Financial Fears and Your Kids

Ok, so I have been holding out on the whole financial crisis thing...trying not to join the ranks with the media in stirring the bees nest on the situation. But, sometimes the media does come out with an interesting story...or two.

The other day, MSNBC released a story called the "financial fears trickle down to the kids." Kids, even as young as three are very in-tune to what we say and the emotions that come when we are stressed. They may never ask or say what they are gathering...but they do build upon it. Sometimes I catch Jelly Bean having a reaction to an "intense discussion" that hubby and I are having...and realize that maybe we could have handled ourselves better...or of course waited until we could talk alone.

But the fact of the matter is, the financial crisis is affecting everyone. I keep hearing that financial strategists are worried that the "Great Depression" may in fact repeat itself. These are very scary times that we are facing.

I found the article to be very interesting and I wonder how many parents have discussed the hard times with their kids. Or how as a family they work together to create a new budget - cutting back on outings and small purchases?

I would like to open-up the forum and find out - what you, as parents, have explained to your kids, or maybe you haven't yet, or don't think it is necessary to...

I will start...

We haven't sat JB down to discuss the hard-times. But we weren't sure how much a 3-year-old would be able to digest. I think if she asked about it, we would definitely try to explain things to her. We have been fortunate so far, but we have been eating out less and spending less - just in case. And, I have to admit, trying to be optimistic...we have been hoping for things to bounce back sooner rather than later.

Have you talked with your child about the financial hard-times? Do you feel they would understand? What are you doing as a family to prepare for the worst?