A random tweet that I saw the other day brought back a story from Louis’ early teenage years. It was nearing Christmas or a birthday and I was thinking about present buying. He needed a new phone pronto. The one he had wasn’t charging properly and a battery replacement would have cost more than the value of the thing itself. Good old built in obsolescence! We’d already had a couple of incidents where it had run out of battery life when he needed to call to be picked up. Anyway I found one online for a good price. I was quite proud of myself for picking such a bargain. So I approached my son and mooted the idea about it being a an early present for him. It would have come under the ‘Need’ category of Christmas presents as part of my ‘Want, Need, Wear Read’ buying strategy. The response I got wasn’t what I expected.
‘No thank you I don’t want it.’ He was absolutely adamant. I pressed him a bit further because, after all, the phone had really good reviews. To my astonishment he started to cry. ‘No! Loads of the boys at school have got that one. I don’t want to be a sheep!’ What could I do but back down.
I have to say part of me felt pretty proud. It showed that I’d raised a child who’s his own person and not a follower, a sheep as he described it. He’s still that way, not part of the flock but happy in his own fleece!
Good on him. My kids just wanted functional and to their own preferences, but ever so often something the crowds had called to them.
It’s cheaper for us when they’re like that too!