DS has his 10th birthday this weekend. For his birthday I got him an Ipod Touch but because of the fact we were going on a really long drive for our holiday last week and flying on his actual birthday, I decided to give him his present early so he had something to entertain himself on the long journeys.
He's absolutely been made up with it and has been glued to it. However, last night he went out and had it in his pocket. Whilst he was playing football it came out of his jeans pocket and smashed the glass on the floor.
He's gutted and was quite tearful about it which is unlike him. Usually he'd tough it out and pretend he didn't care, not his fault etc. etc.
The ipod still works but obviously the glass is smashed. Unfortunately being a 4th gen, the glass & LCD are bonded together so replacement parts online are around £40-£50 if I wanted to have a go myself. £90 if I wanted someone to fix it for me.
Obviously a lot of money and I'm mindful that if I simply just "fix it" then he may get complacent. Plus I want to use this to teach him a lesson in responsibility. He also lost his phone last week whilst on holiday but that's only a cheap £10 phone so at the time I wasn't too fussed.
What should I do? So far my idea is to dock him 2 months pocket money and the money I would have spent today getting him a present from his sister/stepbrother could be put towards the repair/replacement. I've checked with his sister and she's ok with that as she understands what I'm trying to do.
I could replace it. Whilst the cash is annoying, it's not like I'd be struggling. But what does this teach him? Nothing. But then it is his birthday this weekend and I feel bad he's smashed it already.