No Bull Mom

How to Teach Your Kids What It Means to Be a Democrat

In a word: Monopoly.

I was home for four days caring for my son who had croup. It was like being home with a newborn again, couldn't leave the house much at all...To pass the time he and I played a lot of games, one of which was Monopoly. He's almost 7 years old. We played it five times.

It was comical, actually. My son kept landing on "City Tax" -- at which point you forfeit your $200 for passing "Go." Then it seemed like every time he picked up Community Chest or Chance he had to pay another tax -- school tax, etc. Then there's the Luxury Tax between Park Place and Boardwalk. This boy was constantly paying taxes. He'd say, "It's not fair! Why do I have to keep paying these taxes?" To which I said, "Just wait till the money's for real."

It was a GREAT way to teach him about taxes -- more specifically, what it feels like to work toward something and have it taken away. I did, of course, explain why taxes are necessary -- what they "buy" us, etc. Then I told him that in fact he's getting off easy.

Monopoly doesn't have a death tax.