Father gives everything for his daughter’s book fair
The school book fair is a rite of passage for children. Unfortunately, some children come from families that do not have enough money to afford this luxury.
After a man had a horrific experience at the book fair as a child, he decided that his daughter would never feel that way again.
A father with bad memories of his own childhood book fairs decided that his daughter should not go through that.
A father of @theblackbarrys on TikTok described his “traumatic” experience of not being able to afford books at school book fairs as a child.
“So if you’re little broke kids like me, the book fair is a (swear word) nightmare!” he exclaimed.
“I had to watch all the little kids get the scratch-off erasers, the bookmarks, and the books. Not my baby!” he insisted.
“My baby gets everything she wants,” Barry said. “I told her, ‘Circle what you want, baby, and daddy will get it for you.'”
Barry then showed the advertisement for the book fair that his daughter had brought home from school. She had circled ten books and posters, meaning that she wanted to buy those things.
Barry was willing to buy them all for her, explaining that his daughter’s school does not allow students to bring cash to pay for items at the book fair.
“They have an app where you put money on their cart and they go shopping,” he explained. “And when they run out of money, the teacher can text them and say, ‘Hey, they need more bread.'”
Despite this rather ingenious method of covering the costs of the Children’s Book Fair, Barry said it was not necessary for his child. “My baby will never see the moment when she runs out of money!” he explained. “I put about $200 on the jar, bro.”
Barry was thrilled when his daughter came home and he could see what she had spent her money from the book fair on.
Barry’s daughter’s haul at the book fair turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.
One of Barry’s TikTok viewers asked him to make a “video of his book fair loot.” He happily obliged, eager to see how his daughter spent the large sum he had allocated her for the book fair.
Unfortunately, Barry was disappointed.
After circling more than ten items in the ad, his daughter came home with only three books.
She seemed completely calm, but he didn’t. “Don’t worry,” he assured her. “Mommy and I will come with you tomorrow. And I’ll show you how to shop properly at the book fair, because I couldn’t do that.”
Children are actually strongly influenced by the amount of money their family has.
It might be easy to assume that children are not good enough with money to be really affected by how much their family has or doesn’t have, but evidence shows that this is not true.
The American Psychological Association stated: “Children are more likely to have mental health problems if they grow up in a low-income family or in a high-debt family. These factors have long-term consequences, psychologists say. Children report feelings of stress and anxiety, guilt for not being able to help, and shame for not being able to afford what their peers can.”
Although young children may not understand the concept of money as well as older children, they can recognize differences and understand that they have less than others.
These things can be seriously damaging to children as they watch their friends and relatives getting “more” or “better” than they have. The feeling of embarrassment that comes with this reality sounds like what Barry described.
Barry’s compassionate videos show that intergenerational trauma doesn’t have to continue. Instead, parents can use their resources to provide their children with a better life than they had.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news and human issues.
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