Week "Nine" part two - Money Management

Fiora could get an allowance. That would be dropped until we cleaned it up into a vacation jar or somesuch. Well, I guess the point is, I don't really know that. Give the girl a chance and see what happens.

But to be honest, I'm a bit torn. We really want to teach Fiora about saving money, giving money, as well as letting her learn how to spend her money. Gads, Brian even wants to figure out some way for her to experience the potential disaster of credit cards for herself (at some later date, of course!). I could see her learning how to save her money on her own (Brian and I both did as kids, because there were things we wanted to spend it on), and how to spend it on her own, but what about giving it? We were thinking of doing a donation at Christmas, on the Christmas tree, that the family decided where to give to. It'd be cool if at some point she did the same thing with her allowance...and why not from the very start?

In addition, if she chose some crappy candy that I wouldn't eat and think isn't good for her, my mama-bear tendencies would move me to say, "I want you to be strong and healthy and feel good, and that food won't help you. Not for Fiora." If she chose dry pasta or whatever, well, okay.

I actually remember one Saturday when I was a kid. My parents finally got tired of us kids REALLY WANTING whatever was being advertised during Saturday morning cartoons (I still remember the ads for chocolate chip cookie cereal and gum with exploding flavor in the center!). So they told us that for one Saturday a month, we could eat whatever crap we wanted. Of course, we bought a ton of stuff (we didn't usually eat sugar in our household), including the afore-mentioned cereal and candy. I still remember the disappointment - the cereal was pretty darn tasteless, and the gum was a far cry from my imagination. I don't remember fighting to keep that tradition going...it wasn't worth it.

Why do I tell that story? Well, I DO believe that buying crap isn't terribly self-satisfying. But it might also help to have some exposure to other options. The ads really informed my brother and my choices of what to buy. I don't remember my mom ever giving us options when we were food shopping...I'd love to introduce Fiora to Divine Treasures chocolate sweetened with agave (they're so good!), or gelato, etc.

Looking forward to learning more about how to do this well. And what Fi will do when given the chance. She's surprised me often enough before!