Why are my kids obsessed with money?

[JennyCooper]

Am I being unreasonable or is this just a normal part of growing up now? My kids (daughter 7, son 5) are constantly playing fruit shop games, jewellery shop games, cafe games, restaurant games, basically all selling related. They just seem obsessed with it all - everything is about how they can make money and they're only so small!!! Are they going to turn into big capitalist dragons?!?!?!I might be just going crazy but I don't think it's all that good for them and I want them to be excited about playing games that don't just involve buying and selling. My daughter read Change-it Cho at school and she just wants to start a fruit stall now! Bonkers! Is this just normal and should I chill the hell out or is there a problem here? For my sanity...

Are you perhaps talking about money around them and they are picking up on that.

Our favorite game growing up was making a town where everyone had a job and sold stuff. We all grew up to be normal people. I even work for a non-profit.

Since they have an interest in money, now is a good time to start teaching them financial responsibility. Open up savings accounts for them and have them earn money from chores that they have to deposit. Show them the value of things and how quickly money goes when spent foolishly. I did this with my children and they are now all financially independent young adults. Money is a MASSIVE part of our lives, so they might as well learn while their young.

Being able to think about and manage money is a skill. Nothing wrong if they do become capitalist dragons provided you also raise them to have a conscience.

I don't think it is at all unusual. I can remember mine doing the same, with friends, even thinking up good ideas for 'a business' when quite small.

They change though, in a couple of years it will something else but, for now, I agree with others that teaching them about managing money is a good idea.

Growing up I remember playing shop all the time. We also played bank and post office. Another favourite game was office. My favourite was school and I was always the maths teacher. All made up games, lots of roll play and pretend money but it kept us amused and at the same time we learnt lots of maths and money skills. One of my earliest memories was playing chip shop with my grandpa with pegs wrapped up in newspaper (wooden ones of the washing line variety). I think the currency was match sticks. I had a toy cash till when I was older but my Grandpa was gone by then And then there was Monopoly and Totopoly. Oh and Gin Rummy and Newmarket - slightly borderline gambling but very educational for all things money.

Money games? Sounds perfectly normal to me.

Weird that you see it as being obsessed with making money, instead of being fascinated by the world of adults around them.

They're mimicking the interactions in the places that they see adults go every day, and are understandably interested in something (money) that they know is important but probably rarely get a chance to handle themselves.

Why not channel their enthusiasm and join in? It's a perfect opportunity to improve their maths and let them experiment with their developing social skills.