"Dad, can we open a present early?" - Dy (my youngest who is 8)
"Well, let's talk about this. I might be open to it. Imagine if I gave you two options.
Option 1: You can open one present
Option 2: You can flip a coin, and if it is tails... you get zero presents, but if it is heads, you get two presents
Which option would you pick?" - Dad
--- Nice Long Pause --- The kind that shows the wheels turning in the mind
"Dad, I'd take option 1" - Dy
A great 30 minute discussion then ensued by me changing the parameters. For example:
"Dy, well how many presents would it take before you'd take option 2?"
and
"Dy, what if we used a dice instead and if you got an even number, no gifts... but if you get odd, you get two gifts?"
and
"Dy, what if we used a dice, and if you got a 1 or 2, no gifts, but if you get a 3 or higher, you get that many gifts"
and
"Dy, would it make a difference if we did this kind of deal 1 day before we normally open presents, or 5 days before we normally open presents?"
and
"Dy, would it matter if I get to pick the presents you choose from or if you do?"
and so on and so on.
As she would make a selection, we would talk about her reasons, the payoffs, the risks and more. We then flipped it, and I asked her to offer me some version of the deal. It was a very real feeling exercise because there were in fact real presents under the tree and she knew that whatever we settled on would indeed be offered up.
In our family, we've decided that the day before we normally open the gifts our girls will indeed be offered a deal. It will be as follows:
Option 1: You get to pick one present from any of the presents with your name on it
Option 2: You flip a coin, and if it is tails you get nothing, but if you get heads, you get three of them
ho Ho HO!
No comments:
Post a Comment