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“We’re the kids in America!”

It’s Friday, folks. Let’s have some fun.

And let’s start the day with a video! That has nothing to do with money! Here’s a young man (and his family) explaining what it was like for one of his baby photos to become a popular early photo meme (“success kid”) that still gets used frequently a decade later.

Speaking of kids, here are a couple of recent articles about children…

How to teach kids about saving and investing. [Refined by Fire] β€” “I knew I had my work cut out for me. After all, finance is supposed to be boring, right? And my son was young so to tach him I had to make it simple and quick to understand. I knew that it had to be his idea or he would not be engaged. I knew I had to wait for a teachable moment. I knew I had to capture his undivided attention…but how?” Part one of a new, ongoing series. I heard this presentation at Camp FI recently and loved it. This is going to be good!

Children are using emojis for digital-age language learning. [Wired] β€” “πŸ¦„πŸ΄πŸ¦‹πŸ›πŸ€πŸ¦πŸ¦πŸ§πŸ”πŸ£πŸΆπŸ±πŸ­πŸ°πŸ°πŸ°β„οΈβ„οΈπŸŒ¦πŸŒˆπŸ”₯πŸ’₯β˜€οΈπŸ“πŸ₯žβ£οΈπŸ’™πŸ’šπŸ’›πŸ§‘πŸ”’πŸ’•πŸ’œπŸ–€πŸ’žπŸ’žπŸ’—πŸ’–πŸ’˜πŸ•‰πŸ’β˜ΈοΈπŸ’Ÿ These emoji texts are adorable, but as a linguist, I’m interested in what kids are trying to communicate.”

Lastly, and simply to justify the title I chose for today’s edition (which I chose before collecting and writing everything), here’s Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong doing a quarantine-inspired cover of Kim Wilde’s classic “Kids in America”.

True story: When my brother Jeff and I were young and discovering pop music, this was one of the first songs we both loved. And I love it to this day. For twenty years, one of my favorite music playlists has been built around this song.

Okay, I’m out. This weekend, I have a fallen fence to demolish. And maybe a kayak to paddle. Wherever you are, I hope that you enjoy a fun and productive end to July (and start to August). We’ll see you again next Monday.