Long post ahead. But I thought I was a really good father today haha

To say that my son loves toys is an understatement. He even knows how to declare his affection in his third language: 我喜欢玩具。His enthusiasm, unfortunately, isn’t infectious. I worry that he will grow up to be the kind of person who always chases after the next desirable possession.

But on the other hand, it is not in my place to dictate how he should spend the $40 his grandpa gave him. So when he wanted to spend $12 on a set of Tsum Tsum train toys, I agreed grudgingly, even though he had received plenty of toys for Christmas.

I also want his earliest money memories to be uncorrupted by analysis. If he likes something and has the money for it, I want him to feel the unbridled joy that comes from spending money on something he wants.

Joy should be pure and simple.

So he eagerly held my hand, and we walked briskly to the supermarket. He bought his toy, but not before I forced him to repeat “Spend” after me. (Cute badge in attached photo.)

But wait, that’s not all. Before I tore open the packaging for him, I forced him to repeat “Save” after me and took $2 from him. I then went to his banking app and got him to transfer $2 from my account to his college fund.

Dying to extract the most utility out from this experience, I repeated the process again. Only this time, I transferred $2 from my own pocket to his. He will learn the concept of “topping up” in due time.

In essence, this morning, we had a really fruitful money lesson, in which I introduced Save, Spend, 两块钱 ($2), 银行 (bank) and 大学 (University) to him. I’m smiling smugly to myself as I sip my morning coffee.