What’s the next line?

Oh yeah…”I’m leaving today”…NOT!

Ahhh…New York City. A place…I’ve never visited. I have had layovers there, but never got to visit the city. Even when I only lived 3 hours from NYC, I still didn’t visit. Suddenly, an opportunity to go arrived!

Some good friends of ours arranged a fabulous, no children, leave them with the grandparents adult only trip to NYC next June. And I WANNA GOOOOOOOOO…… {Insert 2 year-old nasal whine}

The only problem…it costs money – a lot of money (at least to us). But, boy, would it be nice. Just look what we would get to do:

Visit Grand Central Station, Tour Times Square, the Diamond District, Madison Square Garden, Lincoln Center, Central Park. Stay in a midtown Manhattan hotel, see 3 Broadway Shows, and go shopping….oh the shopping… See the Statue of Liberty, go to Ellis Island and the Immigration Museum. Visit Ground Zero, Tour Radio City Music Hall, visit the Met…and so much more…all packed into four days at a reasonable price {reasonable for New York…you can’t get much cheaper if you try to do all this on your own…believe me we checked it out.}

The other problem…my hubby and I talked about going to New York as a reward once we were out of debt. What to do…what to do…

I am at a crossroads of following a path I have laid out for myself or indulge in the desires of my humanness. I realized that as much as I want to go {I haven’t seen these friends since my wedding…15+ years ago}…. I have to stay true to my path and say no. {Sniff…grumble…sigh}

This, ladies and gentleman, is called self-denial or delayed gratification – ah yes, the hot topic my hubby and I discussed on our family vacation. {I hinted at it in the Cash Only Vacation: The result post.}

As I thought about the wonderfulness of 4 days with my hubby in a city I want to explore…I realized that to give into this trip while we were still in debt would be a bad example for my children. I am trying to teach them about goal-setting and delaying gratification. You know… Waiting to get what you want until you earned it. Not living on borrowed money. Paying now…playing later. {Enough clichés for ya?}

We are trying to teach our kids that they cannot have everything they want when they want it. If we do not teach them how to self-deny while they are under our care they will be unequipped to delay gratification as adults. This, I think, is why many people find themselves in debt or living paycheck to paycheck or not having any savings whatsoever. Adults who cannot say no to the latest and greatest gadget or {ahem} a fabulous trip are modeling instant gratification. Children who do not hear the word no or do not see their parents self-deny, will then become adults who cannot delay gratification.

Is it difficult to model this? YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

I really, REALLY want to go to New York {insert tween begging voice}.

Obviously the best decision right now is to say no to the trip, but…

…if my hubby and I work our *donkeys* off to pay down the last two debts we have and then save money for the trip. We would have the liberty to go because we would have reached a goal and that would be our reward.

Wow! Imagine if we could model that instead?