Originally broadcast on August 13th, 1965 at 11:45 AM on CHED Radio, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

If your kids are like mine, you probably have a saver and a spender in the family. One goes through money like it was going out of style at dawn. The other banks every cent and won't part with a penny for any reason. Trying to teach children how to use and think about money can be hard. I have found a way that helps them to see money in proper perspective. Maybe you'd like to try it. 

While discussing the spending and savings of their allowances, I showed my boys a silver dollar. I asked the one who won't spend money to hold the silver Dollar right up close to his eyes. He did so. “What do you see?” I asked him. “Just the silver dollar”, Dad. I then told him to hold it at arms length and take another look at it. “What do you see now?” I asked him. You and mom and the sky and trees in the Ravine and clouds and the dollar. He got the point without me having to explain further. If you hold too closely to the mighty dollar, if it is all you see, then you are going to miss a great many things in life. If you keep the dollar at arms length you have it in proper perspective. You can see it, but it has taken its proper place in your whole scheme of things. That looked after the saver. The other lad, he said it was a pretty effective demonstration but why not get rid of the dollar completely so it wouldn't block out any of the view. This he did with pleasure, and probably will do for the rest of his life. Well, I got half the family thinking right about money, and in any household that's not half bad average. My wife? Well she's just like you. She ALWAYS has too much month left over at the end of money.