Living With Daddy, Esq.

Our nine year old son decided that he would like to start a "business." He read an article in a magazine about a boy that maintained vending machines and it seemed like the perfect fit. He has always had that entrepreneurial spirit, and this would combine his two great loves: selling and candy. Unfortunately a professional looking vending machine costs more money than a nine year old boy has sitting in his Bat Man money safe, so he asked how he could get the money to buy one. I wanted to instill in him a sense of ownership and responsibility for his new business venture, so I suggested he take out a loan... from me. I wanted to also teach him about paying back credit and money management. So it seemed like a binding contract would let him experience how the financial world works.

Lucky for me my attorney husband can whip out a contract in his sleep, so I outlined the conditions I wanted in it and he set to work (pro bono!). He wrote it up with all of his Daddy and lawyerly flair, suppressing all of those instincts to fill it with law vocabulary and provisions. Then we reviewed it carefully together and answered all of H’s questions about it. H and I approved the agreement, signed it, and the contract was complete.

He bought the candy machine, filled it with M&Ms, and got permission to place it in the snack room at the firm. I'm sure there will be plenty of late nights where somebody will be dying for a handful of M& Ms, so I'm anticipating his business will be a raging success!