"Is It On the List?"

The hose on the air pump broke while I was showing the boys how to add air to their tires. My plan was to bike to school with them the next morning.

I wanted to keep the plan and so it was time to replace the broken pump. Before we headed to the store, I told them to make a list of the things we needed to buy.  J wrote down tire pump and bath toys. 

"Now, boys," I said. "We are only going to buy what's on the list."

Half-way to the store, seven-year-old J asks me if he can get a yogurt to pack in his lunch tomorrow.

"It's not in my budget," I reply.
 
"What's a budget?" he asks.

His older brother of 11, answers, "It's how much money you have in your pocket."

Not a bad answer, I think to myself.

"Now, J," I say.  "Is a yogurt in your budget?"

He shrugs.

"Well, you're going to make $2 today for mowing the front lawn.  If you want to spend some of your own money on a yogurt, you can do that."

Yogurt gets added to the list.  The list is  now three items long.

We get to the store.  They see things they like. 

"Can we get this?" they ask.

"Is it on the list?" I reply.


Whenever they ask me if they can buy something, I either say:

"Is it on the list?" or

"You can put it on the wish list when we get home."

The wish list is on our refrigerator. It's a reminder of what they wanted the day they saw it.

The boys ask less and less often to buy things that aren't on the

list.  And when they do, it is a delight to redirect them to the

wish list on the refrigerator.