Storytime Economics
Daughter got her first lesson about the laws of supply and demand tonight.
We read the book Owen tonight, in which the title character's parents search for ways to separate Owen from his beloved blanket.
Along the way, they try to convince Owen to leave the blanket under his pillow at night so the Blanket Fairy will take the blanket and leave a gift.
"Is there really a Blanket Fairy?" Daughter asked.
"I'm sure there is," I told her.
"Fairies are real?" she continued.
"They must be," I told her, reminding her about the time the Paci Fairy came to our house and carried her pacifiers away.
And that's when the teachable moment - or series of teachable moments - began.
"Why don't we leave this blanket under my pillow for the Blanket Fairy?" she suggested, grabbing a blanket from the foot of her bed.
"Well, fairies only come when you're ready to give up very special things," I explained.
"Can I leave a sock for a fairy?" she pleaded.
I could tell that her mind was full of wishful thoughts about all the toys she might gain by stuffing something new under her pillow every night.
After she suggested a few more things she thought fairies should come retrieve (such as books and straws) I finally thought of an example to help her understand how the fairy system works.
"Fairies will bring you a gift when you give up something very special," I said. "Like if you left Duckie (her beloved duck/blanket) under your pillow."
"If you're ever ready to say goodbye to Duckie, you can leave him under your pillow and the Duckie Fairy will bring you a treat."
That seemed to illuminate the harsh reality of the fairy system - the quality of gifts brought by the fairies are directly related to the importance of the item placed under the pillow.
Among fairies, there's a glut of low-value items such as books, socks and straws. Consequently, the fairies won't pay top dollar for those.
But when you start talking about pacifiers and duckies, those items are in short supply. They fetch a tidy sum in the fairy market.
In other words, if you want something good from the fairies, you're going to have to give something good in return.
She wrapped up our conversation about fairies pretty quickly after I mentioned that her duck was eligible for fairy retrieval. We moved on with the story and then said prayers and turned the lights out.
I know the thought of her duck being gone forever was a scary proposition to her, and I'm glad she didn't give it serious consideration.
Truth be told, I can't see her without her duck any more easily than she can. He's her best friend in the world. And he's a part of our family.
I'm glad she didn't call my bluff.
We read the book Owen tonight, in which the title character's parents search for ways to separate Owen from his beloved blanket.
Along the way, they try to convince Owen to leave the blanket under his pillow at night so the Blanket Fairy will take the blanket and leave a gift.
"Is there really a Blanket Fairy?" Daughter asked.
"I'm sure there is," I told her.
"Fairies are real?" she continued.
"They must be," I told her, reminding her about the time the Paci Fairy came to our house and carried her pacifiers away.
And that's when the teachable moment - or series of teachable moments - began.
"Why don't we leave this blanket under my pillow for the Blanket Fairy?" she suggested, grabbing a blanket from the foot of her bed.
"Well, fairies only come when you're ready to give up very special things," I explained.
"Can I leave a sock for a fairy?" she pleaded.
I could tell that her mind was full of wishful thoughts about all the toys she might gain by stuffing something new under her pillow every night.
After she suggested a few more things she thought fairies should come retrieve (such as books and straws) I finally thought of an example to help her understand how the fairy system works.
"Fairies will bring you a gift when you give up something very special," I said. "Like if you left Duckie (her beloved duck/blanket) under your pillow."
"If you're ever ready to say goodbye to Duckie, you can leave him under your pillow and the Duckie Fairy will bring you a treat."
That seemed to illuminate the harsh reality of the fairy system - the quality of gifts brought by the fairies are directly related to the importance of the item placed under the pillow.
Among fairies, there's a glut of low-value items such as books, socks and straws. Consequently, the fairies won't pay top dollar for those.
But when you start talking about pacifiers and duckies, those items are in short supply. They fetch a tidy sum in the fairy market.
In other words, if you want something good from the fairies, you're going to have to give something good in return.
She wrapped up our conversation about fairies pretty quickly after I mentioned that her duck was eligible for fairy retrieval. We moved on with the story and then said prayers and turned the lights out.
I know the thought of her duck being gone forever was a scary proposition to her, and I'm glad she didn't give it serious consideration.
Truth be told, I can't see her without her duck any more easily than she can. He's her best friend in the world. And he's a part of our family.
I'm glad she didn't call my bluff.
posted by Leighton aka MyBestInvest at
5:37 PM
9 Comments:
What an adorable word picture! I can see her contemplating the loss of Duckie!
so why couldn't you have taught my economics classes? I would have totally understood the fairy thing...
...and just down the road, a liberal was teaching his daughter that if you don't have a ducky, don't worry because the Government Fairy will bring you one. If you have four duckies, then the Government Ducky will take three of them and give them to other children who don't have duckies. Also, if you're intending on trading in for a treat that costs three duckies, you'll actually need to give up four duckies because of the Government Fairy's wonderful ducky redistribution system.
Sorry... couldn't resist.
Very funny, Mike. I like this post. It reminds me of when my child was still young enough to believe in fairies. By the way, my mother saved my blankie when I gave it up. She still has it, and I'm so glad.
I will remember this post when my Edward has to give up his duckie-blankie. The funny thing is his older sister was never attached to anything. Still isn't.
Cute idea about keeping the blankie though. My sister kept hers in a ziplock. It's now about i sq inch.
Let us know how it turns out.
Emily
I'm glad she kept it, too!
I'm glad she called your bluff too. But just because she didn't do it now doesn't mean that she won't remember this fairy in the future. You'd better have something really good to trade when she remembers this conversation and wants something great... like a car.
LOL! Mike, you are hilarious. That was awesome!
Maybe I would have done better in economics if you taught it.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home