As you know, I don't have any kids of my own (yet). Someday, I will. In the meantime, I'm putting a lot of thought into what I want to teach them, especially the stuff that is not covered in schools, or at least not very well covered. The list is getting long, so I thought I'd blog it, as a sort of way to keep track. Then it occurred to me that a few of you have asked me questions related to some of these topics, and I usually fire off half-formed replies. Now I'm taking the time to write some of it down with more thought, so I thought I'd share.
I'm inviting you to read a series of essays, based on my own life experiences, and what I wish that someone would have told me when I was younger. Please feel free to add comments, correct me if I'm wrong about something, or speak of your own related experiences. Some of you are the closest thing I have to my own children, some are my adopted brothers and sisters. I love you all, and if any of this helps you in any way, then it is time well spent.
For those of you who don't know this about me, here is a quick history.
I am an only child. I came to the USA when I was 3, with my parents. Nearly everything we had was lost in the move. My parents were not sure where they wanted to live, so they bought an old cargo van, stuck a bed in it, and proceeded to traipse around the States like nomads for a year. When my Mom decided she liked Colorado, we rented a crappy, tiny, one-bedroom trailer. My room was the closet until I was 7. We could not even afford furniture or a table, so every meal was eaten on the floor, picnic-style. My toys were a few things that my Dad made for me, a couple dolls from my grandmother, and "Go play outside".
I started kindergarten a year late, because I could not speak enough English before then. I still spoke broken, mixed English my first year of school, and was often misunderstood. So I would speak louder in an attempt to be acknowledged. maybe that's why I still speak loudly sometimes, when I want to be heard. Sorry about that.
When I was 7 we moved to a slightly better trailer, with 2 bedrooms. They were tiny, and I lived in that room until I was 19, except for the three years we lived in Santa Fe. My parents were still convinced that they were poor, and raised me on the bare minimum, with the exception of sending me to private school. We ate a lot of healthy, disgusting foods, and most of my tows were things I made myself. My favorite toy was still "Go play outside".
When I was 12 my Mom took me to Santa Fe, so I could continue private school after the school back home closed. My Dad stayed with the trailer, because he had a decent job there. It seemed like the best option at the time, and we used to drive home on weekends to see him. Then Mom totaled her car in a horrible accident. I spent my years between 13 and 15 taking care of her, cleaning the house, etc. When she had had enough of my childish cleaning habits, we moved back home and I had to go to public high school. That sucked, and was total culture shock, but I digress. This is not a sob story, even though it's starting to sound like one.
I moved away to go to college when I was 19. Freedom! I went hog-wild, stayed up all night with friends, attended classes with 2-day-old makeup still on my face, ate more ramen noodles and twinkies than ever. I lived in the clubs, and then the bars, spent every penny I made on fun, and even occasionally begged in the street for gas money. Good times.
When I was 22 I saw this thing where I could get a free copy of my credit report. Woo-hoo, free stuff! When I received it and looked it over, it raised a ton of questions, which I did not know how to begin finding answers to. So I started asking around, and discovered that there is this huge, intricate, interconnected web of, frankly, BS, all to do with money, how to make it, spend it, save it, lend it, and rent it out. Somewhere in this mess was they key to getting out of my cheap studio, which I was sharing with a friend. I quickly saw that I had found the path to financial well-being, but there was nobody to tell me which way to go, or what to do first.
Basically, this is all about my journey, my self-imposed climb from Trailer Trash to Middle Class, and all the stuff that I wish someone had told me along the way. That's where I'm starting, anyway, because there are a lot of teens in my life right now, whom I love dearly, and who might really benefit from this information right about now. Maybe later I'll add totally different topics. We'll see.
I'm going to try to present each topic in bite-sized chunks, and in some sort of order. I hope. Maybe.
Happy reading!
~EcoPunk
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