perseverance

This has a big week for Dylan. First, he got his first report card of 2nd grade (and its great!).  He also submitted his first major school project successfully! 

He also, after almost two years of faithfully saving up his every dollar, saved enough enough money to buy his own Nintendo DSi XL. He set the goal a long time ago for buying his own DS and worked really hard earning money month after month, saving birthday and tooth fairy money, helping around the house, and earning jewels, to buy it all on his own. It took every single penny he had saved, and the cashier at Best Buy had to laugh at us Monday after school counting out $5's and $1's with a few $20's and $10's.  I asked him to bear with us while my son counted out his life savings.  He even remembered me the next day when I went back in to buy the hard storage case. 

I'm glad we waited until now to let him have this. I don’t think he would have been ready 6 or 10 months ago.  He's already demonstrated this week he can handle it by knowing he has to get his homework done first, turning the DS off when we tell him its time, and plugging it in when he’s done so it can re-charge. Its good to see him taking care of it responsibly.  Our hope is that because he used his own money to buy it, he'll always take good care of it and appreciate it even more.

We had a big talk about how important it is to set goals and stick with your plan. Sometimes you have to wait a long time to get the things you want in life, but if you work really hard and make good choices (i.e. not blowing your money on silly things), you will eventually achieve your dreams.   I'm really proud of him.  Its a really important life lesson to learn, and one that stays with you for a lifetime.  I couldn't let the moment pass without also reminding him how fortunate he is to be able to buy such nice things; not all kids are as fortunate.

Good job, big guy.  I'm really proud of you!