Poor Dad, Rich Daughter

I am a girl. I have a mom and a dad. Well, I guess I'm a big girl cause I actually have my own little girl who isn't that little anymore. She is 11 and we will call her Sky. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, I say I'm a girl, well, because of the obvious reasons, but also because I relive in my mind so often my experiences as a child. I remember what it feels like to have no cares in the world. I also remember what it feels like to have my world come crashing down to an upsetting halt. Now that I'm a mom and I see my daughter go through her own whirl wind of struggles, I sift through my past experience to drawl out what was lacking or missing for me. What can I do different for my kids that my parents didn't know how to do for me? My conclusion is to reflect on my own experience and recognize elements that were missing or could have been more beneficial if applied differently.
What did I need that was lacking as a child? Who encouraged me? Who and what discouraged me? I'm not saying I had a horrible childhood, I just had low self esteem... and it was rough.
Last night I was talking to my husband about Sky. What were we doing on a daily basis to lift her self esteem and raise her self worth? I had an epiphany, and that is what inspired Poor Dad, Rich Daughter.

How rich is your daughter or son? I have $49 in my bank account right now and I'm the parent, so I'm guessing the kids are broke! Does that mean that my kids truly are poor? Well yes... but no, have I taught my children that their happiness or worth depends on the amount of money in my bank account? News flash to all parents! Children have their own little bank accounts. Sadly, they are a lot more fragile and taxed than my Chase or Wells Fargo account. Last week I had an overdraft charge from my bank, it was stressful but I took care of it and I got over it. Can children pay just $34 to get their internal bank back to a positive balance? If only it were that easy I'd pay it over and over again. How long has my daughters personal bank account been overdrawn? What is her self worth at? Does she feel valuable? How rich is her self esteem?
These questions reel me back into my childhood. My heart wrenches as I feel the anxiety build up in my heart. I want her to have what I didn't. That self esteem and personal value. What does it take?

What is a deposit for a child?  It is an encouraging statement that builds them up from the inside out.
Let's say that every deposit is worth $1. How much money will your kid have by the end of the day?
Well, if I make a $1 deposit in the morning as I send her off to school and then make another $1 or $2 deposits in the evening, She'll have a max of $3 by bedtime. She's just a kid, she doesn't need a ton of money right? Well, I as a parent have UNLIMITED Funds for these kids accounts. If I could literally put an unlimited amount of money in my kids bank each day, how much would I invest? $100, $1,000 a day, Heck why not a Million or more!  We as parents have unlimited funds! Let's be realistic though, ain't nobody got time to drop that many deposits into the kids bank. Maybe the quality of the deposit can raise the value of a single deposit, so lets say in one day our goal is to make $25 worth of deposits. That would be pretty big to a child. I have $25! Think of all I can do with that! What does that add up to for the week? It brings that internal balance to $125. What child wouldn't want $125! A few more Quick calculations: a monthThat seems doable right? Here is a graph showing our outcome:

 

These are my numbers thrown out there to get your mind thinking. What are your numbers? How rich  would you like your child to be when they leave home? They might have $12,960 in their bank which is darn better than $0. But what if they could leave home with over $100,000 in their account??? Imaging the difference that would make in their life.