Already late for work and hurrying the boys into the back of my car to whisk them off to summer camp, our oldest son Ethan (6 years old) stopped and asked for some money so he could play arcade games during their bowling trip that day.
Not wanting to waste time discussing the details and responsibilities of money for fear of being even later for work, I reached into my wallet and pulled out two dollar bills and handed it to Ethan.
Flash forward to after work and picking up the kids from camp:
"Hey Ethan, how was camp?" I asked.
"Good," Ethan responded, dragging his Ratatouille backpack.
"Did you have fun bowling?"
"Yes."
"What video games did you play?"
"Shooting ones."
"Did you spend all your money?"
"All the gold tokens, yeah. But the green money I didn't know what to do with it, so I gave it to some bigger kids who asked for it."
Then it struck me. I had taught my son all the things that a 6 year old should know-- lifting the toilet seat to pee, looking both ways when crossing the street, avoiding strangers... but I had yet to teach him the value of money.
And so this is now my undertaking, to teach Ethan the importance and value of money by starting an allowance. The Simple Dollar blog offers great tips on how to start an allowance for children.
I also plan on helping Ethan understand the Money Savvy Pig philosophy which simply put, is to split his allowance into four categories: Save, Spend, Donate, and Invest.
1 Comentário:
hello... hapi blogging... have a nice day! just visiting here....
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