Love and Logic - learning at an affordable price

Sorry for giving no solid details about what is leading me to write these things, but feel free to email me personally if you want to discuss it...

One of the key points that I think the ideas behind Love & Logic focus on is learning big life lessons when the price is small. Teach your kids how to pay off debt when the amount they owe you is only $5. Teach your kids that if they don't have the $10 to buy the latest and greatest toy, then they need to wait to earn the money. Maybe they could even do extra work to get the money faster? Teach the kid that if they don't keep ahead in debt then they might just have to give that special toy back.

The thought is that it's better to learn those types of lessons when the consequence is low than it is to learn later in life when the price is big (or even in some lessons - dangerous).

I have this inherent desire to help people, especially those in need and those who are close to me. But recently I've wondered how it's even possible to help someone who has gotten so far down the path they're in. When will that lesson be learned for them? Apparently not now. I can only sit back and hope that she makes it out OK, but I can't help but think about the enormous amounts of money that could be saved if she learned how to properly use her piggy bank decades ago.

Do you think Ellie is old enough to start learning about saving her money?

MJH - I'm not sure how often you read my blogs anymore, but if you read this, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it and at what age you started to work on teaching your little ones about money. I seem to recall it being a topic of discussion earlier, so maybe I'll search through your older comments.

UPDATE: Here is a link to some cool piggy banks and ideas that Mani sent me. Thanks!

A short vent with no explanation

She's an instant gratification gal. She always seems to be focused on the NOW and doesn't think about the FUTURE. If she wants it, then she needs it. If she needs it then she deserves it. If she deserves it then she she can justify it. If she can justify it then she goes through with it. And right now! Even if she might not be able to afford it - Either financially or morally.

Sometimes it really frustrates me.

Biting my tongue

Sometimes a picture can say it better than words. It's too bad that I'd probably have to explain the picture if I actually sent it.

Moving On is NOT the same as Moving In!

I don't think I've told anyone yet, but they got back together. For what I think would be obvious reasons, we're not too thrilled about this fact.

A few weeks ago, he surprised me by picking me up on the way to Estes Park and offering to carpool. We talked a bit about her and he seems happy. He then proceeded to tell me about how her new job requires that she's on call 24/7 and since she doesn't have a car, this means that he often has to get up in the middle of the night to drive her. What got me was what followed:

HIM: When we're rushing out the door in the middle of the night, I like to pretend that we're rushing her to the hospital.
ME: What do you mean? That's a weird thing to say.
HIM: You know, like she's pregnant and I'm rushing her to the hospital because she has gone into labor.
ME: (OH MY GOD, YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS!!!!) Um... Do you want to have kids with her?
HIM: No, but it's fun to pretend.
ME: UH.
HIM: She likes it too. She thinks it's cute.
ME: UH.

Later that night, we were all sitting around the dinner table and the topic of family pictures came up:

HIM: Since we are all here together, I have an announcement to make.
EVERYONE: (Complete silence... we're not going to like this)
ME: (OH $#!+ OH $#!+ She's pregnant!)
HIM: She wants me to tell you that she would like a copy of one of the family pictures we have taken.
EVERYONE: (Sigh of relief)
ME: That's all?
HIM: Yeah. Is that OK?

Then yesterday, I also just found out that they moved in together. Though I had heard through the grapevine that they were thinking about it, I did not know that it had already happened. When I asked him why he didn't tell me and when he was planning on saying something, his response was "Well you told me I should wait for 6 months, so that's when I was going to tell you."

WHA??? I told you that you should wait and take things slowly before moving in and therefore that time frame is a good time to tell me that you've already been living with her for 6 months? Umm, I'm going to try not to comment on how horrible I think it is is that you're keeping stuff from your family now. Big stuff. It's stupid.

Combining the two details above, I can't help but wonder if there is more he's hiding. I don't like being a drama queen so I will be asking soon, but this could potentially be bad. Very bad. Ugh.