Value of Money

In kota every year Dushhara mela is organized. I take kids for mela and every time it has been a nightmarish experience because the trip to mela was always been dominated by kids demands, They keep demanding for things one after another. Even after purchasing 10 toys for them they won’t be satisfied and ask for more.
At the end it was a frustrating experience. As a parent we need to make our kids understand the value of money.


I experimented some things this time and to my amazement it gave me astonishing results. Before going to Mela I sat down with kids and said to them, “You trouble a lot and don’t allow us to enjoy and keep asking lot of things, so I want to give you money. Take this money and purchase whatever you can purchase from this money. You are free to take decisions in this regards.” I summed up.
Kids were also very happy because they felt empowered.
“How much money do you need” I asked
Chiya replied give us Rs. 50 each. Little realizing 50 rs is too less to buy anything in today’s world. Namit followed her.
“No, take 100 rs each” I said but don’t trouble us
The kids were very excited .We entered in the mela. After few swings we moved to toys area which so far has been a nightmarish experience for us.
But today’s scene was completely different, Namit & Chiya whatever they liked, they went to shopkeeper and asked for the price. Namit who was poor in maths took the help of his sister for calculation.
At one instance he liked one particular toy he asked for price. Shopkeeper looked at the child with curiosity and said “sattar rs.” Not know what is means the “sattar rs.”He asked his didi,” Didi how much is sattar rs? ”Chiya said its is seventy rs only. Namit now was calculating the remaining amount left after paying for this. He took the help of Chiya and came to conclusion that 30 rs will be left. Immediately the response came that this is very costly. He went to shopkeeper and requested him to lower the price because he knows that the budget is fixed today. Shopkeeper was surprised to hear the request coming from a six years old kid for lowering the price. He looked around to see the if the parents are standing nearly. Our eyes met and we smiled towards each other.
He said to Namit “I will give it for rs.60 not below that.”
Namit and Chiya immediately recalculated the money left after purchasing this.
Chiya said Namit “Namit you will be rs. 40 left after this.”
Now Namit was in dilemma and everybody was waiting for his decision. He thought for a very long duration. Earlier which he never did because the money went from my pocket. For the first time expenditure of rs.60 made him thinking.
He liked the toy very much and kept at ogling it. We were sure he is going to purchase this but then he broke his silence by saying “Papa let us move forward. The toy is not very good.” We were shocked to hear this but hereafter Namit was a different child. The rs. 100 note made him much mature and confident. He halted at many places discussed with Chiya about various options but hardly purchased anything. In the end he spent just rs.20 and saved rs.80 but he was very contended and quite. While driving back home both the kids feel asleep in the car only. We really enjoyed the mela that day.