What's your small talk like? Do you point at the neighbor's new car and snide that he got it "out of luck"? Or perhaps that a colleague's promotion and raise was because he was "sucking up" to the bosses? Or what about when your kids tell you that they want something. Do you turn around to Junior and say, "Hey, money doesn't grow on trees!"

Careful! Your kids will pick up on this negativity.

A 2001 survey by the American Savings Education Council showed that 94% of children ranked their parents as their primary financial educators. As a parent and role model, your responsibility to mold this crucial life skill cannot be ignored or taken lightly.

And especially during times like these when the economy walks a fine line, it has become ever the more important to show both discipline and strength in not just our actions, but more crucially, in our mindset toward money.

So how do you give your child a financially abundant mindset so he or she is better able to avoid a life filled with one financial crisis after another?

Read Theresa Markham's simple yet powerful article to show you exactly how you can give your kids an abundance-conscious and grateful mindset, even if you are still on the path of moving from financial crisis to financial abundance.

The 4 Agreements of Teaching Kids Financial Abundance

Theresa Markham

Some parents want to pass along positive, abundance-centered money beliefs to their children. Recently, more and more parents are becoming aware that their negative money beliefs and baggage have resulted in their lives being filled with financial problems. Maybe you have learned this from spiritual teachings that are in alignment with abundance, law of attraction materials/workshops, and/or financial gurus such as "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," Robert Kiyosaki, etc.

Unless parents actively teach financial abundance mentality to their children, the children will be destined for a life filled with one financial crisis after another. Parents want to draw "a line in the sand" and want to raise their children with a financial abundance mentality rather than a poverty mentality.

You can teach financial abundance to your children even while you are still on your own path of moving from financial crisis to financial abundance, by becoming aware of the 4 Agreements about teaching your children about money and financial abundance. Let's take a look at the 4 Agreements of teaching your kids about financial abundance:

1. All abundance is good

We all have the possibility of enjoying abundance of every kind - and abundance of spirituality, creativity, emotional health, relationships, love, joy, physical health, and yes - financial abundance. Financial abundance is just as important as the other types of abundance.

No one would suggest that a person should be able to have "a good life" with just financial and physical abundance, but without spiritual abundance. And yet, society tries to persuade us (often) that "a good life" should still be possible if you have every other piece of the pie - except finances.

One reason for this is the long-perpetuated myth that "money is the root of all evil," which is a misquoted Bible scripture. The Bible scripture actually says that "love of money" is the root of all evil, which really means that loving money to the exclusion of the other kinds of abundance will lead to an empty dark life, which is true.

In order to impart this to your children, you must be on the look out for evidence of this myth in your own life, and point out the positive alternative to your children. For example, society loves to portray wealthy people as shallow, self-centered, egotistical, love-less, unhappy, emotional failures. Remind your children (and yourself) that lots of financially wealthy people are happy, healthy, spiritually rich, humble, helpful, joy-filled people.

And, the corollary to this Agreement is: The financial abundance of others is good. Replace jealously with praise for them, gratitude for your current financial blessings, and gratitude for your future financial abundance.

2. Desiring things - having preferences - is all good

Again, our old negative money baggage will usually rear its ugly head over this financial abundance belief. But, in truth, your children saying, "I want," is a good thing. We all want. We want happiness, we want shelter and comfortable surroundings and circumstances, we want growth, we want peace, we want rewards, we want rest, we want our favorite people, places and things. Wanting is good.

But, this is where poverty-consciousness parents say things like, "Who do you think we are, the Rockefellers?" And, poverty-consciousness parents think things like, "My children will become a spoiled brat if I got him/her everything they want."

What do abundance-mentality parents say? Well, they don't say, "OK, I'll get it all for you." Abundance-mentality parents DO say, "Yes, that shrimp appetizer and lobster main course sure sound delicious, and those shiny sneakers look great, and that diamond bracelet looks gorgeous. I can see why you like them!"

Desire is good. Desire keeps people active in life, and enthusiastic about life. Desire is real - and a good - part of this human experience that all of us "spiritual beings" are participating in. It's part of the reason that we're here.

Now, how the negative baggage demon keeps well-meaning parents in the poverty-conscious arena, is by telling parents that their children will never "be grateful" or "appreciate money" if they "want" things. That's a lie.

"Gratitude" is a completely separate animal from "desire." Gratitude gets taught at a heart-level, on a spiritual-level, not on a financial level. Gratitude covers all of the areas of life (spirituality, health, emotions, creativity, love, relationships, and joy). If your gratitude only exists when there's financial lack, or financial prosperity, either way, your gratitude is short-lived and not very deeply rooted.

So, rest assured, your children can know gratitude (in all aspects of life) and have desires too.

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