What a 2 year old, a 4 year old, and a Piggy Bank Have Taught Me about Money

My 2 children, ages 2 and 4, have gotten interested in money over the last month or so, the four year old a little longer of course. My evening routine usually consists of me coming home and emptying my pockets, including any loose change I may have acquired during the course of the day. My 2 year old daughter now follows me into the room where I empty my pockets, and starts asking for “muh-nee” (money). She then takes the money I give her, usually a quarter if I have one, and walks into the bedroom to put it straight into her piggy bank. That’s it. That is the game to her. My 4 year old son likes to play the “piggy bank game” as well, although he knows that he can buy things with money, and occasionally will ask if he can “get” something he saw on T.V. He now knows what money can be used for-buying things. As I was playing the piggy bank game the other evening, I started to think how the small difference of 2 years in age has effected how and what they think about money:

For the 2 year old-Money goes in the piggy bank- that’s where it belongs, end of story.

For the 4 year old-Money goes in the piggy bank, but it can also be used to buy things…Can I have that spiderman I saw on TV?

Thinking of my own attitude towards money, I used to be a lot like the 4 year old. I would put money in the bank, but then start thinking “What can I buy?” Lately, however, I have been thinking about money more like the 2 year old-trying to save, and actually enjoying putting money away, watching my emergency fund grow, beginning to pay down my CC debt, etc. Obviously you do “need” things, so you have to spend it sometimes, but it is a lot less frequent for me than it used to be.

It’s very easy to lose the connection between what it takes to earn money (time, hard work) when we are able to spend money so easily and are bombarded 24-7 with commercials and enticements to spend money. The hard part for me at least, has been getting back to the mindset of a two year old.