My Son Has Learned the “B” Word

My son’s mind is soaking up so much information that the “why” questions run one after the other. Some, of course, I can’t answer. But, we’ve set aside some time right before bed where he can unload all of his questions on me and I’d do my best to satisfy his curious mind.

The other night we talked about bats. I asked him what he would like to talk about next and he couldn’t think of anything. So I snuck in there, “Why don’t we talk about another word that starts with the letter “B”?” His eyes widened. “We’ll talk about banks.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said.

Good. He was excited. I asked him what he knew about banks. He said that you get money and suckers from them (our bank gives suckers to the kiddies).

I was a little nervous, because this was the first time I’ve really discussed this concept with my son. I approached it gradually. “You can also take money to the bank and they hold it for you. They put it in a big safe.”

Oh, he loved the idea of a safe. He said, “Me lockÂ up my money at the bank so no bad guys can get it.”

I continued on. “And when you put your money in the bank, you can make money by doing that.” (it is so very hard to try to put everything in words that a four-year old would understand).

“You make money?” he asked.

“Yes, you make money. It’s called interest.”

He repeated what I had said, like he was explaining to me what banks were and he seemed to understand.

The next day, I prompted him to tell Daddy what he learned about banks. He said, “Me put my money in bank and they lock it in a safe so no bad guys get it.”

“Anything else?” I asked.

“Mmmm…no” he replied.

He did forget the whole part about interest and making money by saving money. But that’s okay. The door has been opened and we have many more bedtimes to discuss

Posted by Tricia on July 25, 2006 at 9:39 AM in Kids & Money | 5 Comments »
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D responded:
Posted: July 25th, 2006 at 9:47 am
It is never to early to talk. Sounds like he will get all the financial info he needs from his mom. Don’t give up!
Kim L. responded:
Posted: July 25th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
That’s a really neat thing to discuss things like that! I’ll have to try it.
Tricia responded:
Posted: July 25th, 2006 at 5:19 pm
My hope is that by the time that he grows up, he’ll be able to look at this blog and learn a lot. My parents never really discussed money with me. I understand why they didn’t and I’m definitely not mad at them for it. I just want to give him a little head start with saving
J responded:
Posted: July 26th, 2006 at 8:04 pm
I think this is so good that you are discussing this topic with him so early.
I wish my parents had done the same with me.
AllFinancialMatters » Blog Archive » The Carnival of Personal Finance - Week 59 responded:
Posted: July 31st, 2006 at 1:00 am
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