Money Lessons

While driving in the car a few weeks ago, Leah and I started talking about Disney World and how much it would cost to go to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique to get hair and make up done, as well as a complete princess costume to keep (the answer is upwards of $250- ouch!).  I suggested to Leah that she might be able to earn some of the money to help pay for it.  When she said she could do extra chores around the house to earn some money I asked her how much she thought she would like to get for each chore.  "Maybe one dollar each day?" was her answer.  Then, after contemplating it she said, "No!  Maybe one coin.  Dollars don't fit in my cupcake piggy bank." 

Comments like this always make me smile as I realize that she has a very limited concept of money.  For the most part, that works in my favor.

But then I remembered the dollar that Grandpa gave her for cleaning up a big pile of toys while we were in Utah, and asked her what happened to it if dollars don't fit into her bank.  And with all the innocent of a child she said,

"Well, I tried ripping it in half and putting it in that way, but it still didn't fit.... So I just had to throw it away."

That response left me speechless for a full minute.  After I composed myself, I just said it looked like money lessons would be in store for her and moved on.  But oh my!  Have we missed a teaching opportunity here or what?!  She ripped money in half!  And then threw it away!  And into a trash can that I couldn't even retrieve it out of!  I was dying just a tiny little bit inside. 

The next day we started "Money Lessons" at quiet time.  I thought it would be nice to explain that coins and dollar bills are both worth money, and printed up a nice little equivalency chart that showed 4 quarters equals one dollar and so on.  But that concept requires understanding what a quarter is, so we backed it way up, and our first lesson just covered the different names of the four coins that can currently be found in our Disney World jar. 

It looks like the concepts of chores, allowance, spending, saving and tithing are just around the corner.  But for now,  we're just focusing on the basics.  Like the idea that money, as general rule, is NOT to be put in the garbage can.