Today is a special day. Today is the day that all fathers in Belgium are celebrated. Americans celebrate Father’s Day on the third Sunday of every June. This holiday celebrates fathers and fatherhood in general, including father figures such as guardians and grandfathers. The occasion is marked by giving a gift to one’s father or spending time with him. It is a time set aside to value a father’s role in one’s life and to reflect upon paternal bonding.

Fathers are usually given gifts in the realm of home improvement, electronics, and outdoor tools. There are no official ways to celebrate Father’s Day, but many children also celebrate with a phone call, meal out, or a family gathering honoring all fathers within an extended family. My dad has passed away almost 10 years ago.

My father’s day was very special as the kids and my wife prepared special gifts for me. If you want to know what those gifts were, I suggest you read until the end. First I want to describe the 3 important things I want to teach my kids.

Nr 1. Teach the 7 Core Great Values

The first thing I want to pass on to the kids is the 7 core values.  Core values are like a navigation system that guide our actions and behaviors. They are the ethics we live by, principles that affect our decisions and determine our choices. Our children’s core values will affect every decision they make from the home to the workforce. Helping them develop core values is essential for a life of purpose and significance.  These are the 7 core values I have chosen to teach the kids.

1. Honesty : always be honest and don’t lie for your own benefit while hurting others.
2. Love : Love each other, your family, pets and anyone you care for.
3. Respect : Respect each other’s opinion, respect the nature, respect for elderly people, for other cultures,…you name it !
4. Resiliency : Life comes with disappointments and setbacks. It’s important for kids to learn how to overcome these painful obstacles. Life doesn’t always go our way. Learning to see these times as opportunities for growth teaches them to become powerful instead of a victim to circumstance.  Our own ability to rise above disappointment and stay hopeful is the most powerful way to teach resilience. At times, great opportunities come when our kids come face-to-face with let downs. We can talk through their disappointments with them, showing compassion and empathy for what they’re going through. Then we can brainstorm with them about positive steps forward.
5. Ethics : In order for our children to become successful in life, a strong work ethic is essential. It’s how you respect your boss, co-worker, and customer. Teaching kids to do regular chores, help with preparing dinner, serving their grandparents, and volunteering at school are all ways to teach children the importance of a good work ethic.
6. Humility : My dad always did teach me to stay humble in all circumstances. Humility is not being a ‘doormat’, and allowing people to walk all over you. Instead, it is an understanding that every human is equally valuable: a recognition that you are worth no more or less than anyone else.
7. Imagination and creativity : Last but not least it is important to stimulate imagination and creativity. Having the ability to dream and imagine opens up their potential. They will find they are capable of so much when given the opportunity to dream. Life has a way of resisting these dreams and will bring balance to outrageous ideals. But our support, along with our guidance and wisdom, will encourage them to realize great potential.

Nr 2. Financial literacy

I consider financial literacy the critical number 2 as this is not really properly taught by the school system and parents expect the school to do the job. A vicious circle which is not beneficial for the kids… As this is a personal finance blog, we focus heavily on the financial literacy of our kids.

Last year we managed to teach 3 financial classes. It was a lot of fun doing so. It can be challenging to engage your teenager in teaching financial literacy but invest time in doing so…you spend quality time together and money becomes more important in a teenagers’ life.

Here you find the links to the three classes of 2017

1. Kids Financial Education Lesson 1 : Budg€t Fun
2. Kids Financial Education Lesson 2 : Compound Interest
3. Kids Financial Education Lesson 3 : Your Financial Pyramid & Creating a Financial Plan

This year we executed one Financial class with one of the kids. A city trip to London with a fixed budget. If you missed it, read here about our London adventure. I am sure you can pickup some ideas from our trip.

Financial Education Class 4 : Manage A Fixed Travel Budget

Today we spend the afternoon playing monopoly. I did lose all my money to one of the kids…isn’t that great?

Nr 3. Entrepreneurship 

When we think of all of the principles, skills, and lessons we should be teaching our kids, entrepreneurship isn’t usually at the top of the list. It actually may not even be on the list, but hear me out.

We want the best for our kids, and everything we do for them and everything we teach them is to help them become successful, fulfilled, giving, and loving adults in society.  Studies have shown that young adults are seeking out jobs over other life milestones.

We also know some entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson or Elon Musk whose success we admire. Not only they are innovative and tenacious, but also brave enough to face the challenges of the business world and become successful. They are just built this way, and most of us can’t help but to jealously watch them facing all the challenges. You surely don’t want your kids to jealously watch the success of other people. You want them to be a success and have the best lives possible. That is why you should teach your kids to behave like entrepreneurs. These skills will help them to deal with all the troubles of growing up, and to become successful later in life. Maybe you can even learn how to implement these skills in your life. It is never too late or too early to become an entrepreneur.

So which skills do you need to teach to become an entrepreneur ? I list them here :

1. Problem solving
2. Innovation and creativity
3. Self-confidence
4. Optimism and empathy
5. Risk takers while trying out ideas

In the coming years we will execute entrepreneurship classes for our kids. Keep on following us.

Final Words 

So you are still reading and want to learn about my day…? Well, this morning the three men went first karting. We had a lot of fun and when we came back, the girls decorated the table and the sun umbrella with mustaches and ties together with HAPPY FATHERS DAY wording. On the table were gifts. My daughter prepared a delicious lemonade at school and on the bag it said…

“My dad is the most adventurous (because I travel a lot), the funniest (because I make lot of fun), very hard working (as I earn money for the family) but importantly the sweetest dad”. What a lot of sweet words. Besides the lemonade bag, I also received a Foodbox bag and a chocolate pie as gift. But most importantly I also received a special video created by one of the boys full of lovely sweet words and pictures. Never had such a fantastic father’s day ! We hope you also enjoyed yours if you have kids.  

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