Little Kids and Little Budgets
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
I was reading the news today, and everything was about rising gas prices and food prices and heating oil prices and everything prices. It makes me anxious, especiallly having a child and one on the way. I’m sure there are a lot of people in the same position. The good thing about kids, though, is that you can do a great job raising them no matter what your money situation is like.
When I was pregnant with Peanut, I was kind of sad that I couldn’t afford to get all the things that I had pictured for her nursery - and in the apartment we lived in then, she wouldn’t have her own room anyway. Then I realized how ridiculous I was. Babies don’t care how their rooms are decorated. They don’t care if they sleep in their parents’ room (which she did even when we moved to a larger apartment and had her own room). They don’t care if their crib sheets match the curtains. All of those things are about the adults anyway. A baby needs love, food, and safety. Period. That’s it.
When babies grow up, their needs change of course. They need more. They need toys that will stimulate them, they need more books, they need art supplies. I grew up with five siblings and our mom was a teacher. We never had a lot of money, but we had things we needed. The rest we either made or pretended we had. We made kites out of plastic store bags and footballs out of milk jugs. I definately think we’re all creative because of this!
You may not be in that extreme a situation, but does your child need every new toy that comes along? Do her toys need to be expensive? My daughter loves these little puppies that come in the machines in front of stores. For fifty cents, she gets a toy and is thrilled. Plus, she has quite a collection for only a few bucks. I bought my daughter a little computer for Christmas, but that’s not the only way your child will learn. Books, which are so easy to find free or cheap, are awesome learning tools. Listening to the radio, talking about what you see at the store or the post office, going to the park, taking a walk…these are all free and things your children will enjoy. Where we live, we have to travel quite a ways to get anywhere. If we want to get dish soap and laundry detergent, it’s like a day trip. I’ve been feeling bad that there isn’t a zoo around to take Peanut to - the nearest one is literally in a different country. But, you know, she’d have just as much fun if I took her to a farm to see cows, horses, and sheep. We have expectations of how we want our children’s childhoods to be, but our kids will grow up strong and healthy and happy if we just spend time with them.
As parents of toddlers, we’re lucky. Our kids still want to spend time with us. That’s really what they need. They will not love you more if you buy them more. Definately not. To tell you the truth, I haven’t bought Peanut more than a few presents for big things like Christmas and birthdays. First, because she gets a lot from her relatives. Second, because she gets overwhelmed with a lot of stuff thrown at her at once. Third, she’ll open her presents and then go back to playing with her old, third-hand stuffed dog that she’s had since she was a few months old. And honestly, it is much better for us to use our money to save, pay bills, buy essentials, than it is to buy her new, expensive toys that she’ll use once or twice.
Plus, there are a lot of toys that are cheap and not so flashy. Crayons, paper, play dough, paint - all of these are affordable and let your child be creative. They’re fun too. Peanut was excited for spring so she could play in the mud puddles…they don’t expect expensive things.
I apologize if this is stuff you already do or know, but seeing the price of everything go up makes me think that raising children is getting harder and harder to do. One thing that you can stress less about, though, is their quality of life and their love for you. That doesn’t have a monetary value, and you can raise the best kid with very little money.
