My Sons Want to Be Millionaires So Freaking Bad…

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

So, the other day I hear my boys whispering in their room, their door is closed and just in case, the older one yells, “Hey mom, don’t come in here.” So, of course I want to go in there and see what’s going on behind closed doors. But I don’t, because in that exact moment, babygirl woke up from her nap and demanded my attention. And truth be told, I forgot about the boys and their little secret mission. I admit, my attention span is nonexistent short.

It wasn’t until later that evening, when I was in the boys’ room with them, saying prayers, tucking them in for the night, when something on the ceiling caught my eye. This is what I saw:

Yes, that’s a one dollar bill taped to the ceiling. I don’t know if you can tell though that the bill has been altered. My boys have added six zeros to the one, in effect making that one dollar, one million dollars. Now where did they get this zany idea? I’ll tell you. This weekend while we were all sitting around the barbershop waiting for my older son to get his mohawk ‘fro-hawk’ touched up, The Secret was playing on the giant screen TV in the shop. Usually there is a basketball game on or a bad 80s sci-fi movie, so I was kind of surprised that Jerry the barber was actually interested in the hokey, new-age, pseudo-science of The Secret. But he told me that he actually likes to watch it every once in awhile to remind himself of a few things.

To be honest, I only watched about 15 minutes of the program, and it didn’t sound that hokey to me. But what really amazed me was that both of my boys were glued to the show. They were mesmerized by this idea that you can control what happens in your life with the power of positive thinking. When it was time to go, my older son told Jerry that he really learned a lot from the show and was going to focus on the positive from now on. Apparently, what he forgot to mention was that he was also going to focus on becoming a millionaire using The Secret’s winning magical formula of focusing on prosperity. I must have been distracted by babygirl trying to ice skate across the barbershop floor in her new boots, because I missed the part where it said to tape a million dollar bill to the ceiling. But the boys didn’t.

Being a practical parent, my first thought was to tell my kids that we weren’t rich enough to be wasting dollar bills. Then for a brief second, I worried that The Secret may have corrupted my children. But then just as quickly, I decided that my boys are just kids experimenting with new information. It kind of reminded me of how when I was a kid, I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to teach myself how to move objects with my mind and develop my powers of ESP, after reading a book about mind control. I love my boys’ enthusiasm and wonder and willingness to try new things. And if they want to be millionaires, I just hope they share with their mama if it comes to pass. I can think of worse things my boys could be doing behind closed doors. Much worse.

What about you, dear readers? Have your kids ever shocked you with their quirky behavior? Made you think twice about whether what they were doing was ‘okay’ or not from a spiritual sense, if not a practical one? And while we’re talking about The Secret, are you a fan?

I’m sitting back in my bunny slippers, listening.

Peace!