Elayna lost her Nintendo DS sometime during her July 4th weekend trip to Marco Island with my parents. Either in a restaurant or the hotel. We're thinking restaurant, because the hotel would likely have contacted my parents, had it been there (they left messages with both).
Now, this is her favorite toy. Child loves this thing. She doesn't use her TV time for TV anymore, she's moved it all to NeoPets, Kingdom Hearts, and the DS. So the instinct, of course, is to replace the DS.
She offered to spend her own money to do so.
Unprompted. She didn't ask us to buy it for her. She didn't ask my parents. She faced up to the fact that it was her responsibility to keep track of it, and that she lost it. And yeah, that sucks, but it's no one's fault but her own.
So she is replacing it with her saved-up $WINTERHOLIDAY/birthday money. First time she's touching it; she never buys anything with it, it always just goes straight to the bank. And now she's glad of that!
My parents have offered to cover half of it, as this would've taken over half her bank account. We've all agreed that this was reasonable. (Personally, knowing that Elayna and I are both forgetful, I don't let her bring the DS into restaurants, and I run an important-item check when we leave hotels, and I think my parents should have done the same - but I also think that it is ultimately Elayna's responsibility.)
I told her that I was very proud of her for acknowledging her responsibility and making a tough financial decision.
And I am. She's eleven! That's a hell of a responsible decision for an 11-year-old. No pouting, no whining, no "gimme". Just "I lost it, I'll replace it." And she's saved up enough allowance money to replace the game, too (Nintendogs). (She gets $5 a week from my parents, because she actually does chores there.)
So. Yeah. Proud of my girl.
Now, this is her favorite toy. Child loves this thing. She doesn't use her TV time for TV anymore, she's moved it all to NeoPets, Kingdom Hearts, and the DS. So the instinct, of course, is to replace the DS.
She offered to spend her own money to do so.
Unprompted. She didn't ask us to buy it for her. She didn't ask my parents. She faced up to the fact that it was her responsibility to keep track of it, and that she lost it. And yeah, that sucks, but it's no one's fault but her own.
So she is replacing it with her saved-up $WINTERHOLIDAY/birthday money. First time she's touching it; she never buys anything with it, it always just goes straight to the bank. And now she's glad of that!
My parents have offered to cover half of it, as this would've taken over half her bank account. We've all agreed that this was reasonable. (Personally, knowing that Elayna and I are both forgetful, I don't let her bring the DS into restaurants, and I run an important-item check when we leave hotels, and I think my parents should have done the same - but I also think that it is ultimately Elayna's responsibility.)
I told her that I was very proud of her for acknowledging her responsibility and making a tough financial decision.
And I am. She's eleven! That's a hell of a responsible decision for an 11-year-old. No pouting, no whining, no "gimme". Just "I lost it, I'll replace it." And she's saved up enough allowance money to replace the game, too (Nintendogs). (She gets $5 a week from my parents, because she actually does chores there.)
So. Yeah. Proud of my girl.
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