Ice Cream Truck and balance

keym

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 10:57 am

So it's that time of year again.
Ice cream trucks, sales, and carnivals weekly for the next 5 months and kids begging for money constantly.
I'm talking about the 6-10 year old range especially, too young to earn money.

My parents always said no. That was hard for me, made me feel like a social outcast.
Money is tighter so I don't have unlimited funds.
I'm not a fan of behavior charts for this, I end up policing and negotiating and they don't consider it fair.

Have you managed to find a balance that you and your kids all can handle

hodeez

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:02 am

I always say no, they don't seem broken up by it at all bc they know I will give them ices or ice cream at home. If they really pressed I might say it's a special treat for today

amother

Kiwi

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:03 am

lol my toddler kids dont know what the ice cream truck is yet. they think its just a fun truck to look at. Im not teaching them LOL

amother

Cantaloupe

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:03 am

My kids each get a jar on the counter and every time I see them doing something nice for a sibling, helpful to the family, etc, I drop a coin in.
They also get a $3 allowance per week added to the jar.
That’s their money for the summer and there’s no begging for more.
I don’t remove money for any reasons but that’s up to you.
You need to be very clear upfront with the kids about how your family goes about carnivals and ice cream trucks. Eliminate the nagging, snip it right in the bud.

Chaya123

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:04 am

I was given a suggestion last year to allow once a week and that worked for us bh.

keym

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:04 am

The ice cream truck came yesterday so I titled my thread that.
But I'm also wondering about all the bake sales, popcorn sales, carnivals.
We live in a development and there averages 2-3 such sales a week (usually proceeds for various tzedakas)

amother

Babypink

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:08 am

The ice cream truck is a real challenge, it comes almost every day and it's $5 a cone. There are neighbors that buy every time The ice cream truck comes and my kids beg to get. So far I allow only for special occasions. I hope it won't come so often this summer. It's crazy.

amother

Gold

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:09 am

When I was growing up, the ice cream truck was known not to be kosher, so it was never even a question. Things are so different now.

amother

Heather

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:09 am

We buy ice cream and keep in freezer. Saves a ton of money. From the truck is only for ‘special’ occasions like last day of school etc.

amother

Jean

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:11 am

I would present the issue to the kids and see what solutions they come up. They're bound to be happier that way.

amother

Maple

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:17 am

We get ice cream from the truck on Rosh Chodesh, and so do many of our neighbors.
As for "sales," my kids will sometimes spend their own money, or I'll give them less than a dollar to spend.
We can afford more b"H but don't want to throw out money on these things. The kids are all fine with it.

amother

Moccasin

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:20 am

amother Heather wrote:

We buy ice cream and keep in freezer. Saves a ton of money. From the truck is only for ‘special’ occasions like last day of school etc.

This.

If there are treats available at home on occasion I wouldn't worry about saying no to the ice cream truck.

keym

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:21 am

amother Heather wrote:

We buy ice cream and keep in freezer. Saves a ton of money. From the truck is only for ‘special’ occasions like last day of school etc.

How old are your kids? Are all their friends getting ice cream from the truck frequently? Are they happy with this or do they complain and beg each time?

tweety1

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:23 am

I'm having the same issue. I live in a neighborhood with many children that age. Within my block and around the corner. My kids don't even have to cross the street. Every week literally there's another carnival, food sale, bake sale etc. I Kah have quite a few kids who would love to play the booths or buy whatever. Even if it's only .50 cents each kid it's still adds up. I don't know where to draw the line. Ice cream truck is off limits since dh has a problem with kashrus on the truck. Even if it's a reliable hashgucha the trucks he doesn't trust so that's not an issue. We go 2x a summer to the ice cream store and they get to choose then.

amother

Maroon

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:23 am

amother Babypink wrote:

When we lived in a development we sometimes got a few different trucks every day 😬

Highstrung

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:25 am

We live in an area with few single family homes so it’s not an issue . Even if someone sells popcorn on Sunday and someone else lemonade on Monday it’s usually like .25 or .50 cents so I let.

The ice cream truck only comes once a month when we order it for Rosh Chodesh to our neighborhood. We otherwise have freezepops or slush pops that the kids can take when they come home from school and we officially do dairy ice cream on Shabbos by Shalosh seudos every week from Pesach until Rosh Hashana.

amother

Steelblue

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:28 am

It's not about money for me, but more about excess sugar and junk food. So the prize sales don't bother me as much. I don't know when carnivals became all about food but that's where it's at.
There are mothers where I live that literally call the ice cream truck and ask it to come down here. I can't for the life of me understand that.

amother

Heather

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:31 am

keym wrote:

How old are your kids? Are all their friends getting ice cream from the truck frequently? Are they happy with this or do they complain and beg each time?

8 and 3

My kids know better than to pull that with me. They are extremely privileged kids who have lots of extras. There will always be some thing that others have that they don’t, and vice versa.

amother

Phlox

Thu, Apr 20 2023, 11:45 am

amother Heather wrote:

We buy ice cream and keep in freezer. Saves a ton of money. From the truck is only for ‘special’ occasions like last day of school etc.

This doesn’t really compare or make it better. We don’t live in an area where my kids can see others going to the ice cream truck so I just always said we don’t buy from there and no one questioned it. But for a kids watching all the neighbors line up it can be really difficult for them to feel different.