Not how much they cost. Teaching them about it. A post on Babble.com‘s Toddler Times asks, “Is Toddlerhood Too Early to Teach Money Lessons?”
Answer: I have no idea. I read this story and thought, “I’m not sure one incident demonstrates anything.”
But in fact I am trying to teach Baguette my own lessons on this subject. I do think she’s too young to learn about budgeting–right now she thinks every number is “3”–but when she starts to fuss about eating an apple in the store, I say, “No, first we have to pay for it. It doesn’t belong to us until we pay for it.”
Since she doesn’t yet know about bar codes, either, I am able to stick to this rule with pre-packaged items as well as things that need to be weighed. Yes, technically I could have let her eat one of the muffins (which she calls “CAKE!!!!”) in the bakery 4-pack. But instead I managed to delay the moment when she realizes that’s an option.
And, really, isn’t that what parenting is all about?
Photo by MoneyBlogNewz, via Flickr.