Preparing for Eid holidays is such an exciting time for our family; we go out shopping for Eid clothes, pick out gifts and enjoy delicious sweets!

This year, our six-year-old daughter asked for quite an expensive gift and this opened the door for discussions and negotiations between us and our little one.

We decided to make a deal: I told her that we would pay for half of the gift and she would need to save up for the other half by giving up candy, chocolates, etc… and instead, put that money in a jar and we would count them right up until it's Eid.

Yes, I agree, the gift one gets for Eid should be solely from parents. But we know our daughter well, she still does not appreciate the value of money, and in one month's time, the scooter - which was the gift she wanted - will only end up being used at playdates!

After two months, the time came to open that jar, and while we were counting, I saw the sadness in her eyes, as the number she had saved wasn’t enough to complete her share.

As for me, I was totally satisfied and happy because she finally understood the concept of “valuing money,” which we have been trying to explain to her for a very long time.

I told her how proud we were of her! She worked really hard those last two months to save up that amount of money and was able to find out on her own the true worth of money, as well as to depend on herself to get what she really wanted by giving up unnecessary things in her life, and to force herself into a tight budget so she can afford what she wanted and desired.

Of course, we will be going out at the weekend to buy her the new scooter!

I think what happened was a win-win scenario, where she enjoys playing with her self-earned new gift, while we celebrate our achievement of getting our daughter to understand that money doesn't come easily, in addition to the advantage of cutting down on the confectionaries she usually consumes.

To all mothers and fathers out there, do you believe I handled the situation right from the start? Or do you believe that Eid is a special occasion and I should have just bought her that gift?