So recently we’ve been having a relatively hard time financially. My husband (and hundreds of other employees)was laid off back in October when I was 37 weeks pregnant. My husband took the first job that was offered to him because I was on bed rest and he knew we couldn’t go long without any income.

So my husband went from making $30 hourly to $13 hourly.We are now a family of 4 (My husband, myself and our 2 children) so money is super tight.

The other day we were grocery shopping and my 8 year old asked for a toy, I told him not today. About 20 minutes go by and he asks again, so I say,” I told you no.” Another 20 minutes goes by and he asks,” how come you never buy me anything anymore?”

So I told him that right now we are tight on money, that we have enough money to buy food and pay our bills but once we get a little extra I don’t mind coming back and buying him a cheap toy.

Later that day we went to see my mother & her boyfriend, and my older sister happened to be there. For whatever reason my son told them all what I’d said at the store and they all got angry with me. They said that I shouldn’t be telling him about our financial situation, and that kids shouldn’t have that kind of stress put on them. That I should have just told him no, and not to ask again that I shouldn’t have given him an explanation.

I don’t agree with that, I’ve never agreed with “Because I said so” parenting and I don’t think what I told my child was wrong.

I didn’t tell him that if I bought him a toy our power would be shut off, or that we barley have enough money to pay rent. (Neither of those apply to us just examples)

So is it wrong to inform children of situations such as ours or is it ok so long as you don’t go into details? Or is it just wrong in general?