I was chatting briefly with a colleague yesterday about married life. (He was going to be best man in a friend’s wedding in a couple of weeks.) In the course of the conversation, I admitted that saving money was a heck of a lot easier before I was married, but that I wouldn’t go back … Read more
Giving children solid grounding in money management is crucial. Budgeting, saving, frugality, and financial planning are important components of living on one’s own and taking responsibility. It’s unlikely that personal finance skills will be taught in school to any appreciable degree, so it’s up to parents to do this. We give our daughter an allowance. … Read more
A few weekends ago, we went to a community yard sale at the YMCA. One of the tables there had a number of children’s books from the 19th century that were in excellent shape. Our nine-year-old daughter likes little things — little baskets and boxes with lots of little compartments, little figurines, etc. These books … Read more
It was a bit bittersweet for us this weekend. Our daughter went to a friend’s birthday party sleepover, and for the first time she showed absolutely no reaction whatsoever to my wife leaving for the evening. She was just fine, thank you very much. It was a Frozen party. With lots of Frozen decorations. Think: … Read more
Perhaps you heard today about the mom in Washington state who was Facebook-shamed after being asked to leave a restaurant where her children, ages one and three, were being messy and loud. The restaurant owner, Lorraine MacDuff of Rainy Days Caffe, had pictures posted of the messy carpet on the restaurant’s Facebook page, with a … Read more
My daughter is eight. She still kind of listens to me and thinks that I actually know something. I know it will be all too quick before she thinks I’m extremely out of touch and don’t know which end of the wet paper bag to get out of. As children get older, though, they do … Read more
With my wife and I homeschooling our seven-year-old daughter, most every activity we do has the potential for being educational. (It’s important that we make the most of any such “teachable moments.”) My daughter and I play the Zynga game Hidden Chronicles on my Facebook account. The main game-play part of Hidden Chronicles is finding … Read more
(And no, the answer is not to give $50/week allowance to a six year old!) Last week our minivan’s transmission bit the dust. (Thankfully it bit the dust in our driveway.) Over the next couple of days my wife and I discussed what to do: whether to fix our car, whether to buy a new-to-us … Read more
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