Some time ago we started giving Dave a
small weekly allowance. We don’t actually give him the cash; instead, he
accrues a certain amount each week in the Bank of Dad. That means that
when David asks how much money he has, I check the record in my PDA and
see how many weeks it’s been since I last paid anything into his account.
Then I add the resulting amount to his balance and tell him how much he’s
got.

Now, for quite some time David has been agitating for a Bionicle. (It’s
a kind of Lego toy.) For quite some time we’ve been telling him that
if he saves his allowance he can buy that kind of thing for himself; in
the meantime Christmas is coming.

This afternoon he said, “Dad, when it’s my birthday I want you to take
my seven dollars and buy me a Green Bionicle.” I said, “Dave, you’re
a little confused. If I buy you a Green Bionicle for your birthday,
I’ll be spending my money, not yours. And if you have seven dollars
(or whatever a Green Bionicle costs), then you don’t have to wait until
your birthday.”

So naturally he said, “Dad, can we go to Toys’R’Us today?”

I checked, and indeed his account in the Bank of Dad was well over
seven dollars, and so there I was, stuck, the victim of my own
teaching. And so we did. It wasn’t what I had planned to do with
my early Sunday evening, but on the whole I think it worked out rather
well.

And so did the Green Bionicle. Dave put it together all by himself,
following the instructions, and it’s really rather cute.