Lesson Plan

We didn't think that William needed more candy for Easter. He probably disagrees with this. His grandfather and I decided instead to take him to this. Jurassic Quest is a traveling show, and it will be in Erie for three days. 

The plan is to head out tomorrow morning about 11, have lunch out. Our tickets are for 1:30 and they say to allow a couple hours to see it all. He's been pretty low-key about the whole thing, at least to us, but talking to other people, he's quite beside himself to go. 

William has a savings account. He and his grandfather opened it, and it was explained that the idea for this is that it will give him a bit of a cushion when he goes to college or technical school. He might decide to use it to buy himself a car. He gets a weekly allowance, which can be as little as $7 per week. He can double that by simply doing his 'responsibilities' which are listed on the side of the fridge, a list for morning, after school, and bedtime. If he takes care of his business without prompting, it is a dollar doubling day. He gets $2, meaning he can get $14 a week if he knuckles down. He also knows that if he wants to earn extra money, there are always jobs that need doing. He helped his grandpa and uncle stack firewood and made some extra money last week. 

At the end of the week when he gets paid, he has a decision to make: how much is he putting in the bank? That decision is entirely his, but he has to put something in the bank for his future. Whatever he decides to bank, we will match it. He adds the deposit to his ledger and fills out his deposit slips which are imprinted with his name and account number. We go to the bank after school and he makes his deposit. He has $174 and he feels quite proud. 

He came home yesterday and stated that he'd be taking his money out of the bank in a month or so. He's decided to purchase a VR set. He was very matter of fact about it. He's got $30 in his wallet, and estimates that with a bit extra work, he'll have the money he needs by the end of the month. 

We told him that the money was for his future. That was the agreement made when the account was opened.  He got a trifle irritated. It was, after all, his money. We agreed, but we also explained that we were matching his money and the understanding has always been that he will have this money for his future, when he's graduated and grown up. 

There was quite a discussion about it and he was not happy with our decision. He tried to argue but saw that he was not going to get anywhere with us. He sulked upstairs for a time. Later, when he came back down, he had a new plan. He has decided to save money at home for it. He has a lock box. When he gets his allowance, he will put part of it in the bank. He will put another part in his lock box, and he will put the rest of it in his wallet. 

We told him that was a fine idea. 

He was trying to calculate how long it would take to get his money. He mused, "Grandpa could probably use my help working on the Wayne St. house." We agreed that we could use an able bodied assistant. We also pointed out that Mrs. W. pays Tim to mow her lawn every week. Perhaps William would like to assume that responsibility now that he's 12.  He mentally started adding things up in his head. With a little industriousness, he could have the money for his VR by the end of summer. 

We listened to his big plans. We told him we would be very proud to see that happen. 

This is the lesson we were hoping that he would learn. We're both curious to see how he does. 

Happy Easter everyone. We will be spending the day at my sister's house with the fam damily. It is always a good time.