Just because you said it, doesn’t mean they get it
by Harvey
In my previous career, I learned that I could do a presentation for five people in a room and have them walk away with five different misinterpretations of what I said.
A few key conclusions:
- OK. Let’s deal with the obvious first. There’s, uhhhh, something, errrr, wrong with my, ahem, communication skills.
And now on to something more useful for you. - Repeat with a twist: It’s very useful to repeat a concept, but do it in a different way. You never know what might achieve the “Ah-hah!”. With that in mind, here’s a terrific summary of key lessons to teach your children about money by Leo at Zenhabits. Although I don’t know Leo, he’s obviously traveled down the same road as Leslie and me. Many of the ideas he conveys are identical to what we incorporate into Active Allowance. But perhaps he says it in a different way, so you might get a new Ah-hah today. It’s sure worth a good read!
- Just because you said it, doesn’t mean they get it: Words are often not a very effective way to communicate. But until we can do mind-melds, we need to find multiple ways to teach our kids. That’s why it’s so important to have your kids learn by doing - a far more effective instructor of life lessons.
As a minor quibble with Leo’s post, I disagree with the black and white position he takes in #8 on what’s appropriate for how your children earn money (eg types of chores). In his defence, this issue is a big one, and it’s hard to do justice to it in a paragraph.
Nevertheless, there are at least two sides to that debate. I often liken it to politics and religion. People may have strong points of view, and arguments are often heated and sanctimonious on both sides. But in my mind, neither is right or wrong - it comes down to personal preferences, beliefs, attitudes, philosophies. I have my own strong point of view, but I accept the fact that others vote for different people (ok, I call them names, but I’ll fight for their right, yada yada).
With that caveat, Leo’s post is a great read 