Ask Captain Dramatic

Do all of you remember when Captain Dramatic refused to clean his room, and Dad-E and I had to do it for him? I bet CD does! Well, the next installment in this saga is upon us, but before I continue, his room is still clean!

After Dad-E and I bagged up all of the toys on his bedroom floor, CD's room was clean, but my living room wasn't. We had plastic kitchen bags everywhere in the living room. This bothered me, but I wasn't ready to give all to these expensive toys away. They cost too much money! Then it hit me! It was a brilliant idea! I decided that he was going to have to buy them all back from me, and earn the money to do so, any way he could, legally. He has been mowing the lawn for his grandparents once a week, and is off to a great start. He also had amassed about $90.00 in a piggy bank over the years, but that is empty now. Not only is he having to buy his toys back though. There is another clause. He isn't allowed to spend any of his money on anything else until all the toys are dealt with. After all, why would I let him have more toys if he can't show me he can take care of the old ones?

Now, I certainly don't charge him full price for everything. His Gameboy, the case and all the games ran him less than the game boy cost when it was bought. He is now officially broke though, and still has a lot more lawn mowing to do to get the rest of his toys back.

You see, he learns a few things with this method. He learns that although these toys were given to him for free, they were not free to the giver. He starts to get a relative idea of what the value of a dollar is, and more importantly, he is learning how much work it takes to make a dollar. Without his knowledge, he also gets to add to his future college fund because I am not keeping his money. I am just putting it in his savings account. That will have to be our little secret though.

(As a side note, my mother hates the idea, but I didn't hear any complaints from my father. My mother stopped hating the idea when she learned that I was just putting the money in his savings account, although, I think she still thinks I am being a little harsh, and insists on bringing up how horrible my room was when I was that age. Maybe she just wishes she had the idea first. :P Like it or not, she is supporting it, and I have to give her lots of credit for that.)

Here is a recent conversation:

Me: What has having to buy yours toys back taught you?

CD: I have learned that toys cost money to someone, and that you have to work really hard to earn money. I also learned I like mowing lawns.

I will ask him about how much he likes mowing lawns in a few more weeks...

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