Life's smelling of roses

It was a wet afternoon driving the kids between school and swimming, my daughter suddenly started singing Billionarie by Travie McCoy.  The lyrics sound hilarious in a 5yo's mouth, take it from me.  She said she was learning it at school, I presume in the playground and not in the classroom.  I don't know what she was singing for the first line, but fortunately it sounded nothing like the original:


I wanna be a billionaire so fricking bad
buy all of the things I never had
uh, I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine
smiling next to Oprah and the Queen

Anyway, the conversation quickly turned to what we would do if we really were billionaires.  I think it's always good to have this conversation, just in case. We have the anti consumerism talk right after this indulgence, of course.

So, after I giving away a huge lump to charity,  I would buy a house in the country, I would have fresh flowers delivered daily.  Roses probably, hopelessly romantic flowers.   I would have Gok Wan organise my capsule wardrobe.  I would have a chef cook us really nutritious family meals, a housekeeper to take control of the chaos, and a personal trainer to motivate me to exercise when it's cold and misty.  

I would write my blog and my children's book and spend quality time with my kids. For me money is about buying me more time, not stuff.  


My daughter said she would buy a train.  I tried to prod her some more, convinced she wasn't really giving it enough thought - she was playing with a toy one in the back of the car at the time - but she was adamant.  It would be life size, it would take her wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted.  See for a 5 yo who has more time to do what she wants, perhaps it is about being in control of your world, going where you want to go, about not being ferried about by your mum on a wet afternoon?

What would you do if you were a billionaire?  Or better still what would you not do any more?