Most young kids save their pocket money for a fancy toy or game. Maybe some of them save up to buy lollies; or to go somewhere special. My nearly 7 year old is saving for his first major purchase. Shmoo is saving up for his first real, working vacuum cleaner.

Ideally, he'd love to have a working Dyson but, short of saving up for the next 3 years, that's a little out of his price range. Instead he's settled upon the Electrolux Ergorapido. He first saw one of those at one of Beanie's Early Intervention sessions and the staff, knowing about his passion for vacuums, allowed him to take it for a 'test drive'. Shmoo was quite impressed at how quiet it was and the fact that it was a 2-in-1 upright and handheld vacuum.

The other day we sat down and worked out a bit of a plan. I wrote down the things he needed to figure out and he filled in the answers. He now know exactly what he wants to buy; where he will buy it from; how much it will cost; how much he has saved; how much more he needs to save; and he has a few ideas on how he can earn the money he needs.

Usually Shmoo tires quite quickly when it comes to writing. He writes very slowly and carefully and it takes a lot out of him. I thought it would take us a few days to work through the pages I'd prepared but he was so excited about his vacuum that he happily completed them in one sitting. He even tackled the maths side of things rather enthusiastically!

Now I just have to figure out how to relate every KLA to vacuums... :-?