If I Win the Mega Millions, I’m Not Telling My Kids
With the Mega Millions lottery at an all-time world record — $540 million — even I got sucked in. As soon as I found out that you can, in fact, buy Mega Millions tickets in Indiana, I bought some for tonight’s drawing.
But I didn’t tell my kids.
For one, the chances of winning are 1 in 175,711,536. That’s just not a statistic a 6-year-old could wrap her head around. She had a hard enough time understanding why her name was never called at last week’s raffle event. As much fun as it might be to hear what kids would do with lottery winnings, I’m keeping it to myself.
In fact, I don’t plan to tell them even if we win.
I want my girls to grow up knowing money comes from working hard. I don’t want them constantly dreaming of a big windfall that will likely never come. I want them to understand the value of money, rather than dreaming of a day when there’s an endless supply.
Most people who buy a lottery ticket are never going to win. That’s just a fact. And, it’s one I fully accepted when I bought my Mega Millions tickets. I didn’t buy into the idea of becoming sudden millionaires. I have zero hopes that I’ll actually win — although, it’s fun to think about.
I just wanted to be a part of it. $540 million is the highest jackpot EVER. As one Babble commenter mentioned, it has a real Golden Ticket feel to it.
And, I have a couple Wonka bars tucked in my purse.
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More on Babble.com:
Mega Millions and Playing the Lottery
12 Things You Should Buy If You Win the Mega Millions Jackpot
Sugar Daddy: A Fairy Tale of Lottery Luck
More money saving ideas from Heather on Inexpensively.com:
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