Will the boy ever get it?

[mommy4ever]

I have had an interesting week with ds15. OMG.

He just had is birthday, MIL and FIL gave him cash, great, $75, and when asked he said he was saving for the ipod touch. Rule in our house, no kids get anything that can browse the internet. Period. So he pouted and said the ipod nana 3rd generation. When our camping neighbor paid him $80 for all the lawn mowing last year and this spring, and SIL and BIL gave him $40. BIL asked what he was saving for and he told him, and he offers him his cousins ipod, as she had bought a new one, but it was "only" 4 gig. BIL tried to explain that he was GIVING it to him, but no, he wanted nothing to do with it, so he gave it to dh..lol I don't know where his head is.

Dh talked to him to not just blow his money, but do a little research. He decided on a Zune. And I wasn't keen on that, as I had heard mixed review, but I'm just the old woman he lives with that ruins his fun. He thought about it and decided to stay with the ipod. Ok, fine, but we have had issues with some ipods, so I wanted to be there to ask the questions. I'm not terribly savvy about these things, so I lilke to ask the questions.

He was so mad. It took 2 days before we could get to the store, he got all his money saved just on Sunday, made decision Monday night, and had to wait until Tuesday. He was chomping at the bit.

So we go in, and the sales person asks if he can help us, ds points out what he wants. I stop the sales person, and ask him what the likelihood of this unit crashing he said extremely likely. Apple was no longer giving a warranty, but there was an extended warranty that could be purchased. Ds asks if I'd lend him the money to get it.... HUH? $249 for what he was just told was junk, and he still wants it. So I ask him what can you tell us about Zune. He said the last few months there have been tons of issues with them, the US ones seemed fine, but ours seemed off. So I asked what would he recommend. So he shows us another unit. It was 8gig, has a proven track record no one has brought them back, it was $79.99. BUt no he wanted 16 gig. And there was no accessory charger. That just broke the deal. I asked about Sony, he said they are great, but you pay for the name and again no accessory charger. Ds told me he was just going the get the ipod. I told him no he wasn't wasting his money. Well, he had a hissy fit. "It's my money and I am old enough to decide, and I have never heard of the Archos crap. And my buddies at school haven't had a problem with theirs"

I apologized tot he sales person and walked away from the tantrum. I'm pretty sure I was called a few choice names by my kid, but I can't be positive. So I went to help dd with searching for a game.

After ds calmed down, he went to browse the mp3 again. He came back to tell me he'd get the sony. BUT, he wanted the $170 for a smaller hard drive.... I asked if made sense to do that when the other unit was 79.99 and just as stable. He didn't like how it looked. I wanted to beat him. His little sister came up, and points out an 8 gig samsung(she has a great little 4 gig one), it was 99.99 looked pretty sleek. Again was told no charger, but he figured it would be ok. fine.

So I found the salesperson and asked about that unit, he was surprsied to see it, they sell out so fast. IT was the latest. And then I asked about the chargers that you plug in the usb cord to, if they would charge, and he said in theory it should work, but he could return the charger if it didn't.

Ends up the charger at home worked with the unit so he was able to return it, so he saved $100 total by thinking about it, he could have saved $120, but in his infinite wisdom at the age of 15 had never heard of the other unit.

He later apologized and told me I was right, and became excited about the money he'd saved.

When will he get it? I am not, and have never been a brand snob, neither is dh. We have a couple brands we like, but they tend to be less expensive, and if something else is less expensive we'll research it to see which is the better choice.

[Greebo]

In about 10 years, after his judgment centers finish maturing.

[mommy4ever]

Tell me it isn't so! At this rate I won't live that long!

Hopefully girls resolve those issues faster. Cause there are 3 girls younger than him!

[Gibs]

Hugs Sorry you had such a hard time with ds over this. Hopefully it was a learning lesson for him.

[nuisance26]

~Teenage boys do not want to be told anything by their mothers. I have three brothers so I saw this quite a bit growing up.
Personally, I would have just let him spent his money on anything that didn't break the house rules. His money= his money lesson. Experience is the best teacher.~

[strezzed]

~Teenage boys do not want to be told anything by their mothers. I have three brothers so I saw this quite a bit growing up.
Personally, I would have just let him spent his money on anything that didn't break the house rules. His money= his money lesson. Experience is the best teacher.~

This is exactly the way I see it. His money, his mistakes. At that age, experience will be a louder teacher than anything else. I have to say that I was the same at that age. Until I felt the pain of wasting my money, my parents could have shouted at me until they were blue in the face.

[frugalwarrior]

Sorry,3rd one in. Lesson learned at the school of hard knocks always last so much longer. My son earns his own money. If he has nothing to show for it then so be it. Fixing things for kids hurts them later and I have been a Capital offender of this. The first time he argues w/ you he will blow it because he is a decision "toddler". The next time he may listen a bit and so on. Sometimes my son will be let to make his own decision and he gets mad at me because he doesn't know what he's doing. Thats his way of hashing it out. I would suggest this "research be done on the internet at home. It has helped us -DS is 16. (he seems to be gelling a little if that helps) In his mind you embarrassed him at the store. there a book. It;s called the language of boys or somethig like that. It was pretty good. Sometimes i have my husband decipher. We don't speak the same language for sure.

[frugalfranny]

Yeow....sorry this happened. The 'joys' of teenagers???!!!

Hey....someday you will be able to laugh about this....we hope.

Good luck in the future.......keep the faith...they remember/learn more than you think they will.

[LuvMyHubby]

Quite frankly I would have offered to help with the options once and then stayed out of it and let him get what he wanted as long as it didn't break your rules and if it ended up being a clunker it would come under the heading of "not mom's problem". His money equals his lesson learned.