Asa kid, nothing made me tune out my parents’ voices more quickly than when they adopted the tone of lecturer. The moment that we transitioned from a dialogue to a soliloquy was the moment they lost me.
Which makes it all the more embarrassing to admit that this last weekend, I found myself becoming a lecturer.
We had planned a quick shopping run at opening time to obtain a needed clothing item for one of the kids. To minimize exposure, we showed up the minute the store opened and I accompanied the kid in question.
When we could not find what we sought in the bargain bin, I opted to buy an item at a retail price – something I’d ordinarily consider a cardinal sin – and proceeded to pay more for an item for my kid than I’ve ever paid for that same type of item for myself.
We had time-sensitive plans for the day, so not only would more time in the store have been greater exposure to others that risked potential infection, but it also would have taken time away from our plans for the rest of the day.
In the end, I spent a long time lecturing my kids, which those astute kids helped me realize was really a way of coming to terms with endorsing a level of spending under extreme circumstances that I would not ordinarily condone.
I worry about raising kids who don’t know how to appreciate the value of an earned dollar, but I need to chillax when it comes to outlier moments like these.
Parenting is hard, and sometimes I screw up. Fortunately, the kids seem relatively forgiving so far…we’ll see how that goes.
I am a recovering lecturer. The pressure of being a good parent and wanting to do our best to train these little monkeys creates an ever present urge to teach/mentor/train/LECTURE! Thankfully my worldview changed a few years ago when reading some study or another that showed that the vast majority of what a child learns from their parents is not from what we say, but what we do. This really took the pressure off because I didn’t have to feel the need to ‘tell’ them all the time. I just need to be the best person I can be and trust they will learn from watching.
In your case DotE, I have little fear your monkeys are learning all about frugality simply by watching you! 🙂