Yesterday I had a wonderful opportunity with my son, Alexander. I have always felt that the best lessons are learned by doing, rather than by just reading it in a book. When my son’s were young, I taught them math as we baked a cake or made dinner and measured out the various ingredients. On his own accord, my oldest son decided to enter his high school’s stock market challenge. Since he knows that one of my degrees was in finance, he tapped me for stock recommendations and an overview of our present financial climate. We had great fun watching financial news programs, scouring the newspapers for stock prices and info and discussing how the presidential election would impact the stock market. In the end, he actually earned top honors in the challenge, beating out his teachers.

We were able to take this lesson one step further when we were interviewed last night by a reporter from National Public Radio (NPR) Marketplace. At Bozell, we utilize both free and paid services to get connected with writers and editors from across the country. On a whim, I responded to an inquiry for parents who are using these difficult economic times to teach their kids about finance. My son was able to experience the “pre-interview” call and the waiting game to see if we made the cut.  Even though she thought it was cool about us being in Omaha and the home of Warren Buffet, we weren’t sure if we could find a time that worked with all of our schedules and the school day. We ultimately had to schedule the interview after I came home from Des Moines yesterday. Due to technical requirements, they sent a sound technician to our house as we were interviewed by the reporter over the phone. Alexander was nervous, but ultimately settled down and it was a great interview. So, besides teaching him about the wacky world of finance, he was able to get insight into some of the challenges that I face on a daily basis in dialogue relations. We do not know when the segment will air, but it has truly been a bonding experience for the two of us. Who knows if he will be the next Warren Buffet?  It doesn’t matter. What matter is that we will talk about this adventure for many years to come.

Until later, Sylvia