A Money Lesson Payoff

So...some of you who follow along on this here blog (*waves hello enthusastically*) might remember a post about six weeks ago that detailed my bestest intentions of teaching Chica her first real money lesson.

It was rocky for many reasons, but with a solid foundation and goal, ha. 

http://delappenings.blogspot.com/2018/08/a-first-money-lesson.html?m=1

The gist: Chica wanted an expensive costume (just for dress-up kicks and giggles) and I exploited her passionate desire for said costume by setting up an earn-it plan to start planting the teeny tiny seedlings of responsible spending.

Now.

I’m not gonna lie.

It pretty much just turned into an if-you-don’t-behave-badly-today-or-even-if-you-just-have-a-few-bad-moments-you-can-get-a-dollar kind of situation versus a true chores/earnings type of thing, ha.

Though occasionally, holding it over her head to ensure her help with playroom cleaning, siblings, or even some minor yard work did happen.

So over time, she accumulated enough money (and being the smart Mama that I sometimes am, I pre-ordered the costume in anticipation of the big day at a time when it was on sale).

And the day finally came when she just needed one more dollar.

So I told her Sunday night that if she behaved after school the next day (her worst witching hour for very cranky behavior), she would get the costume.

And just look at this insane cuteness that I found on her dresser that evening at bed time. I mean, I die.

What fun to finally bust this dang thing out, and she could not be cuter wearing it. :)



Though, truth be told, it was a stressful and loud process getting it out and on, because my other two babies were both crying—for wildly different reasons (a bathroom situation and an injury, respectively, oye.)

But they still mustered up some enthusiasm for sissy and her costume. :)





Though it was never intended to be her official Halloween costume, she lurvs it so much, she has made known her intentions to wear it to school that day. 

And then make a costume change for trick-or-treating, ‘cause one just isn’t enough, ha. ;)

Side note—remember my casual mention of totally and completely wearing my kiddos out this weekend??? You can really see my girl’s tired eyes in these photos. She wanted so much to be wildly enthusiastic, but was just so, dang, wiped. 

After collecting Chica’s money for the costume, it just didn’t feel right to put it in my bank account (even though it was mine to begin with and I already paid for the costume, ha). 

So Little Man and I took it with us and bought some permanent plants for the backyard in honor of the event. A good cause for the money, I think. :)

And if the cashier wondered why I was paying for my pampas grass with 30, one-dollar bills, he for sure didn’t ask. ;)



So...

Yay, for an at-long-last costume.

Yay, for pampas grass.

Yay, for the fence staining that was completed today at our casa.

But booooo for the low-grade fever Little Man started running at bed time. Oye. Good thing it was early to bath and bed for my wiped kiddos. We need some chill time in our future!

Over and out, peeps.