Mom, I Need A New Thomas!

Evan said that last night, and before I could remind him about how many Thomas he already had, he added, "That one is too heavy, I can't put money inside it anymore." He was talking about his Thomas tin coin bank, phew! I thought it was about another pricey train set. It was funny hearing he said the coin bank was "heavy" instead of "full". But he was right, no more money could be put inside the coin box because it was already full, and it became heavy too.

Thomas was his second coin bank, I gave to him last year. The idea of giving him a piggy bank came when he started receiving money during Aidul Fitri, Christmas or CNY, etc. from relatives or friends. At first I just put all the money in a bank account under his own name and I assured him that his money was safe. However, soon it didn't work anymore. Somehow he found out what he could do with his own money, in his case "being rich" means he could buy chicken porridge or noodle anytime he wanted. He also kept asking he wanted to see his money.

I tried giving him a Mickey Mouse coin bank on his second birthday and asked him to put his money inside it by himself. It worked. Since then he became obsessed of putting his money, plus all other coins he found in the house, to his piggy bank. He never ask about his money anymore because he knows they're in his own coin banks. I guess he has more trust on Thomas and Mickey in keeping his money rather than a bank. I still put the big cash in the bank though, I only allow small money or coins to be put in his coin bank.

I know we should teach our kid about the value of money as early as possible. I just haven't got there yet, but at least I can hold my son from spending all of his money. He's been learning about saving money at school too. On Fridays the teacher will ask if there any student wants to save some money. He's given a passbook that records his transactions. He still don't understand what's it all about but I think it's a good start to introduce him about savings, at least until I know a better way. In the mean time, his Thomas is already full, so I need to buy a new one :)

Have a great day!