Kids are smart these days, aren’t they? Sometimes they are so smart, that it takes five minutes from explaining the subject to them, untill they outsmart you in your subject. Yes, they use YOUR weapons against you. Successfully. When they want it.

Our Afonso is smart. He is almost-fourteen-year-old, portuguese, finishing year 9 in a couple of weeks. I mentioned him previously. The conversation happened next morning after Portugal getting into EURO2016 finals. Earlier that week, the school announced about a trip to China. A trip in another 16 months (he actually counted it in accuracy of days), which he is now simply obsessed with.

We all were having breakfast. And explaining rules to Afonso, how he will need to save for the trip. Weekly allowances, special additional tasks at home. Surely, he was not convinced he will be able to save 1500 GBP only like that. I do agree with him. We definitely do not give him that much pocket money.

Then, to save the situation and to give him other tools (and a little bit of hope), I explained about demand management. For him, I explained, that would mean downgrading (in price and specifications) any intermediary gifts, giving up on just another game (ehrm… I would like to say I forgot the name of the console – but, to be honest, I didn’t even know it to start with. Promise to improve). Even, if he justifies properly, reducing frequency of haircuts could be a source of savings against target.

And then I got my lesson. Having a hippy teenager at home is not the worst one.

Conversation about savings exhausted itself. We started talking football (remember, Portugal is going to the final?). Afonso’s dad started considering trying to find tickets and going there. Afonso (very) enthusiastically agreed and even encouraged his father going through the numbers. Planes, game tickets, hotels… The number just got bigger and bigger. At the very last moment, Afonso suddenly calmed down, adjusted eye-glasses on his nose, and firmly said: “You know what? I am not going. Can you please put the number against my savings?”

I laughed for probably ten minutes. He learned my lesson very well. And even out-smarted me. He taught me, that, depending on your intentions, you can CREATE fake demand and then “give up” on it. So, if you are short on your KPIs – here is an advice for you! I am joking, of course. Don’t do it. Or, if you choose to do it – please, please do not tell anyone you heard about it from me.

It’s Friday. Thank you for reading. Today in the evening, I’ll have a glass of wine with friends and one toast will definitely be to our kids. Hope you all will have a nice day!