THE BASIS POINT

Letter To My Son On His 2nd Birthday: Life Is All About Money (And Throwing Rocks)

 

Dear Z: I’m actually writing this birthday letter to you nine days after your 2nd birthday. What can I say, life is complex and I haven’t had time until now. But I’m eternally grateful to you for reminding me that life can be simple.

Like you learning about coins. Clearly a simple concept to you since I’ve rarely stumped you in the last three weeks: I ask you how much is in a penny, nickel, dime, or quarter and you answer the number of cents for each one. Then a few nights ago you stumped me by holding up your sippy cup of water and asking: “how much is in this?” I know I’m your dad, thus easily impressed, but you bridging our “how much” game to another object/topic is pretty complex for a two year old. I’m still stumped.

While thinking about how to answer you, I remembered this fortune I keep in my wallet (and by fortune, I mean from a cookie). It says: “It is a simple task to make things complex, but a complex task to make them simple.”

I started teaching you about coins because money is a simple fact of life. I’m sure there a hundred other things childcare pros would say a two year old needs to learn first. But we’re starting now because you’ll see: life is all about money. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either a blind idealist or they’re lying to you.

I don’t mean this in some nefarious Gordon Gekko or Churchill Schwartz kind of way. It’s just that money is the basis for the society you’re part of and whether you become a social worker or a CEO, understanding this will make you better at either job.

I’m also not suggesting that you ever abandon simple rituals like throwing rocks all day (as in July vacation pics below) to chase money instead. It’s just that you need to understand the relationship between money and leisure so you can choose a path that suits you.

The money concepts in those last three paragraphs are complex and may bore you into your teens and twenties. But they’re here for our reference later.

In the meantime, we’re doing simple concepts in terms your literal two-year-old mind understands. So when you get bored of our “how much” game and throw the coins behind the bed, that’s why I say: “you never throw money away, you save money.” May you grasp that concept firmly.

As for your volume-of-a-sippy-cup question, we’ll get to that when (and if) I can simplify it. For now I’ll focus on saving our money so we can spend more whole days throwing rocks as soon as possible.

Love, Dad

 

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Comments [ 2 ]
  1. Helena says:

    That’s beautiful. Well done you!

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