Today’s fantastic family finance article is:
Poem: “Smart” by Shel Silverstein
Teach your kids that more isn’t really always more.
Start with the obvious. This classic Shel Silverstein poem illustrates the most basic distinction between quantity and value.
“Smart”
My dad gave me one dollar bill
‘Cause I’m his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
‘Cause two is more than one!
And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes — I guess he don’t know
That three is more than two!
Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just ‘cause he can’t see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!
And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!
And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head —
Too proud of me to speak!
~ Shel Silverstein
Now move on to the more subtle. Use this quote to kick off the conversation:
“I make myself rich by making my wants few.”
~Henry David Thoreau
Teach your kids to be content, and they’ll come to realize that sometimes less is indeed quite a bit more.
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