Wednesday, 25 February 2009 09:04
by
Andy J
As any parent knows, all children are born with the instinctive gift of locating, then sprinting like the wind toward, the toy section of any retail establishment in under 9 seconds. Any attempt by the parent to defeat or block the child's detect-and-sprint process will be met with a meltdown that makes the Chernobyl nuclear accident look like a backyard barbeque.
This was exactly what happened to me last week. I was in a local department store with my 5-year-old daughter Megan and 4-year-old daughter Lauren. This was to be a simple milk/bread/eggs stop. In my head, my plan was "get in, get out, get home, get to bed." In their cute but oh-so-young heads, however, their plan was "flee to the toy department, then use our collective cuteness (or tears and screaming and guilt – whichever works) to get Da-Da to fork over those green papers in his wallet in exchange for more Disney-branded goodness."
In the few seconds I took to do a quick cost/benefit analysis of organic vs. regular milk, my daughters had bolted from me and were quickly ensnared by the gravitational field of the toy department. I suddenly found myself being bombarded with requests for toys, games, and videos. Requests that were becoming louder, more insistent, and more emotional (not to mention more noticeable to other shoppers) by the second. My constant litany of “no! no! no!” would soon trigger the dreaded Child Meltdown In Public (complete with even more dreaded Disapproving Looks From Other Shoppers). I had to change tactics. Fast.
Here’s where the picture comes in.
I’d been taught long ago that visualizing a goal will make you more likely to hit it. If you’re saving for retirement, a new house, or a trip, post a picture of that goal in a prominent place. When faced with a decision to either save for the goal or spend that money on something else, ask yourself “will this financial decision bring me closer to my goal?” It’s a great way to keep your financial priorities, quite literally, in focus.
In that spirit, in our kitchen is a Moonjar labeled “Disneyland Trip.” On the side of it is a picture of the Magic Kingdom castle, Epcot, and Mickey Mouse. The kids love stuffing spare change, money from the Tooth Fairy, and cash from birthday gifts into it. Every time they drop money into it, they say with pride and joy, “we’re one coin closer to Disneyland, Da-Da!”
We now return to the meltdown, already in progress:
I knelt down beside my daughters, took a few bills and coins from my pocket, and said “girls, the money I’m holding in my hand will pay for the toys you want. If I spend this money on these toys today, though, that we’re that many more coins and bills further away from Disneyland. Do you want these princess toys, or do you want to be in the Disneyland picture? It’s up to you.”
Much to my surprise, it worked. They quietly put the toys away and said that they wanted to be in the Disneyland picture more.
I strutted out of the store and over to the car, pleased that I had avoided not only the Public Meltdown but also had an honest-to-goodness Successful Parenting Moment. That is, until my daughters started laughing as I was buckling them in.
“What’s so funny?” I asked. “You forgot the groceries!” they squealed with delight.