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When my kids ask for something and I can't afford to give it to them I tell
them so. We are very busy lately paying off bills so we can get to our
homestead and living the way we want to rather than the way my Mom wants us
to. This has been helpful to me (this forced poverty) because I am really
starting to learn the value of a dollar. NObody ever said to me when I was
growing up. We can't afford X because we need to keep money aside for Y. I
thought money was never ending. I don't remember thinking that My Dad works
to make money to buy food. Even after my parent's divorce and mom working,
it was still very abstract to me. Never taught to balance a checkbook, make
a budget, or the value of my time. As an adult, this was (and still is) a
severe handicap. I have been struggling to get over this and realized that I
need to be much more open with the kids about our money. If we can't afford
something, I let them know. I don't have the money for that now but maybe we
can wait until next week or look at yard sales or ask Grandpa for it for a
birthday present (big ticket items). When it is something that I am
philosophically opposed to (i.e. toy baby bottles for her doll is one of
mine) I remind them that they get an allowance and they just have enough
money left to buy it themselves. We are moving our new way of relating to
every member of our family into the money area now. I don't want Emily to
learn "on the job" the way I did - thru bounced checks, late payments,
ruined credit.
Elissa, who will soon be singing
Yippee - Kai - Yay!