One honest girl

Pinkie Pie wants to have a movie night.  She even has a particular movie in mind, but unfortunately that movie isn't available on Netflix, to which we are subscribed.  The only legal way to get it is to pay for it on Youtube at a cost of 4.99, so she has decided to save her money until she has enough to buy it and then invite people over to watch the movie.  This has put me to a tricky decision.

I like the idea of training her to save up money for things she wants.  She has a tradition of spending everything she has instantly on the first shiny thing she sees, and this trend of thinking about purchases for more than five seconds is a welcome one.

On the other hand I could just pirate the movie and save her 4.99.  I want to teach her about the various options that exist in the world, and since I gave her that 4.99 I would ideally like it spent optimally.

I watch pirated videos.  I also pay for videos, as evidenced by my Netflix subscription, so I am only a part time villain, not fully dedicated to the cause of evil.  The question is, what lessons do I want to impart to her, and what sorts of things will she learn from each tactic I might employ?

"Wow, it sure is easier to steal things rather than save up for them!" isn't exactly the lesson I want to deliver.  On the other hand "I can look around to find out the cheapest and easiest way to get stuff." is a good thing for her to take from the experience.

If only one could figure out ahead of time what sorts of lessons a child will take from an experience. Unfortunately that is not something that is available to parents.  I can attest to the randomness of children's learning from all the times my friends have told me about their parents attempts to instill values or lessons that completely failed.