I might have raised a spoilt brat.

Throwaway account because my friends know my main account. I am seeking for some advices out of desperation.I’m a single dad, with a 5 year old son. I had him when I was 18, I’m 24 now and my ex girlfriend, his mom has left us. 1 year into motherhood, she couldn’t cope with it and left us. I’ve been spending the remaining 4 years with my son alone. My son is sweet most of the time, but I feel like he does know when and how to take advantage of me sometimes.I rarely scold him, almost never. I have never punished him either. My parenting style is always to talk to him nicely and explain to him what he did wrong, and his mistakes. As such, I feel like he is at the age of manipulation now and he has taken my kindness to him as his advantage.An incident that happened yesterday made me wonder if my parenting has been wrong all these while. We were at the toy store yesterday and he asked for a toy gun. The price of the toy is secondary, but the fact that he has had one of the same exact one refrained me from buying. So I told him nicely, ‘I’ve never said no to your requests for toys (I really give in all the time) but you’ve had the same exact one already.’ And his reasoning was, ‘No, that colour is not the same as this one. I like this colour better!’ The toy gun wasn’t cheap. Not that I didn’t have the money, but I just thought spending that money was unnecessary.Initially I still stood by my stand, and talked to him nicely, ‘okay I get it, you want a new toy. You can pick any other toy from the shelf but just not this one.’ He insisted he wanted that particular one, because it was of a different colour. He was almost teary eyed, and so I gave in. Ultimately, I bought him the toy. He was happy, and we had ice cream after that. I’m sure it was a happy day for him, but not so for me. I am not wrenching over the money. As I sat down after that all alone at home and gave a closer thought, it seems like it was all his manipulation at work. I may be able to give in to his small requests now, but what if he gets older and ask for things that are pricier like a gaming console and the like? I might not be able to buy 2 of the same one!I gathered my thoughts and recalled all the past incidents, that’s when I realised I might have unwittingly raised a spoiled child. I want this to stop, but I don’t know how.I know most parents might be frowning over my parenting style. But I hope you could stand in my shoes. He doesn’t have a mother figure, and he has been asking me, ‘why doesn’t he have a mom?’ It makes me sad he has to go through this at such a young age, and I just wish to compensate him with more emotional love. I hope experienced parents can give me insight on this. Thanks all in advance! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2NWA9JA