"I'm not wasting MY money!"

This one is so cute, it deserves a post of it's own . . .

In Target a few weeks ago, Eli really wanted to buy this little princess cellphone thing. We already have a bunch of play cellphones, and this thing was a piece of junk and ridiculously priced too, so there was no way that I was going to say yes to his request. We continued on and had lunch at Target with Daddy, but on the way home Eli was still thinking about the cellphone and asked why I wouldn't buy it. I decided to use the opportunity to explain that we use our money carefully and don't waste it on things we don't need. I launched in to the whole money is something that Daddy earns from working hard, and we use it to pay for things we need, like food and our cars, and clothes spiel. And we give money away to help other people and give money to God at church and BSF too.  We want to make sure to sure we don't waste it on things we don't need so we can buy the things that we do need. Eli was asking questions and it was kind of awesome to discuss something important with him and see he was understanding it.

I then said that Eli could use some of the money that he's been saving in his truck bank and come back and buy a toy at Target if he'd like. He looked at me like I was crazy and told me, rather forcefully,  "I'm not wasting MY money!" I guess he really did understand what I was saying after all! Eli's Grandpa Bob is really good with handling money, and Eli's Daddy is not wasteful, and I think we're going to have another man of disciplined spending on our hands. He's not wasting HIS money!