The first nine weeks of school are officially in the books, and my daughter made the honor roll for the first time. Literacy & language usually gets her on the last test. This year, my twin boys are in second grade and my daughter is in eighth grade. My daughter has a class where she has to learn to adult. I never had this class growing up, but after listening to what she is learning, I wish I had. I read the assignments for the second quarter and I am really curious to see how she does. In the third quarter, she gets married.

The class is called Life 101 and her first topic was budgeting and saving $2,000 for college. This web-based game teaches them financial literacy. I am 100 percent on board with this game! Can I tell you, I have not laughed that hard in a while? “Why does it cost so much for an apartment?” “Stop making me buy food, I just bought food.” “How is it time to pay rent again?” “I am just going to not pay my phone bill; that is too expensive.” “I got a job cleaning toilets; it pays $45.” 

Eventually, she said:
Her: I got a $5 per hour raise!
Me: That is not a realistic expectation. Most people get 2 percent raises. How much are they paying you? 
Her: I don’t know! 
Me: Well, look at your pay stub.
Her: I don’t have a pay stub. 

These were just a few of her questions and remarks. Of course, I had my responses, but I kept repeating the same one: Do you see why we give you chores?

Anyhow, she made it to her goal of saving $2,000 for college. She was so proud of herself. The final question was: What did you learn? She told me her first two responses, and of course, I asked, well what did you learn this time? Her response: Adulting is hard. I was laughing so hard I had tears rolling down my face.

Having activities like these helps immerse our children into the real world, and with the shopping season upon us, this is the perfect time to teach our little ones about managing their finances.