To Raise a Child

I was trying to guide Maddie through a goal-setting process for the new year. I figured I would find something easy; something on her level. I asked her if she wanted to paint. Not so much. Collect Barbies? Apparently that's for younger girls, not six-year-olds.

Finally she interrupts my torrent of suggestions: "Dad, I just want to collect money."

I assure you Mr. and Mrs. Retton were never as proud of Mary Lou as I was of Maddie at that moment. I have raised a capitalist! Are there happier words?

So I explained to her about bank accounts.

"You mean I give the bank money and they pay me for doing nothing?"

"Well, not nothing. They pay you to provide capital which they package together into big enough pieces to pursue profit- and value-generating projects with tangible social benefits such as building homes and starting businesses."

She had the slack-jawed look she gets just before falling asleep. "I mean, yeah, they pay you for doing nothing."