I did it.
I caved.
…Sort of.
I think the first time my son played a Wii was sometime early last year. And he’s wanted one ever since. I know he’s been saving up all the money he has earned or been given since late last summer. We already have a PS3…and not to mention computer games…and oodles of toys and books and movies and insane amounts of various other items to hold his attention, occupy his time and keep him adequately stimulated with entertaining activities. But he was fixated on getting a Wii, to play Mario Kart...
My husband liked the idea of getting a Wii, but I was not entirely sold on the idea. I’m not a video game fan in general. I think they are addictive, mostly useless and tend to separate us as a family...even games you can all play together…either you each play separate turns or you have to compete against each other, and either way, it seems that these games draw us in and we become tunnel-visioned in our own involvement. Although, I will say that the Wii games tend to be more inclusive than other game systems and also incorporate activity, rather than just staring at a screen. They are also expensive.
We decided we don’t need a Wii and weren’t willing to spend the money to purchase one right now. That’s that, right?
Uh – no.
Our son decided to save up his money to buy it himself. This announcement presented us with a dilemma. Do we encourage him in his determination and assert his willingness to take initiative and accomplish a goal? A game is one thing to save for, but the whole system and controllers and whatever else these thingys require…that’s a big chunk of change. AND, even if he does save up that much, should we allow him to spend that amount of cash on a game?
We ended up kind of ignoring it at first. We listened to him talk about it…constantly. Then he started asking questions, like how much the game he wanted would cost. We explained that the game costs X amount of money, but he would need much more than that to purchase the system and all the controllers etc. if he wanted to be able to play the game.
At some point my husband struck a bargain with the kid. If he saved enough money to purchase a game, we would help him out with buying the rest [aka buy it for him]. I have a theory, which cannot be entirely proven nor disproven, that Dad cut the deal because HE really, really wants to play with a Wii too. I’m just throwing that out there…I could be totally off…I’m not,…but I could be. ;)
As my son’s 5th birthday was approaching, my husband received a call from his brother. Apparently him and his wife had decided that they wanted to sell their Wii system and all their games and accessories, and were offering it to us if we were interested. I heard him end the conversation with, “I have to talk with Heather first. Let me call you back.” I knew those words meant we were going to be buying a Wii within the next 20 minutes or so.
Eventually after much “talking” I reluctantly consented with, “it’s your decision”. And naturally, he called back ecstatic, and they worked out the details. Well, short story slightly drawn out, my brother-in-law called back not long after they had hung up the phone to say that his bride decided she wasn’t sure they should sell it after all because they still play it so much.
I was relieved...until I realized that my darling man had already set his mind to the task of procuring a Wii. Once he has determined to get something done…it’s pretty much going to get done. He doesn’t often leave a project unfinished. So he did some research and shopping and found a bargain on everything…including games. All-the-while, our son, who initiated this whole ordeal, had no idea.
Of course, since we purchased all these items used, they needed to be tested. Conveniently, we had the perfect testing candidate available, who tested just about every night - the moment the kids were asleep. [See, I was right about my theory…just sayin’.]
Now, the original plan he had devised was to surprise our son and give it to him on his birthday. Which I said would be fine. But the more I thought about it, the more reasons I came up with for why that might not be the best decision.
Reason #1: This is a really extravagant gift for our family. It would not be possible or prudent for us to match or exceed this gift in years to come at each of our children’s birthdays. Not that we would HAVE to, but would next year’s Lego set and box of underwear be a big let-down for the little guy? And would his sisters feel less important when they open up a package full of coloring books and crayons for their birthdays? Idk, likely they won’t remember, so probably not…but there will always be those photo albums to look back at…
Reason #2: It’s really more of a family gift. The Wii wouldn’t be for HIM. It’s for all of us. That was the whole premise of my husband’s argument for replacing our current game system, PS2, for a Wii system…it’s for the family. It’s interactive. We need something fun to do together. I was concerned that he would feel some special entitlement to it, and be reluctant to share, or disappointed when he realized that HIS gift didn’t really belong to HIM.
Reason #3: The point and purpose behind ever even discussing purchasing the Wii was to provide the opportunity for him to learn something about determination and saving money, about working toward a goal and earning the things we need/want, rather than simply having everything handed to us. I feared that our Birthday plan would sabotage these lessons.
So, my husband and I talked again and decided to postpone the giving of this gift until after his birthday, and once our son had earned the entire amount needed to purchase his game.
About a week or so after his birthday, Dad sat down with him and they figured out how much money he had saved up. Then Dad set up a little “store” where our son [and daughter too – she pitched in her money and they bought a second game together] could “shop”. He made his purchases and Dad brought out the system as he had promised. They have been happily racing one another ever since. ;)
Well, as I suspected, the wii bwoght wif it [I don’t know why saying wii causes me to spontaneously speak wif a speech impediment…but it does], both fun and frustration. And one big frustration has been that we’ve been allowing the kids to play in the morning before breakfast. Which I really have no issue with all on its own, however, after playing, my son will complain that he’s too tired from all that racing to do his schoolwork.
Hmmmm… What would be a good way to fix that problem???
So, needless to say, not much has been accomplished this week in our academic studies, however I do think a few lessons have been learned. [And plenty of fun has been had too along the way.]
One of those lessons: Think before you speak.
Another: Get your work done before you have fun.
That’s all.
Love, Mii ;)
