If math was poetry...

There has been much discussion of money lately. I've been talking, teaching and lamenting over money. As has been the story for most, surely it has to be simpler than this...

Yesterday while teaching, Yael, clearly in "Losing. Energy...Batman"-mode began cracking her knuckles, twisting in her chair...basically displaying signs of sheer misery. Her pencil kept mysteriously rolling from our dining room table- that and, the point kept breaking. As annoyed as I was, I completely understood her frustration. I feel the same way when Favorite Guy and I sit in the office reviewing the books for our business or worse, the budget for our home. The science of money sucks. We've been at this, streamlining our budget, for-well honestly, for the past 2 years since I quit my "job-job", but in theory this has been a 20 year work in progress. It's just not very easy and it isn't any fun.

After our lesson for the day was complete, Yael buoyantly burst from the "hot seat". I thought to myself, "Wouldn't we all be so much better off, if math was poetry"? And then, I remembered this poem and the genius of Shel Silverstein. His work is timeless and ageless. I was probably about Yael's age when I learned this poem in school and it's even funnier now!

Enjoy. Peace.

Smart

My dad gave me one dollar bill

'Cause I'm his smartest son,

And I swapped it for two shiny quarters

'Cause two is more than one!
And then I took the quarters

And traded them to Lou

For three times -- I guess he don't know

That three is more than two!
Just then, along came old blind Bates

And just 'cause he can't see

He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,

And four is more than three!
And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs

Down at the seed-feed store,

And the fool gave me five pennies for them,

And five is more than four!
And then I went and showed my dad,

And he got red in the cheeks

And closed his eyes and shook his head--

Too proud of me to speak!

-Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends