The other day on a supermarket run I observed a mother with her three children, about eight to twelve years old. The kids were reading labels on cans and using a calculator. This excited trio laughed a lot as they compared notes. I heard their mom ask them, "So which one is the best value?" "How many servings per container?" "Which one is the healthiest, do you think?"
A couple of aisles over we were next to each other again. This time she reminded them, "If we buy this item, we won't be able to buy that one we picked before. Which one do you think is the best choice for us--and why?"
I was tempted to ask this mother whether she home-schools her children, but I didn't want to interrupt them. Those kids seemed familiar with their friendly competition--and they were keeping track of what they were purchasing. Perhaps they had been playing this game for years.
I don't know this mom. Obviously, this kind of shopping takes more time, but I'll bet it pays dividends way beyond understanding math. Probably those kids don't spend much time complaining about some food item they don't have. After all, they're aware of the family food budget. They also know how much every food item cost and they participated in what was purchased.
Best of all, this mother is preparing her youngsters to live on their own one day. They're learning how to evaluate options and make wise buys on a budget. That's good training for spending decisions in other parts of life.
You might call it another of those gifts that keeps on giving ... for life.
Happy parenting!
Lenore
What do you think? Your comments welcomed!
