Passions attach themselves to my son like pollen grains dispersed by wind. This week, it’s Pokemon.
He is so smitten with them that he wanted to use his own money to buy a trading card. Why does a 5-year-old have his own money? Oh blame it on his doting grandparents. They have the annoying habit of unloading their spare coins and dumping them on my very eager son.
Oh well.
Anyway, one trading card cost 4100 sats. What a waste of money, I inwardly thought. But I still allowed him to buy one card. Sometimes I stop him from buying things, so he knows that I don’t take kindly to him buying expensive stuff. Even though his coveted card fell within the exorbitant category, I felt that it was important for him to experience the joy of spending on the things he was passionate about.
In my country, there is a trending moment known as $100k by 30. In order to hit this (arbitrary) milestone and keep up with the Joneses, many young Singaporeans scrimp and save, thus suppressing their spending urges. Now this is a movement that I don’t want my son to join because I don’t want him to be so preoccupied by the price tag that he fails to appreciate the dopamine rush that comes with buying a new toy.
I want him to feel the unbridled joy of spending. Little indulgences go a long way in maintaining one’s eye.
But not without taking a $1 coin from him first. I explained to him that this would go towards his college fund. I seized the opportunity to inform him of an idiom, 积少成多 (jī shǎo chéng duō).
Breakdown:
- 积 (jī) - accumulate
- 少 (shǎo) - little
- 成 (chéng) - form
- 多 (duō) - a lot
Basically, this idiom means “every little bit counts.” I want my boy to consciously set aside some savings before/after he spends happily.