Mr. CC, you are such a sweetheart. How dare I disagree? But I will, with a story, if I may. Just a little. A teensy bit. Okay?
After the age of 8.5 until I got a job, because of familial problems, I had very little, and I learned that I owned nothing: "my" things could and did disappear without notice. So as a young mother, I gave my children everything. One day, I was cleaning up in the children's play room, surrounded by my 4-yr-old daughter's things -- a doll taller than she was, a fabulous metal complete kitchen with running water, her motorized red convertible, etc. I saw one of her toys, broken, lying on the carpet. I asked her, "What happened?"
"I broke it. You'll just buy me another one," she replied.
I was silent -- thinking that through, looking at all her beautiful things.
I answered, "No. I won't." I went into an explanation that she could understand.
Things changed that day, and my daughter benefited by my lesson learned, as did our tiny son, who did not have to learn as harsh a lesson as our daughter did.
Admittedly, my very young husband was killed not long after this incident, and our income was cut, but we were fortunate that we had learned this important lesson before this, so the financial lesson, after his passing, was not as severe as it could have been. But we needed this lesson regardless.