For my son’s birthday he got the usual presents: bags, sporting balls, swimmers but I wasn’t expecting him to get this.
What a week we’ve just had in my house.
My youngest turned five on Sunday.
Cue minor mummy breakdown about no longer having any ‘babies’ and realising my kids will both be at school next year.
Other than that small issue, we actually had an amazing few days. We took him on a whale watching cruise (yes, before you ask, we did see whales), had a lovely afternoon at the beach with the family and then yesterday had an awesome little party with his preschool friends.
It was great but something happened I wasn’t expecting.
As most parents of little ones know birthdays are a time where your toy room explodes and your child’s collection of plastic fun is increased tenfold. But this year that didn’t happen.
Okay, yes, he did get presents. But he actually got given a whole lot of money.
Moolah. Dollars. Cash. You know, that stuff we used to use before credit cards were invented.
It seems my five-year-old is now in possession of some big bucks.
Between grandparents not knowing what to buy, preschool friends choosing money over a present and probably a few parents strapped for time unable to hit the shops that opted for money in the card, my son now has a grand total of $235.
$235!
He’s five!
When I was five $2 was a big deal.
So here lies my dilemma:
Do we let our five-year-old spend $235 on whatever the hell he wants (super hero toys)? Or do we slowly give him some of the money to buy something every now and then (super hero toys)? OR do I put it away in an account and save it for a rainy day (whatever that means to a five-year-old…to him it’s probably the day super hero toy stock runs out)?
