As of the last few months, they have clearly started to apply the notion of value to objects around them. They will act to obtain items of perceived value at all times, be it food, toys or attention.
Novelty is a big, if short-lived, factor in determining value. Much like a brand new vehicle, half this value will be lost within a day of first possessing the desired item. The pursuit of a novelty item will quickly wanes, as a more critical evaluation takes place.
Scarcity is another big factor: the girls consider toys their property, and they are available in abundance. An iPad is of infinitely higher value as they are often visibly available, but rarely within reach for unsupervised play. To get their hands on an iPhone, iPad or a remote control is a highly desirable prize - even though they already own many toys that might deliver a superior entertainment experience for their age-group.
More interestingly, and much to our entertainment, my wife and I recently identified a new variable of value in the baby-economy: Energy.
My wife recently bought the girls a wind-up toy TV that will play a cheerful - if obnoxious - melody and display some camp graphics for about a minute after fully wound up. As there is only one toy of this kind, the value of the TV is high to begin with, and the girls will often try to keep it for themselves. What caught our attention was how the battle to possess the TV was intensified as soon as it was wound up and started to play.
The girls know full well that there is only one object of this kind, and that the cheerful melody is available for a limited time only, and it thus becomes imperative to own the TV while it is playing.
A fully wound TV has a higher value than a non-wound TV: as the spring unwinds, the melody progressively slows down and value diminishes correspondingly.
Last night, while trying to buy ourselves some time to finish a Vindaloo and a rather lovely glass of Chianti, my wife quickly wound the toy TV while one daughter was holding it. Little were any of us expecting the lurking twin behind the sofa, who shot out from her hiding place as soon as the music started to play. She nicked the fully wound TV from the unsuspecting hands of her sister and made for the kitchen as fast as her little legs would carry her, eventually settling into the farthest corner of the room, TV pressed between her body and the wall.
She did not DO anything with the toy, she did not watch the screen or play with its controls. She wanted to own the high value item before energy and value was drained.
Originally, the toy built up is value though play and interaction - the wound toy being more fun than the unwound toy. As things progressed, the value of the wound toy was internalized and made abstract to the point of making it an investment: "We both know how much fun this thing is on the rare occasions that it plays that tune, we don't really need to experience it anymore."
Still hiding in the kitchen, as the music started to slow down, she willingly surrendered they toy back to her sister - seemingly the act of a short-term position during a stock-market peak: "I extracted the highest value from this position. You want it? Great! Please let me sell you my shares as they start to depreciate!"
I am a very proud daddy of this promising little value-analyst, but we might need to keep the smash-and-grab approach in check.
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