"Maxed" Out

I have had credit cards on the brain for several weeks now, but thankfully, not my own.

Having just wrapped up a story for DallasChild’s October issue, I’ve become aware of a scary new phenomenon—Identity theft of children.

Identity theft, in general, scares me to the point of near-paranoia for two reasons:

1.) I now know how easy it is for a thief to accomplish (Tessa and I plotted the perfect crime one afternoon, but no laws were broken)
2.) I can’t think of anything that would make me feel more powerless

You’re thinking “But kids don’t have credit cards; what are you talking about?” I know. Kids’ credit histories are clean, and that’s exactly the point….as you will read in October.

Slightly less scary, I’ve also just finished a story for our forthcoming North Texas Teens issue about teenagers and credit cards. How young is too young, what should limits be, etc. Now, I could have done some serious damage as a teen, but I probably would have known my limits, too. Or my mother’s wrath. The good thing about paying cash when you’re a 17-year-old with a taste for Prada—no incriminating paper trail.

My father recently admitted that he feels may have done me a disservice by not teaching me more about money and finances as I was growing up. Although I disagree, I appreciated the confession, and I think it came through in my story. Having the funds to pay the bills is one thing, but understanding the language of finance is quite another. There’s a lot kids will never know if someone doesn’t tell them.

Also upcoming this fall, but thoroughly un-financial, today I had an intriguing interview with an author who claims that children can be potty-trained in just one day. She has scores of devotees to back her up, but the jury is still out in our office. Having never trained anything in my life, I’d like to direct that question to you, our readers. Let me know if you’ve potty trained in under 24 hours…using a doll…or a party…anything.
-Liz