Sometimes ago as I was getting my children ready for school, my first son noticed that the Lego he had arranged had been tampered with. There was no way he could confirm what happened but he concluded it must have been his brother that did it. He was so sure because they share the same room and he felt neither his dad nor I could have done it. Almost immediately he noticed this he went to his brother’s own Lego and scattered it. After he had done that I called him and said “a man reaps what he sows”. He looked at me curiously wondering what I meant. I then went ahead to explain to him that if he was good to people even if they are not good to him, he will always meet good people and good things will happen to him too. I asked him if he would like people to treat him badly or do bad things to him and he said no. I explained that even though his brother had scattered his toys he should not have done the same. It’s even possible his brother did whatever he did in ignorance but he decided to do evil. He was sober and he apologized and promised not to do so anymore.

After they went off to school, I checked the dictionary for the idiom “You reap what you sow” or as some say it “As you sow, so shall you reap” and it says the idiom is a way of saying that “everything that happens to you is a result of your own actions”. Wondering how that relates to teaching children about money, let me link it.

It is important that we plant the seeds of whatever we want in our children very early in life because as soon as they’re teenagers, they are less likely to listen to our sage advice. By that time they have more teachers of which you are not likely to be the most prominent. Peers, the media and so many other things are struggling for a teen’s allegiance. In fact they are too busy trying to figure out who they are that learning about money is the least of their problems; they’ll rather just spend it.

If you also consider the fact that your child will soon be off to secondary school, then it makes sense to teach them all they need to know about life including money matters or else the society is going to teach them how to think. If you really want to leave a lasting legacy of family values and education that will position your children for a great financial future, then you can’t take chances. You need to be in control. Let them learn about money now. Once they learn how it works, they often display an automatic conservatism as seeds planted early will surely bear fruit later. That will surely pay you off than being indifferent, because even God will not make up for your inability to do the right thing. Decide what you want your children to learn and how you want them to turn out and work towards it by laying the right foundation now.

Do have a beautiful weekend!

– Gbonjubola Sanni