have a choice though: We can hurt a little as we watch them learn life’s
lessons now, or we can hurt a lot as we watch them grow up to be
individuals unable to care for themselves.
LOVE AND LOGIC TIP 3
You Can Pay Me Now, or You Can Pay Me LaterShannon had eight kids. Every time I (Jim) visited her house, I saw
her handing out money to the kids. One day I asked, “What is this
with you dishing out money all the time?”
“We give our kids loans in the household because they’re
learning about the world of finance,” Shannon answered while
handing fifty cents to one of her young sons. “Our loans are just
like those at First National Bank, with due dates, promissory
notes, and collateral. Why, the other day I repossessed a
seventy-nine-dollar CD player.”
“Must have been sad for the kid,” I said.
“Not really,” Shannon replied. “That’s a gift to him because
now my son, who’s only twelve years old, knows all about the
responsibility of paying back his loans. He knows all about
promissory notes and collateral, and even repossession — and it
only cost him a seventy-nine-dollar CD player.
“The neighbor kid,” Shannon continued, “learned the same
lesson when the bank came and repossessed his $4,900 Camaro.
He’s twenty-six, but his parents protected him when he was
young. My son has a fourteen-year head start on the guy.”To Protect Them Is Not to Love Them
America needs kids who can handle tough times, especially in this post-
9/11, post-Hurricane Katrina world. Many issues Americans must face in
our schools and cities occur as acts of nature or terrorism. However, our