Nary a Thought

Ronnie did something this past weekend that really surprised me. I thought I had a pretty good handle on his skill set, especially as it applies to general educational skills like reading and writing, but on one subject I think I may not have a good handle - his understanding about exchanging money for goods and services, and his ability to understand the intricacies of spending/saving money.

Ronnie likes video games, perhaps a little too much sometimes. One of his Christmas presents was a gift card for online gaming. He also received from Chip a couple of video games that he could and does play online with his friends. But between Christmas and last weekend, he went online and bought a lot more games - $220 worth to be exact. Thing is, he doesn't have $220.

When the online gaming console is set up, a credit card must be registered with the account. Chip used his credit card with never a thought that Ronnie would buy more games. Chip and I were both wrong. He was a game buying fool!

I truly believed that Ronnie understood the whole setup, and that he would ask if he wanted more games, and especially that he understood that $40 a pop for a game was pretty excessive. But when we brought it to his attention, he didn't seem to understand. It was like he thought, "Wow, more games - I think I will try them." with never a thought about the money.

As we continued to try explaining to him why what he did was unacceptable, he got angry - not because he knew what he was doing and still did it intentionally, but because we were not happy. He gets angry when we are not happy with something he has done. So, I think he is still missing the point of spending the money. I think he really just doesn't understand.

So, now it's back to the drawing board to help him get his money skills up to par. I'll also be addressing this issue in his next IEP meeting. But in the meantime, he's lost his gaming privileges. Talk about a really unhappy camper.....

ATM: Valentine's Day Cherry Cake with my children.