Bedtime stories for kids

Earn hard, Spend wise

         Chandan is a 9 year old smart little boy. He is the only son to his parents. He had too much of liking for toys. He used to pressurize his parents to buy toys every now and then. He had got good number of hot wheel cars for his ninth birthday. It had not been even a month since he got his new toys set, his next demand was already ready. He asked his father to get him a new cycle as his old and more recent one had become small for him. His father wanted to teach him the value of money. He thought for a while and agreed to take him to the bicycle shop the coming sunday.

          It was Sunday morning and Chandan was very excited as he thought he would be getting his new bicycle. He got up early that morning and got ready. He and his parents went to the bicycle shop. His father asked Chandan to choose the cycle of his choice. After some test rides, Chandan came up with his dream cycle. Seeing the cycle, father said, "Nice choice Chandu". "Thank you Dad. Shall we get it billed so that I can get the accessories attached now itself", said Chandan blushing. Then his mother interrupted, "Hold on Chandan. We have come here to just get an idea of the kind of cycle you are looking for. We shall buy it for your tenth birthday"! Chandan was looking at his parents in shock. Father said, "So, we have made our choice. Shall we leave"? Tears filled the eyes of Chandan. However, he didn't want to embarrass his parents, he just followed them silently.

          Chandan couldn't hold it any more and while they were driving to their home in their car, he asked his father almost crying, "How could you disappoint me like this Dad. You told me you would buy me bicycle today". Father said, "Chandu dear, I never agreed to buy you cycle but only to take you to the shop". Mother said, "here is the thing Chandan. You have another 11 months left for your 10th birthday. Your Dad and me have decided to give you a pocket money of thousand rupees every month if you are obedient, do your homework sincerely everyday, and take care of our garden. After 10 months, you would have earned ten thousand rupees, the price of your cycle all by yourself. Won't it be exciting"?

        After an initial denial of agreeing to his parents' condition for about a month, Chandan realized his parents are too adamant this time and he didn't have a choice but to agree to what they said in order to buy the cycle. During these ten months, Chandan learnt to be patient, became more independent and also got trained in gardening. He was proud of himself and was eagerly waiting to gather ten thousand rupees in his piggy account.

        One day while in school, one of his classmates got a lot of tiny toy cars similar to hot wheels  and showed to Chandan. Those were the toys his friend had got for free for buying chocolate.  Chandan didn't know about these as he hardly ate any chocolates. Those toys attracted Chandan. His friend asked him to get money so they could go to the bakery to buy the chocolate the next day. Chandan went home all the way thinking of how to get the money. He very well knew his mother wouldn't encourage buying chocolate for the sake of toys.

       It was almost the end of eleventh month and Chandan's birthday was fast approaching. His parents called Chandan on a saturday and decided to share him the good news of buying his favourite bicycle. His mother got his piggy bag and started counting the money in front of Chandan and her husband and was praising Chandan for his patience to wait for so long to buy his favourite cycle and for being such a hard worker. While counting she felt something was missing. Her face became pale and confused. 

      Seeing his wife's face, Chandan's father asked, "What's the matter"? "I see that the money seem to be short of about eight hundred rupees. I very well remember when I put thousand rupees last time, it was full ten thousand. But now, it is only nine thousand and two hundred here", mother said. His parents' discussion left Chandan shivering. Both of them saw their son's face and got to know that he had spent some money from the piggy account. Chandan tried to cover up by saying he spent on project work and stuff which were found out by his parents as lies immediately, for he being very incapable at faking to his parents. 

      The father then said, "Dear Chandu, you absolutely have the freedom to spend the money you have earned. But you can inform us on what you are spending". Chandan decided to tell the truth. He said hesitatingly, "Dad, about two weeks back Nikhil, my classmate had brought some pretty toys to school and told me that he collected them by buying a particular chocolate. I too wanted to buy them. I knew Mom won't agree to give money for chocolate. So, I took money from piggy bag and bought chocolates with it".  

     Mother furiously asked Chandan, "You spent eight hundred rupees for chocolates? Don't lie"!

     Chandan immediately went to his room and got all the toys he collected and showed to mother. "If you don't believe me, see these toys which I got for free with chocolate", said Chandan showing his toys.

    Mother shouted angrily, "You spent your hard earned money for chocolates? If you realize, you have spent eighty percent of your monthly earning on chocolate. Along with money, you would also spoil your tooth set".

    Chandan immediately clarified, "Mom, I didn't eat any of the chocolate. I bought them for toys only". He saw his response upset his parents even more.

     Father came to Chandan and calmly said, "Chandu dear, spending your hard earned money for something insignificant like this is absolutely meaningless. In addition to this, hiding and lying to parents also doesn't suit a good boy like you".

     Chandan bent down his head and said in shame, "I made a mistake. I'm very sorry. You may punish me by not buying me the cycle. I will never repeat this again".

     "Since you were brave enough to accept your mistake and correct it, I shall give you the remaining eight hundred rupees and we shall buy your cycle tomorrow", said father smilingly.

     "Thank you Dad. But I would like to accept more work for this month rather than taking the money from you for free", said Chandan.

      "In that case, for this month, you may make our morning coffee", said mother.

      Chandan jumped in excitement and said, "Hurray! I'm buying my cycle tomorrow. Thanks Mom and Dad for forgiving me and getting me everything I want".

      "That's fine Chandan. Just remember. You should always work hard to earn money or respect. No short cuts in that. And, spend every bit of it with utmost care.