OK with that. He is very aware that everything we have is from God and because God loves us and gave it to us.

So today he decorated a jar that said, "Hunter's Money" on it. He has been talking of nothing but his quarter and what he was going to spend his money on since I informed him of our new plan last night. He dreamed about it all night, and woke up speaking of it. He kept his room very neat all day, and changed his mind about a dozen times about how he was going to spend it. You see, if he wants a new Monster truck, he will have to save for about 2-3 weeks, and if he wants a new small Lego set, he will have to save for a whole month. I am highly doubtful that he will ever be able to save it and will acquire mostly HotWheel Cars. At one point tonight, he got discouraged and decided he didn't want to clean and said he didn't want the quarter. Being a smart Mommy, I knew he REALLY did, and so encouraged him to finish. While the clothes in his drawers aren't perfect and things aren't put away exactly the way I would do it, he did do a pretty darn good job for once. I gave him the quarter. He put it in and out of his jar several times. He put the jar next to his bed and turned it so he could look at it. He got out of bed to take a picture of it. He told me all the ways he wants to spend it (it changes every five seconds). He is currently in bed while I write this. I know he's still thinking about it because every now and then I hear a "plink" as he drops it back in the jar again. It's already burning a hole in the pocket.......