Yard work, money management, etc.

Today was a busy day. Nathan and Luke had a soccer game in the morning. Their team played very well, and they won. Nathan even scored 2 goals! Then we went out for pizza and came home. Today was also a warm, sunny day, which is important because it rained every day last week, and Nathan was dying to rake leaves. So this afternoon was his big opportunity.

Why was he so anxious to do yard work, you may ask? Good question! The answer is that he is "in the hole" financially speaking, and we told him he could earn extra money by raking out the area that we cleared last Monday. You may now be wondering for what he could possibly be in debt. The answer is a Bionicle. Nathan and Luke have enjoyed playing with these "things" (they're by the same people who make Legos) at the L's house during Bible study. I think they are ugly, but I couldn't really find anything wrong with them. They sort of remind me of the transformers and gobots (was that it, Dan?) that my brother used to be so enamored with at about the same ages. It must be a boy phase. Anyhow, I didn't see a reason to disallow bionicles altogether, but I didn't want to buy them. So we told them they could buy some with their own money. Luke is rolling in money. Not only does he save his meager allowance, but he also is always on the lookout at stores, and he has found so much money. It's amazing, really. Nathan, on the other hand, has invested in Dum-Dum Pop merchandise. Even though we told him many times that the stuff you can get with your saved wrappers (plus a goodly amount of shipping and handling!) is pretty much Dollar Store-quality stuff, he has sent away for a frisbee, yo-yo, and cheap binoculars. So when the time came that there was something he REALLY wanted to buy, well . . . He was several dollars short. Hmmm. After we talked it over extensively, Bob gave Nathan a loan and bought a bionicle for him. He made up a spreadsheet showing his payments over the next few months. He also made up a spreadsheet showing his payments if Bob would have charged him interest. That was certainly eye-opening for Nathan! This little exercise has actually been very beneficial from a money-management standpoint, and I think Nathan will think a lot harder about what he chooses to spend his money on in the future. But to get on with the story, Nathan is now a little closer to his big pay-off day. He was a great worker this afternoon. He raked leaves, put them in garbage bags, pulled weeds, picked up these little fruit things from a tree in our yard, and so on with a great attitude for about 4 hours. For his troubles, we're going to pay him $1.25. Don't do our yard work and expect to get rich, LOL!

Here is a another little story about Nathan so you don't just think of him as a money-squanderer. In our Children's Bible reading on Friday, we read the story in Daniel 2 about King Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the mysterious statue with gold head, silver trunk, bronze thighs, iron legs, and iron/clay feet. When we got to the part where Daniel was interpreting the dream, I read what would be Dan. 2:38b " . . . You are that head of gold." Nathan interrupts and says, "Hmm, let me guess. The iron part must have been Rome, since that was the strongest empire. That means Greece was bronze." I said yes, and that Persia was the silver. So then Nathan asked who the iron/clay part could be since, there wasn't another strong empire after Rome, and I told him that was the point--all the kingdoms after Rome have not lasted as long or been as dominating, just as was predicted in the Bible. Nathan was impressed with the accuracy of the Biblical predictions, but I was impressed that he put it all together like that, making the connections. I love classical education!