Money Matters

G received some "cash" yesterday from his PawPaw Arnol. Once I learned that he had received such a gift, I, of course, went to work "teaching" him all of the great lessons a 3-year-old needs to know about money.

However, as I was talking to him I recalled my last $ lesson I had with a child of ours...

On a cold evening last winter, Gunnar and I went to the store to buy a cake for a baby shower. On our way to the store, Gunnar begins to rummage round in the pockets of the giant puffy coat he was wearing...He "looked" in the pockets for a good four or five minutes before a Velcro wallet appeared.

"Look, I got money!" he proclaims.

"That is great baby," as I look over to discover he has a HEAPING wallet of money- a good bit of it in quarters that seem to be falling from every pocket in the wallet, "Where did you get all of that money?"

"Just around...you know, from a lot of places." (I did not want to go into this with him...I decided in that moment I needed to dig further than finding out what he was doing with all of this money!)

"Oh, how much money do you have?" I asked as we pulled into the Kroger parking lot. I figured at that time that he was well stocked in change and nothing more, so I was not real concerned.

"I do not know," he states, "I have this (showing me the two handfuls of change he has gathered from ever crevice) and some dollars."

"You have some dollars too?" I should have known! "Let me see..."

So sitting in the parking lot of Kroger, I count Gunnar's money. $20s were crumpled in credit-card holes, there was a ripped $10 and more...He also proudly proclaims at this time has been taking this money back and forth to kindergarten daily! Anyway, when my counting concludes, I come to a grand total of $65.45!

Somewhat flabbergasted, I started to drill him with questions...

"Baby, what do you do with this money you carry with you all of the time?...Why do you need this much money?...Why do you not put it in your bank?..." You name it, and I asked!

I think I figured that he was using the money for ice cream at school, saving it for a toy he really wanted...but I was WRONG.

When I asked about the venues in which he was spending he money he says, "...yea, I sometimes buy a snack or something, but mostly I use it when I need to pay Cannon."

"Pay Cannon?...Why do you need to pay Cannon?" (Yes, his brother!)

"Well, you know...sometimes he has to do chores. When he does not want to do a chore, I will give him a dollar and then I will do the chore for him."

"Oh, so when you do not want a chore, you give Cannon a dollar and he does them for you." I figure he had it backwards.

Looking at me as if I AM CONFUSED, "No, when he does not want to do a chore, I pay him a dollar, and then I do it."

Still thinking that he must have it backwards..."So, when Canon does not want to do a chore, you pay him a dollar and then YOU do the chore for him?" I ask him in a somewhat disturbed tone...

"Yes!" he says profoundly...proud that I FINALLY understood!

Do I dare ask another question? "What other times do you pay your brother?"

"Well, if I want something he has I can pay him, and he will give it to me."

"Like what?"

"Well, there was this football that we had and then Zoe ate it, but we still used it. I gave him five dollars, and he let me have it."

How does one respond? Yes, his story is that he gave his brother $5 for a ball they both already owned!

"Don't give your brother any more money for any reason."

Since then, I have decided that I want Cannon to handle all of my finances. :)