You want it? Pay for it.

I mentioned in another post that I had been jamming with my two boys since they discovered a little music studio near our area. Well, the older of the two is so into music he had been bugging me to buy him an electric guitar since last year. I can see his interest with the instrument as I see him downloading tunes in the internet and trying to learn how to play it with my classical guitar. (Imagine trying to bend notes on a nylon string.) I told him earlier on that if he really wanted one, then he should at least shoulder half the cost. I thought that would be the end of it since I and my wife knows that he is rather stingy. :-)

I am serious about him paying for at least half of the price of an electric guitar. There are several reasons why and these are:

1. I do not have that much money. Inasmuch as I would like my children to have everything they wanted, I have to prioritize which ones I am giving in to as I am not a rich man. I will have to make every centavo count;
2. I would know that he is really determined to learn. I do not want to see another guitar cluttering our small house.;
3. I will be assured that he will take good care of it (he is stingy, remember?); and,
4. I co-own the instrument, hence, can play it anytime I wanted

I think my son is a born musician. He is self taught with the guitar. Read here how he learned to play the instrument. That ought to be inspiring.

He was in Grade 3 when he told me he wanted to play the violin. I told him sure but he will have to just use the school's violin first. I thought it was just a passing phase. But later on, I realized he was really that interested. I told my wife we better get him a cheap violin as he had to practice at home, too. So, we bought him a half-size violin. True enough, he always had that violin with him. When we were to go home, all I had to do was find that violin sound and sure enough, it was him. So, the following year, we asked my niece who lives in the States and was coming over for a visit, to buy him a full-size violin. You should see the smile on his face when he got the surprise. To date, he is a member of the orchestra and had been the school's concert master last year before he graduated high school.

Anyway, last Friday, he texted me to say that there was a sale on electric guitars and that he can shoulder half of the price. He had been earning from gigs with the orchestra and saving cash. I told him I had no cash available. He was really dismayed. The following day, my two Korean students who had been having classes with me for painting paid me. So, I asked my wife's permission if I can use the money to purchase the guitar our son wanted. She gave me the nod and so, I told my son to get his money ready as we were buying the sought after guitar. Well, we did buy it and as I expected I ended up paying for it more. About 55% of the cost (magulang talaga) True to form, my son is currently sleeping with it. Now my only wish is that the younger do not ask for a drum set as that is not really possible at this time.