Mini financing

I have been wanting to get Matthew a little coin bank, for quite some time. A piggy bank, would be classic. But I need something sturdy and fun, because we’re talking about an active toddler, and something quite pretty and elegant, because it has to be in my house.

This idea for a kiddie bank occurred to me when I started finding coins in the shoe drawers. In the closet drawers. Under the couch cushions. Anywhere a coin can fit. I’m not sure what the boy thinks coins are for, but he knows that they can fit into slits.

I also think it’s never too late to begin teaching him about money. He doesn’t ask for us to buy him toys (generally, he just wants to stay for hours on end in a toy store, but is perfectly fine leaving without a purchase), but he does ask us to buy certain things when I tell him that we’ve run out of them. Like milk. Or Chuckie (chocolate milk). Or juice. Or bread. Or cheese.

Sometimes I give in to little white lies, when I am lazy or when I actually have a legitimate reason like not wanting him to ruin his appetite. So I tell him that we’ve run out of his current request. And then he’d tell me to go buy in the store. Should I tell him that there’s no car, he’d tell me to take a tricycle. If I tell him that it’s too late or too early, he’d tell me to walk — he knows that there are at last two convenience stores down the road.

Recently, I told him I didn’t have money. And asked him for some. It left him stumped. Then I realized that it was the perfect opportunity for him to actually learn the concept of saving. He learned about the spending concept way too early, and certainly has the means for some logic.

Now if I can only get my hands on a good kind of coin bank. It would be interesting to see what he would do with his “own” money.