Immediate Gratification




Immediate Gratification

Originally uploaded by kjda

Sam has been saving. And this weekend, he found that he had enough for the lowest end iTouch, the 8G.

Of course we have, as a family, a reasonably large quantity of iThisandThats. With EXTREMELY limited access, Partly because I don’t want them wired up during the week, and partly because of the competition allowing one to play the iPad entails. Everyone has accepted that the iFamily is for travel only.

But if he had his own…whenever gaming was allowed, he’d be set. No "it’s Lily’s turn now." Plus, a camera! And a video camera! (he doesn’t email or anything much online yet).

But to buy the 8 now, or to wait?

All the guys at the store said to wait. "four times the memory!" But he’d experimented with what 8G would hold at home. He thought he’d be fine.

And I told him I thought he would too.

I know–waiting is good! Saving is good! And the 32G is certainly the better value. But sometimes having what you want when you want it is good too. 8G is fine for him at this age. He can start saving that extra $70 (which it will take him almost two months to accumulate, allowance-wise) towards the next generation of whatever’s, well, next. I told him to go for it. I know I would have.

Is that the GenX parent or what?

KJ Dell’Antonia
sent from my iPhone




5 Responses to “Immediate Gratification”

  1. Jess says:

    We are fans of no allowance, but pay for tasks completed. Ben is the reason we own a Wii (and consequently a television, he saved for a year, and took jobs walking dogs, watering gardens, taking care of kittens all over our neighborhood). He put himself out on the listserv and I employ him for stacking our winter wood, etc. Task = cash.

  2. Liz says:

    Good for him! I would have wanted to get it right away too! And I bet 8G will be just fine for a while.

  3. I really actually do not have your email address. Just send me the quickest email ever and I will reply to you!

  4. KJ (aka Lola Granola) says:

    That’s funny, because we give allowances ($1 per year in age, doled out at family meeting, in theory weekly but in reality rather less often), but NOT for tasks, which, unless really unusual, we consider just part of family life. Ie I will pay you to pick up dog poop, but not to take the garbage to the end of the driveway or babysit.