A Hard Lesson to Learn

This is David's precious Nintendo DS. Last night when we were cleaning the boys' bedroom we found on the floor like this. Now it doesn't turn on. David cried and cried, and sweet little Katy kept giving him hugs and kisses to make him feel better. It was really hard as a mom to see my little David suffer so much! I want him to learn from this experience (clearly he didn't take care of it like he should have), but the Mama Bear in me just wants to take away his pain!

We assumed last night that it wouldn't be repairable and would need to be replaced. A new DS is $129, way more than we want to spend for a birthday or Christmas present! I was thinking maybe the grandparents would go in with us on one for his birthday. Or that it could be a combo birthday/Christmas present from us, and he wouldn't get much else for either holiday.

I called Nintendo today (in hindsight I should have at least discussed with him the need to call so he could be part of the process), and since it's still under warranty they'll give us a discount on physical repairs, only $63.90. Much better than $129, but still, yikes! The boys each get $2 a week in allowance, then pay 10% tithing and savings. At $1.60 a week, it would take 40 weeks for David to save up enough to cover it. Ryan said he would save up too (bless his sweet little heart!), but that would still be 20 weeks.

So now I'm torn between just having them do that, having them save up with the opportunity to make extra money doing extra chores, or fixing it as pretty much his only birthday present. Any option is going to be sad and hard!

I just hope he learns from this experience!