Responsibility

At the store the other day, I promised to buy Bob 1 ornament for the tree. He picked out a cool R2D2 ornament. Because it was glass, we kept it put away until tree trimming so that it would not get broken. He was not happy about that rule and said if it broke, we could just get a new one. The mean mother that I am, I said that if the ornament broke because of his carelessness, he would have to buy a new one, not me.

As soon as James started putting up the tree, Bob was anxious to get R2D2 on there right away. I should have waited, but I allowed Bob to hold it before the tree was ready. And sure enough, he dropped it. That was the end of R2D2.

And mean mother that I am, I kept my promise. The ornament was $8 and here is Bob counting out his $8 for a new ornament. His wise father pointed out that $8 would eat up a significant chunk of his savings - perhaps he should continue to save the money or perhaps use it for an R2D2 he could actually play with rather than hang on a tree for a few days a year. In the end, I offered to split the cost with Bob, as I felt I bore a huge responsibility in allowing a 5 year old to hang on to a glass ornament for 10 minutes. But I was impressed that he was willing to keep up his end of the bargain.