The till will tell...

A few months ago, I ran into lady shopping with her children. I noticed that everyone had at least one item in their hand. I casually commented - "I see everyone is shopping." She responded: "The till will tell." That short sentence stuck with me. As I continued to ruminate on it, I kept asking myself if I'd let the till tell or just tell it as it is.

I don't know if you have this challenge of going shopping with your children and they want this and that and the other... Sometimes, the number of times I say "No - you cannot have it" almost sounds like I'm barking...not a good feeling either.

I rarely ever let "the till tell". Think about it: what does the till know about my purse and its contents or even of my personal/family priorities and budget that I don't already know?
On occassion, I have been pleasantly surprised at the till - when the posted price of an item is higher than the price in the system but that's not a reason to buy things I do not believe we need or that I believe we don't need - at least not at that time.

That's not to say that I don't let my children choose things but it just has to be clear who's calling the shots...and who is holding the purse strings and it's not them. It never ceases to amaze me when I see parents who succumb to their child(ren)'s tantrum(s). I told my children when they were much younger that if they "throw" a tantrum, they better be ready to catch it...they have since learned to catch themselves before they throw anything.

The bottom line is as parents we must remember that we are the parents and must be courageous enough to say "no" rather than waiting for the till (or cashier) to do the parenting for us. Take a cue from God, He never relinquishes His role as our Father just because we want something. He says "no" or "not yet" as required - learn to do the same.