"Bad Parenting"

One morning, Brock woke up bright and early, determined to earn some cash.  He was inspired by his older cousin in Utah, who had his own iPod Touch, and Brock was sure he could work hard and save up enough money for his own.  So, he went to his father and asked for a job.  Justin told him that if he did a good job cleaning out the basement, he could earn $10.  It was a big job.  Brock worked all morning, and into the afternoon, clearing out boxes, sweeping and mopping the floor, and putting everything back neatly where it belonged.  He earned his $10, and then learned about paying overhead:  Brandon had helped do part of the cleaning, so he expected part of the money.  Brock paid him $1.  Then his parents expected him to put half of his money in savings, and pay 10% tithing.  The money was dwindling fast.  At cub scouts, Brock left his Webelos book at the church, so we fined him $1 for having to pick it up for him.  In the end, his $10 had turned into $2.  Were we bad parents for making him pay?  Would we have been worse parents if we had not? 

Brandon is a saver.  The more money he saves, the less he is willing to spend.  He's very picky about what he buys, and only buys stuff he's sure he really wants.  One day, he came with me to Wal-Mart with his pouch full of quarters, hoping to find just the right toy to add to his prized possessions.  He found a  Lego set he really wanted for $19.95.  We took it to the cashier, who rung it up.  The folks behind us in line waited patiently while he dumped the mountain of quarters onto the counter and began making piles of dollars.  In the end, Brandon was $1 short.  He didn't have enough money to buy the toy.  The cashier kindly assured Brandon not to worry, but that she was sure that his mother would pay the difference.  I kindly assured her that I certainly would not.  Brandon could save a little while longer, and we would come back when he had enough money to pay for the toy on his own.  Was I a bad parent for refusing to pay the difference?  Would I have been a worse parent if I had paid instead?