Talking to your kids about the value of money.

There was a question posted on Mamapedia.com that I really wanted to share here: How do you explain the value of money to your child?
With words like 'Recession' and 'Economy' floating around everywhere, kids tend to be even more confused then before about money and the current economic situation. I have also realized that I need to help my daughter understand the value of money and money management to some extent (since she is only five). These are some starter tips that can help the average parent explain 'money' to kids who do not know how to count yet.

1. Money is not given but earned when working. You can help them understand that by giving them money (fake money if you prefer) in exchange for chores or picking up their toys. My daughter always thought that if I wanted money I could just go and 'pick up' (her words) some at the bank, this is a nice way to help her see the relation between work and money.

2. It's important to have money to buy the necessities of life first, like food and shelter; and then if there is any left, other things can be bought like movie tickets and that special toy she has been wanting. Children have a lot of 'wants' and to them everthing is a necessity.

3.Saving our money is important to provide for the future. Sometimes it is hard for young children to understand the concept of 'saving for tomorow', but if you mention a vacation that they have been looking foward to, explain to them that this vacation is possible because of all the planning and saving that you had to do as a family.





image provided by Darren Hester

Home sweet home.

The Economy is bad,

The Job market sucks,

and I just bought my first house!.. hey my family and I need somewhere to park ourselves!
It's official we are moving to Marie-Eve's corner of the world..Here we come girl, hope you don't go running when you see us coming.

Success..

"The only real success in life is living with an open, loving heart. This allows you to connect with the Divine in yourself and in others."
From 'Living your yoga' by Judith Lasaster

Hit the road Jack.. Uh Pat!

What do you do when your employer calls you up, while you are on maternity leave to explain that your employment will be terminated upon your return, do you:
A. Sing Haleluya because you have fallen in love with a little love bug baby name Zazou
B. Think WTF, how in the... are we going to make it! Be angry and disapointed.
C. Say Thank you and just let it be.
or D. All of the above!

Lately, a lot of people have heard the 3 words made famous by 'The Donald' on the Apprentice : " You are fired".
Is that GOOD or BAD...The bad.. the ugly is that I am disapointed by people, by working for people;and for someone who likes to work hard (just to have reason to play hard), I feel that I have been let down by the very people I have trusted to keep me up, or maybe I am asking too much of the corporate world, everyone knows that IT is a backstabber. The good thing,for me, is that I am not angry nor am I going crazy here, screaming like a maniac "WHY!!"; I have come to realize that this is life, nothing is guaranteed..certainly not employment.

Since this is the 'Let's reinvent Pat' year, that is what I had set out to do at the beginning of the year (the blog).. this is it.