A Lesson About Money

Parker is learning a lesson about money today.  I say "is" because He still hasn't quite gotten the concept yet...

His Meme and Pa sent him a card with $5 in it.  While we were out running errands today, Parker said his backpack was empty and he needed something to put in it.  I decided to take that opportunity and teach him a lesson about spending money.  I told him that I would take him to Target and he could use his money to buy something to go in his backpack.  Well, that was all fine and dandy while he was picking out his toys, actually giving his money to the cashier was a different story!  At first he wouldn't give it to her.   I told him that if he wanted to take his toys home, he was going to have to pay for them.  I pried the money from his chubby little fingers and handed it to the cashier.  The cashier handed him his change and we headed for the door.  As we are walking to the car, Parker says, "I don't want Target to keep my money!  Let's go back and get it!"  After we got loaded into the car and started driving away, Parker had a major melt down.  He wanted to go get his money back from Target!  Such a hard lesson for a 3 year old to learn.  I told him that I would take him back to Target to get his money, but he was going to have to give his toys back to Target if he wanted his money back.  I don't think he ever really quite grasped the concept, but it's a start!