If you remember the story, the boy wants his dogs so badly, he works odd jobs for two years, diligently saving pennies, nickels and dimes in an old can, patiently building his fortune in order to send away for his two beloved coonhounds.
My girls were in absolute awe of this incredible display of fortitude. It was blowing their minds: the boy wants something, and works for two years to achieve it? Wait...no whining? No begging? No birthday gifting? He did it all by himself? I could literally see new neural connections being made in their brains as they attempted to understand all this...
About a month later we were at a friend's house over the holidays - a friend, it should be duly noted, that had recently purchased a Wii console. Reese and McKenna had never actually heard of Wii... Video games? Yes, although they'd never shown much interest. But when they tried out the unique Wii system, they were amazed. Within 20 minutes they were mopping up the Wii boxing ring with their competitors, destroying their Wii baseball opponents on the Wii field, and going all "Wiilliams-sisters" on their Wii tennis foes.
"Dad, I want a Wii!" they proclaimed (repeatedly) that night. Paige and I immediately could see the future, and unfortunately there was a lot of whining in it. But suddenly Where The Red Fern Grows popped into my mind and I had an idea.
"Tell you what," I started, formulating my plan as I spoke, "If you both save $100 - $50 each - over the next year, I'll pay the other half and you guys can get Wii next Christmas."
Their initial reaction was silence. This needed appropriate thought-digestion. Was this a good deal? Was this an acceptable solution? The girls looked at each other and thought about it...thought about the boy from the book that they loved...if he could do that, they could do this.
"OK, awesome!" Reese excitedly responded, loving the challenge. "I can do that!"
"Me too!" McKenna agreed. "...What is fifty dollars?"
I wasn't sure if they could actually do this, but now it was entirely in their hands: no whining, no begging, no nothing; if they wanted it, they were going to have to be patient, be diligent, and work hard. In my mind, this was a win-win: they were going to learn a good lesson, and I may just get a new Wii console out of it all...
So, perhaps a little surprisingly, they didn't just immediately forget about the whole thing, nor did they tire of the effort. In January they had already designated their own personal stash locations and piled all of their existing change to assess their starting point: not much. But they wanted to earn their money, and began asking to wash cars, rake leaves, rebuild my fence... I was loving this.
On top of their new work efforts, they received an allowance of $5/month. This wasn't tied to their daily chores (those had to be done no matter what); instead, this was their money to spend - or save - as they liked. It was something Paige had started a year earlier so when we were out shopping with them, so there would be no whining, no begging; instead, we could just say, "If you want to spend your money on that, it's your choice..." And 100% of the time, the whining stopped. If they spent on whatever caught their eye at the moment, it would impact something else they might want... Tough decisions...
Now, all incidental expenditures stopped entirely. No more spur of the moment Webkinz. No more Baskin-Robbins. No more MMA pay-per-view events... Every penny went into their kitty, each month their kitty went into their bank account, and they took the responsibility entirely on their own shoulders.
By summer, they were both slightly ahead of their goal. Reese quickly figured out that if she stayed at this pace, she might reach her $50 goal by September.
"Dad," she asked one day, "If we get $100 early, can we get the Wii early?"
Nice try.
"Sorry hon, but that wasn't the deal. Christmas was the deal. But the good news is any extra money you save you can spend on anything you want..." I was trying to help her bridge that gap of understanding that she was in complete control of her finances and that the end goal didn't have to be the be-all-end-all.
"You mean like more Wii games?!" she asked.
Hmmm...well, at least she was kind of getting the point...
Their savings grew, and their insistence to help around the house continued throughout the summer and fall. Weeding, cleaning the garage, cleaning all the window screens (!)...this was fantastic. A dollar here, a dollar there, a lemonade stand here, a neighborhood poker game there... It was all adding up.
Finally in December, I took them to the bank and they nervously filled out their withdrawal forms and handed them to the teller. I'm not sure how comfortable the teller was watching the kids remove nearly their entire life savings and then immediately hand over the money to their father...but thankfully nobody stopped us on the way out...
"Incredible job!" I told them out in the car. "You guys worked hard the entire year, didn't complain once, and achieved your goal...how do you feel?"
"I feel really good!" Reese exclaimed from the back seat. "That was really hard, but now we get Wii!"
"What about you McKenna?" I asked.
"Can we get a Baskin-Robbins now?"
OK, so a little of the life-lesson still needed to sink into that one, but I could tell that it was as both girls repeatedly told their grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends how hard they'd been working all year and how they saved $100 all by themselves. They were proud, and they had learned that they could achieve something difficult entirely on their own.
And on Christmas morning they bolted down the stairs, ignored their stockings and the presents under the tree, and went right for the Wii: it had all been worth it.
Or had it...?
Over the next few weeks, their interest in the Wii...dwindled. Where unbridled enthusiasm had ruled in the beginning, an afterthought became the reality as time went by. "Oh yeah, we have Wii..." seemed to be the prevailing mindset as the girls prioritized how they spent their time, and more often than not, playing with their friends, riding bikes or challenging the general relativity components of the Kaluz-Klein theory seemed to win out. (And really, what kid ever tires of that?)
It wasn't that they necessarily lost interest in the Wii or disliked it...it's just that they realized that the destination maybe wasn't as rewarding as the journey. The daily mindset of working at something worthwhile and the excitement of doing so (and sharing their ongoing success with others) had been more interesting than actually playing the damn Wii.
I loved this.
They weren't bitter at spending their $100 hard-earned dollars on something that maybe wasn't as amazing as they had built it up to be; instead, the culmination of their journey only made them want to take on the next one. Break down the next wall. Define a new challenge.
I think of this example as I run through this season's Survivor, and last night's finale. The season has been absolutely incredible. Endless twists and turns. Satisfying coups and frightening battles. Ultimately this 20th season finally lived up to what Survivor has been striving to achieve for ten years: a wide array of personalities, a constant shifting of power among them, and a tremendous final tribal council panel.
Yes, in the last update I had pleaded for a Russell/Parvati pairing in the end. And I got it, so I'm not going to complain too much. But wow: what a complete and utter letdown it all was.
Arguably the single worst jury speeches and questions in twenty seasons (I'll give Rupert and - unbelievably - Candice a pass, they were OK). And a winner who, just like last time she won, will be forgotten by the time you finish reading this sentence. Forgettable. Undeserving. Insulting.
Did Russell deserve to win? Maybe, but probably not. Although he is an incredible player, Rob and Tom were absolutely correct in saying that Russell didn't play to win, he only played to get to the end. And clearly Russell didn't understand Jeff's question about trying to secure jury votes. He didn't care - he didn't know how to care. And he still doesn't get it, because he thought they should have just decreed it all to him.
I don't think he should have changed his game, but he should have been crystal clear about his strategy and played to the jury: "This was my strategy going in, and here's how I executed it - saving Parvati and using her to get here. Constantly realigning the Villains to ensure the Heroes get booted and I remain in control. Taking challenging risks. And more than anything: stirring the pot. So you hate me? Understand, that was my strategy, that was an act. I knew I would be perceived as strong, as a threat. But if I am perceived as a horrible person, the target shifts from me to someone else because I appear to be someone that can be beaten at the final tribal council. But Parvati wouldn't be here without me. Sandra's only strategy was to vote me out, and in her sole strategy: she failed. I implore you to see past my outer shell and understand how hard I worked to get here. I deserve to win."
...But no, Russell didn't even argue anything. So he didn't deserve it.
Therefore, Parvati did. But she got screwed. She was eloquent in her speeches, she kicked butt in the challenges, and she battled Russell. But why didn't she talk about these moves she made against him? Keeping the idol from him. Taking the heat off of him. Winning immunity when she most needed it...
So, the crappy jury, once again. rewards the lesser of the evils. The vanilla of the tasteless options. It is their prerogative, but it's so not satisfying to the rest of us.
Tom was right: it's 1/3 work, 1/3 skill, and 1/3 luck. But Russell's right too: with Sandra, it was 9/10 luck. She ended up in the finals, and she was the default winner because of the other two seemingly offensive options. Put Jerri, Rupert, Candice...hell, maybe even Colby in there, and it's the same outcome: no win for Russell or Parvati.
And that sucks.
So, once again, I take a deep breath, shake it off, and remember how rewarding the journey has been. Three months of fun. Three months of excitement. And another season right around the corner.
I just have to try to remember to have Wii expectations next time...
So until then,
PB
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