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Real Answers™
jm79
Copyright: ©2008 Jan Merop
540 words

DELAYED GRATIFICATION AND THE PIGGY BANK

By: Jan Merop

A conversation with my son, Chris, during a college break some years ago is a blessing I treasure.

Many years before, I’d been a single mom for about seven years.  Finances were tight.  There were things I wished I could get for him, but instead we’d have looking days at the toy store. 

Some substitute activity that didn’t require money often took the place of something else we may have done had finances permitted. 

However, when that hoped for toy was under the Christmas tree instead of acquired in the summer when first desired, the excitement was no less genuine.  When we ice skated on a frozen pond in the winter instead of paying at an indoor rink, our rosy cheeks and cold breath were rewarded with hot chocolate at home.

This particular day during college break, we were reminiscing.  I said something about the financial struggle in those years and that we had to do without some things.

He looked up at me amazed.

“Like what?” he questioned.

I outlined a few things and said, “But, then, you learned delayed gratification and that was good.”

He replied that he wouldn’t have wanted me to have done anything differently.  Our time together, the memories shared and the love expressed were far more important to him than any “thing” he may have missed or had to wait for.  And his own money management skills attest to his teachable spirit during those years.

It is so important that we teach our children the value of saving and managing money well.  It may start with that long forgotten piggy bank which has been replaced by magic plastic cards. 

Training them from their youth will prevent a sense of entitlement from creeping in.  Then their wants won’t become a contest between parents’ will power to say no and their whining insistence for immediate gratification.

Delayed gratification builds character.  In life, we will always have situations that require us to wait.  This principle will help children grow into patient adults who aren’t impulsive spenders weighed down with debt and regret.

Our children are growing up in a world where debt appears to be normal.  But it is not normal or healthy.  A home mortgage may be necessary for a time, but even that should be within one’s means and paid down as quickly as possible.

Teach a child that there are three categories for the money they receive – giving, saving and spending.  This develops healthy habits that will bless others, secure their financial future and allow them a measure to spend.

In fact, one of the most important giving areas is to teach them about tithing – that is putting 10% aside to give to God’s work.  They will know his blessings that will be multiplied in many ways – not always materially – yet always good from his hand.

The Bible teaches that we are to be good managers of that which God entrusts to us.  As we see in I Corinthians 4: 2, NKJV, “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.”

We can instill this virtue in our children so they will grow to be responsible adults who are part of the solution instead of being part of the problem. 

"Real Answers™" furnished courtesy of The Amy Foundation Internet Syndicate. To contact the author or The Amy Foundation, write or E-mail to: P. O. Box 16091, Lansing, MI 48901-6091; amyfoundtn@aol.com

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