Kid's Starting a Business

I got the chance to grow up in this country because my parents wanted to get away from political and economic persecution and ensure I would enjoy the benefits of a democratic and capitalistic society where it's possible to "pull yourself up by your bootstraps." Practically, this meant a lot of hard work on their end to give us a "better life" (i.e. not one controlled by lack of economic resources and an authoritarian regime) and a lot of encouragement for my sister and me to choose lucrative professions because, to paraphrase them, money isn't most important, but it can make life easier.

No surprise then that, after a brief stint as a teacher by way of Teach For America, I now find myself a corporate/commercial transactions attorney by day (and sometimes night). I am now faced with a very different parenting challenge than my parents had. My kids don't have the benefit of knowing, really knowing in their bones, that every single thing we have was hard won (and it was). They've never gone to school in a borrowed truck whose varied stages of rust made it look like a rainbow. They've certainly never seen their father make a functional, though not particularly comfortable, car run using spare parts from another that was in worse conditions and lived in the backyard.

They've seen us typing, making client calls, running consulting/sales meetings and, for some grounding, they know their daddy has to climb into hot attics and on top of hot roofs to successfully run the inspection business he started from nothing.

But that's it. From their perspective, we're mostly home and things, everything from food to that 3rd pair of ballet shoes at this point, just magically appear.

They aspire to own audis and teslas and brand new trucks, and why not?! But that can't be all. I don't want my children to suffer or do with any less than I did. But I don't want them to miss out on the beauty of heart and mind that can come from having less or knowing, first hand, how much work it takes to come by more. I want, scratch that, need, them to experience what it means to work for a living. How much commitment, grit, patience, planning and coordination it takes. In short, I would want them to work (for something important) even if they somehow became independently wealthy.

Yesterday, our son (6) asked to look at "indian bows and arrows" on my phone. I thoughts he was looking for inspiration on how to make one out of the perfectly-shaped stick he found in the yard the other day. Instead, he walked up to me and asked "Mom, which one of these is cheaper?"

After a quick review of the hundreds place value and a brief introduction to currency notation, he correctly determined that the $234.99 bow was cheaper than the $345.99 bow. So he followed up with "Can you buy this one?" (pointing at the cheapest one). I opted away from the teachable moment on why cheapest isn't always best and instead turned into some version of Captain Obvious: "I don't think you understand how hard it can be to come by that much money." How could he?! He only started noticing we pay for things a bit over a year ago when the tooth fairy came on the scene. I can't tell you how much he looks forward to falling teeth now. At one point I wondered if we were unintentionally creating a passion for black markets.

The next words out of my mouth were better received than I expected: "I think we're going to need to get you a job you so can save up for that." He was full of ideas. First, he decided the bow and arrow was not the way to go. Sights reset on an RC car valued at a little over $60 (still a pricey toy!). He suggested he run a thrift store on the weekends, selling his used toys. He suggested he might ask dad to drive him and our lawn mower around and mow people's lawns. He mentioned he couldn't run a lemonade stand because no one drives by our house or knows where we live. In the background, I was panicking.

There's just so much to consider when raising a human! I don't want him to be solely money driven. I just want him to have financial acumen. I have trouble "paying" kids for chores because I think there are certain things we simply need to do to be part of the community we live in (family first, but also neighborhood, town, etc.) and taking out the trash or walking the family dog is as much our responsibility as it is every other family member's, not what we do "for money." I had to think of a job that is both age appropriate and truly something outside the shared family chores. Maybe that comes easier to others. It was a challenge for me. We landed on some would-be-homesteaders' modern version of a lemonade stand.

L will, in the near future, begin harvesting pine needles. He will save them, measure them (apparently only certain lengths are truly marketable), bundle them, weigh them, package them, and I will help him post it for sale online. This was questionable to him at first because, in his words, "I don't have a credit card," but he trusted quickly when I assured him I would get him the money deposited in my account. He is excited! I am too. So many life and financial lessons to come! The real "value" of a dollar sure, but also, donations or subsidies to benefit those who can't afford but need the product, sharing, saving, investing and enjoying. I can't wait!

Do you have any tips for teaching young, young children compassionate and conscientious financial literacy?