Money and Kids.

Hello Mum and Dad,

This is something for our older children.

As a child gets older he needs to start learning more about the world of adulthood. This is the world they are thrust into in teen years so there is need for preparation while they are still older ‘children’.

We know the child’s mind will absorb learning very quickly and foundations made now will eventually hold the child in good stead later in life.

Money is a major factor in adult life and there is reason to train the child in money management as early as possible. I don’t mean to teach them the rudiments of compound interest (although it would be a good idea) but to learn to earn, save and be choosy about how they spend money.

By no means make them into a scrooge but if they realize that money doesn’t grow in purses and ATMs they’ll have a more realistic idea that work or effort is needed to get the stuff. Instead of taking for granted the gifts and trappings of life at home they need to know somebody had to do something to provide these. It tends to endow the child with greater respect for the provider too.

Empowering the child to earn its own money not only gives it a healthy sense of responsibility but also strengthens its social skills.

· To make something to sell needs particular skills.

· To buy and sell items needs knowledge of values.

· All selling develops social interaction.

· Providing a service needs punctuality and dedication.

· Learning to work smart or hard is a lesson in life.

· Having a partner teaches sharing and cooperation.

· Money management skill is an asset for life.

· Negotiating is an art we all need.

You can see how cooperating in a family venture can bring lasting benefits to unity within the family.

If it’s a church fete stall or a yard sale, children will get an overview of what constitutes money making projects, Helping in whatever capacity they can encourages a sense of worth. Making it even more attractive by sharing the profits with the child is an added bonus to reinforce cooperation.

Individual saving to buy the latest game or electronic gadget should also be encouraged. If parents offer to match dollar for dollar; both parties benefit. Kids want so much and don’t appreciate it if it is just given to them.

Gone are the days of the lemonade stand at the front fence. But kids still swap things at school and can teach each other talents as trade.

Electronic games are a big thing with kids and so is the internet social network. If a kid is good at some game try to get them to give tips and tricks on how to win at the game. These can be printed and sold as a report for a dollar or two.

Chances are the child already has friends on the net and it’s easy to sell to friends. Just give a value product.

All sorts of ideas are around you everyday. It’s simply a matter of seeing them.

Please keep in mind what you are doing here. The reason for this is to teach the lessons the child needs to have in adult life. It is NOT to rip off people to get their money. That will lead to jail later in life.

We want to teach goal setting and planning to achieve that goal. This can start with raising some money for that special toy or gift but it has applications all through life.

Budgeting could come into it and later you could start teaching about the household budget and how it’s managed. The child needs to be familiar with all this before moving out of home or handling their own money.

One of the biggest causes of marriage breakdowns is mismanagement of finances. This can be remedied by you.

Needs and wants have to be distinguished and the difference made clear. The latest fad often ends up in the bottom of the cupboard while a need goes unresolved. Teach them to prioritize their spending while still being able to have some fun.

It’s a matter of seeing where they’ll get more value. Value is the crux of spending. Very often the cheaper option will do just as well. And for children it is often the best choice, given their ever changing wants. As they grow they’ll get to know how much effort they need to put in to get what they want. They’ll realize about value.

Sometime soon in teenage years they’ll get a part time job or may leave school entirely. They usually get a shock at having to work longer hours and having a boss that can cut off their income if they don’t perform.

They’ll waste some of their hard earned money on good times but that is expected.

If they have been well taught, they’ll put some aside for bills and expenses just like responsible adults. They will then be on the road to financial independence; thanks to you.

Would you want to know the gender of your unborn baby?

Does its gender matter?

Would you take advantage of ‘designer’ baby technology if it was more affordable?

If you were told your child would be born with mental or physical deformities, would you have an abortion?

Let me know at iqchildren@gmail.com

If you would like to comment on these issues click the ‘comment’ below.

IQTeens is up and running for teens and parents who want to help. Call in for a while. The format needs to change so if you have suggestions; I’m always willing to listen.

If you see someone without a smile

Give them one of yours.

Jay Ross.

© Permission to reprint parts of this issue may only be an email away. Get in touch.

Protein and Children.

Hello again,

I found this in an old book without copyright so I wrote to the only contact information supplied but have received no answer. If it breaches © please let me know. It’s by Dorothy Law Nolte.

If a child lives with criticism

He learns to condemn.

If a child lives with austerity

He learns to fight.

If a child lives with ridicule

He learns to be shy.

If a child lives with shame

He learns to feel guilty.

If a child lives with tolerance

He learns to be patient.

If a child lives with encouragement

He learns to appreciate.

If a child lives with fairness

He learns justice.

If a child lives with security

He learns to have faith.

If a child lives with approval

He learns to like himself.

If a child lives with acceptance and friendship

He learns to find love in the world.

We breed all these attitudes and outlooks into our children by the way we treat them and others. What they see us doing is what they will copy as usual behavior. Do you yell at the neighbors or spouse? Do you ‘pinch’ a couple of items at the shop? Do you take care of your body and appearance? They see all this.

What we tell them about themselves becomes their belief system. This has been stated before on IQChildren and it’s worth the reminder because of its importance.

You have to be a good parent if you want good kids. It really is a two way process. While the little one grows, you mature. Rather wonderful when you think about it.

Protein is one of the fundamental building blocks of life and we get the majority of our protein from animal meat.

Vegetarians live to ripe old ages by getting their protein from the plant world but what about children? When should they be fed animal products? We have already mentioned cow’s milk and breast milk and found that breast milk is far better. This is what you would expect.

But you wouldn’t expect your child to rip into a steak instead of cereal.

There is only one real preventive to disease and that is starting out at pregnancy with the right natural foods and continuing with raising your child this way. By ‘natural foods’ is meant to get closer to nature and further away from processed or ‘supplemented’ foods.

White bread for instance is wheat in an unrecognizable state. It’s been processed so much that it is worthless as food. They reduce it to nothing and then make a selling point of making it “Enriched” with some vitamin they took out.

That’s like chopping off your leg then offering you a discount on their prosthetic leg. Aren’t you happy you got a discount? Never mind the leg.

Beside protein, babies and the growing child need calcium, iron, vitamins, niacin etc. All of the essentials are available in a vegetarian diet. The controversy seems to be with how much of each. So far there is no consensus on this. That’s because any recommendation has to be general, given that every child is different.

Wheat (that has protein) is fed to cattle to give us meat that has less protein than contained in the vast amount of wheat. It’s only that we would have to eat an ‘unnatural amount’ of wheat to get the same fill of protein. Meat is more concentrated protein. But it takes about ten times the protein given to cows to produce this protein. It takes 8 times the area of land to feed cows than it does to feed grain and fruit eaters.

Because of the concentration, a lot of doctors and nutritionists recommend children not be given meat until their fifth or sixth year. On this basis a vegetarian diet is right.

We get protein from nuts, (crush them and put them in deserts and salads or roast them),

Beans, raw or cooked, in salads, soups or with vegetables, or mashed into burger or potato patties,

Chickpeas can be treated the same as the many varieties of beans.

Tofu can be used in so many ways. Just click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofu

Tempeh is also high in B12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempeh

Seeds like sesame you’ve seen on buns and can easily be incorporated into foods in small amounts. I found telling the story of “Open Sesame” with the treasure of the forty thieves helped with acceptance of seeds as a valuable food source to snack on.

Once I was on to that I introduced sunflower and pumpkin stories. What took Cinderella to the ball? What did Jack climb to get to the giant’s castle?

All it takes is a bit of identification with others like advertisers use when they try to sell products by celebrity endorsement. Johnny Weissmuller (the first movie Tarzan) was vegetarian. So are or were Bob Dylan, Da Vinci, George Harrison, Paul and Linda McCartney, Hayley Mills, Michael Jackson, k.d.lang, Jerry Seinfeld, Richard Gere, Julie Christie, Dave Scott (6 times Ironman Triathlon winner), Killer Kowalski (wrestler), Kim Bassinger. The list goes on.

Breast milk contains very little protein so why do we think babies need it? Maybe adult protein requirements have been falsely forced on children.

What do you think?

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Iqteens.blogspot.com has opened so if you have teenagers or are one drop in for a while. As usual, your comments are welcome.

Jay Ross.

© For permission to use any material in IQChildren, email iqchildren@gmail.com I’ll be happy to swap articles.