When it comes to money, my son knows all about swiping debit and credit cards. He’s really good at spending money, both his and mine! When it comes to the finer points of saving, banking, and managing, however, he’s got some room to grow. (Having a financial education advocate for a mom is no guarantee, I’m sorry to say!)

Opportunities for imparting wisdom to my teenage son are getting harder to come by. He can smell a contrived conversation a mile away and, if I so much as utter the word “budget”, he heads for the hills. So when the chance to teach him something arises naturally I get excited. When it happens unwittingly, I’m over the moon and grateful!

Situation Arises

My son needed to withdraw some money from his savings account and had been putting off doing it himself. In my mind, he was either being lazy or suffering from a lack of confidence.

Opportunity Reveals Itself

Instead of scolding him or demanding he “just do it” (which I’ve been known to do), I drove him to the bank and walked him in. I grabbed a withdrawal slip and held his place in line  while he filled it out. We approached the teller together and I prompted him to show her his student ID. While she completed the transaction, I asked her (for his benefit) if he could withdraw money without me as long as he showed her his ID. She said “yes”.

Meaningful Moment Occurs

As we walked back to the car, my son thanked me for going in with him. (Sigh.) And then he told me that he thought he was “probably ready to do it himself next time”. (Sigh.)

Why the sighs?

In our fast-paced, hi-tech world, teens can seem so confident, full of themselves, and resistant to our help that we forget they still need our guidance. They need practice and prompting and reassurance because, somewhere inside all that bravado, is just a kid still learning how to be an adult.

Here was an opportunity to help my son take another step in the right direction. I could have easily ignored the chance in front of me out of personal frustration. My sighs are an expression of deep gratitude that I did it another way.