Tomorrow is our daughter's first birthday. I am not very excited about birthdays but, this one I am. We bought her a toy electric piano as a present. Nothing fancy but she loves music and really enjoys pressing buttons. Literally and metaphorically so we hope will bring her hours of joy and exploration.

She has worked out how to stop, start and control a couple of musical books she has and dances with a big grin when she puts it on. The baby monitor has a light and whenever she gets the chance, she presses the on button at the top and the leans forward to make sure the light actually goes on or off. She doesn't grin here, just tests it with a serious face that looks like a stock image of a laboratory worker. I love it. We figure as annoying as the piano is going to be for us, she will like it.

http://i.imgur.com/rwbdGiM.jpg

Since a little before she was born, we have been putting small amounts of money into a bank account we set up for her. She has more than we do now but that isn't really saying much. We figure that in time, she will be able to use it as a modest deposit on her first apartment. I intend to teach her a lot about money, things I wish I had known much earlier. Things I still need to learn.

I wonder how cryptocurrency fits into this picture though. I do not want to keep her money in the bank as to me, it seems insecure. It is funny to say that after being told for a life time 'Save your money, put it in the bank'. What I am considering doing is setting up another account and depositing a little Bitcoin and other coins there for her as well. Rather than giving her keys to the car, she can have her Private Key instead. Does this sound okay to the crypto gods?

http://i.imgur.com/dg8Ys9v.jpg
*(This is hopefully her face when she sees the value of her coins)*

I am trying to find ways to diversify even the little bits I can because I am not an 'all eggs in the one basket' kind of person. Or at least, I am trying to be smarter than that. I have a terrible relationship with money and I am trying to conquer it before it is transferred to her. This is not done by giving her a lot though, it is done by her understanding the importance of money as a tool, not as a reflection of a person's worth.

This is a challenge as most indicators of success are based upon the accumulation of things and most of these things are somehow bound to money. *Ideally*, I would try to raise her to value personal skills that lead to creative pursuits where money is a byproduct of her enjoying exploring life, not the aim of life.

http://i.imgur.com/UxILCwZ.jpg
*(This may be her face when she thinks about what she will buy for her dad)*

At this time last year (almost to the minute), my wife's water broke. We didn't go into the hospital straight away and it was another 20 hours until our daughter arrived to change our lives forever. Obviously, through my writing over time you can see how much I think about her upbringing and personal development. I do not have a vision for what she is likely to be and no expectations on any part of that. What I want to do for her is to provide an environment where she can play and discover herself. As well as be a father who she can always come to and talk with.

We do not fill her view with hundreds of toys and the ones she has are quite basic. She uses them all and is continually finding new ways to play with them. Some of these ways are not encouraged by her parents but, she is yet to break anything more than one ripped page in her favorite book. When she did that, she was upset with herself but, daddy fixed it with tape and she smiled again. I think the hardest part of being a parent at least so far is realizing that daddy won't always be there to fix things.

But, while I am here, I will enjoy all the time I can with her.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]