finances for a five year old

If only we taught our children finances so suscinctly. Even Dave Ramsey can't top this type of teaching. At Emmanuel's prompting, I'll be starting my potato garden soon!

Excerpt from Farmer Boy , third book of the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder:

"Father," Almanzo said, "would you - would you give me - a nickel?"
"What for?"
Almanzo looked down at his moccasins and muttered:
"Frank had a nickel. He bought pink lemonade."
. . .
Father looked at him a long time. Then he took out his wallet and opened it, and slowly he took out a round, big silver half-dollar. He asked:
"Almanzo, do you know what this is?"
"Half a dollar," Almanzo answered
"Yes. But do you know what half a dollar is?"
Almanzo didn't know it was anything but half a dollar.
"It's work, son," Father said. "That's what money is; it's hard work."
Mr. Paddock chuckled. "The boy's too young, Wilder," he said, "you can't make a youngster understand that."
"Almanzo's smarter than you think," said Father.
. . .
"You know how to raise potatoes, Almanzo?"
"Yes." Almanzo said
"Say you have a seed potato in the spring, what do you do with it?"
"You cut it up," Almanzo said.
"Go on, son."
"Then you harrow - first you manure the field, and plow it. Then you harrow, and mark the ground. And plant the potatoes, and plow them, and hoe them. You plow and hoe them twice . . .Then you dig them and put them down cellar."
"Yes. Then you pick them over all winter; you throw out all the little ones and the rotten ones. Come spring, you load them up and haul them here to Malone, and you sell them. And if you get a good price son, how much do you get to show for all that work? How much do you get for half a bushel of potatoes?"
"Half a dollar," Almanzo said.
"Yes," said Father. "That's what's in the half-dollar, Almanzo. The work that raised half a bushel of potatoes is in it."
Almanzo looked at the round piece of money that Father held up. It looked small, compared with all that work.
"You can have it, Almanzo," Father said. Almanzo could hardly believe his ears. Father gave him the heavy half-dollar.
"I'ts yours," said Father. "You could buy a sucking pig with it, if you want to. You could raise it, and it would raise a litter of pigs, worth four or five dollars a piece. Or you can trade that half-dollar for lemonade, and drink it up. You do as you want. It's your money."
Almanzo forgot to say thank you. He held the half-dollar a minute, then he put his hand in his pocket and went back to the boys by the lemonade stand.
. . .
The boys wouldn't believe it till he showed them. Then they crowded around, waiting for him to spend it. He showed it to them all, and put it back in his pocket.
"I'm going to look around," he said, "and buy me a good little sucking pig."

I finish reading this chapter aloud to the family on the couch tonight. Ben turns to me and says, "Lois, I think we are buying too much pink lemonade. We need more sucking pigs."
Delayed gratification.
It's a good lesson for all of us, not just the young'ns.