I will leave names out, but a while back my husband suggested we join the boycott of a particular business because of some issues they were supporting.

The next time my girls asked to visit the place, I told them we wouldn’t be going for a while.  They of course asked why, and this was what I came up with.

When you spend money some place, that is how the business earns the money they use.  Some of it is used to keep the business running, and some is used for whatever the owner wants to use it for.

If we give our money to (Business), the owners are going to use our money to support things we disagree with.  Things we believe are wrong.  Mother and Dad won’t use our money to support those choices, so we can’t give our money to the people who will use it in that way.

Not giving them our money, choosing to spend it elsewhere, is our way of saying we disagree.

No, I don’t know if the 4- and 5-year-old got it.  But they did start asking different questions.

Instead of saying “Can we go (there)” they’d ask, “Are they still using their money wrong?”

Natasha said more than once, “It makes me sad they use their money that way.”

Melody asked, “Can we stop and tell the people there to stop spending their money wrong?”  Which led to other talk about how the local employees shouldn’t be scolded for decisions they don’t make.

When the word came that the boycott was ended, Jay e-mailed the news from work and I mentioned it the next time we were out.

Nearly effervescing in their excitement, the girls jumped at my suggestion to go, and Natasha said, “We really should spend our money there now, because there will be other people who won’t be happy (the business) changed how they used their money, and now they won’t go there.

That convinced me she, at least, understood the concept, because she was able to turn it back around and reapply it.

Of course, it could also be a sly bid for more visits, but it was also well-reasoned, and worth admiring.