今晚准备睡觉时，娃儿突然问了我一句：

“妈妈，人为什么会吃东西？没人教，就自己会了呀？”

我心想，哇塞，又来了。

这种充满哲思的问题，问我就对了。

我跟他说：

“比如一个宝宝刚出生，没有人教，他只要放到妈妈怀里，就会自己找到喝奶的地方，也知道怎么吸。你发现没有，不只是人类，小牛、小羊也是这样。”

“为什么呢？”

“因为生命本来就有它自己的规律。每一个生命来到这个世界，都不是偶然的。”

他点点头，没有继续问。

我以为今晚的话题结束了。

没想到，他突然又冒出一句：

“妈妈，我也可以有一个 YouTube 频道吗？属于我自己的。现在那个频道是你的名字。”

我笑了。

“当然可以啊！明天妈妈帮你开。”

他马上进入思考模式。

“可是游戏视频到底怎么录下来，让别人也能看到呢？”

我说：

“有两种方法。一种是用摄像机拍屏幕，另一种就是直接屏幕录制。”

沉默了几秒钟后，他认真地说：

“我觉得，我以后想做的事情，就是让别人开心。”

我愣了一下。

才八岁。

居然已经开始思考自己以后想做什么。

我问：

“你说的开心，是什么意思？”

他说：

“我想做一个东西，让很多很多人都能看到，看了以后会很开心。”

我问：

“是教别人学习吗？”

他说：

“不是只有学习。是又可以让别人开心，又可以学到东西。”

听到这里，我笑了。

“我觉得这个想法很好。我以前也想过类似的事情。”

后来，我们开始聊起 YouTube 是怎么赚钱的。

我告诉他：

“一种方式是广告收入。我们看视频的时候，不是常常会出现广告吗？广告商会付钱给创作者。一般来说，广告看得越完整，创作者收入通常也会更高一些。”

他突然说：

“难怪我看老师的视频，他们都会把广告看完。”

我愣了一下。

原来，他早就在观察这些细节了。

接着，他问了我一句让我特别开心的话：

“所以，这都不属于 easy money，对不对？”

我说：

“对啊。这一点都不容易。需要长期努力，也要持续做出别人喜欢看的内容。”

他马上接了一句：

“而且还要确保内容够吸引人。”

我笑着点点头。

是啊。

他说得一点都没错。

后来，我告诉他第二种赚钱方式：

“有些频道会开会员，例如每个月 $1.99 或 $9.99，只有付费订阅的人才能看到部分内容。”

没想到，他几乎没有犹豫。

“我不要别人付钱才能看我的频道。”

“我要每一个人都可以看到。”

那一瞬间，我有点感动。

原本以为，他会觉得这是一个很好的赚钱方法。

没想到，他想到的却是——

希望所有人都能看得到。

我笑着说：

“其实还有一种方式。频道还是免费开放，只是最新的视频先给会员看，过几天再开放给所有人。”

我觉得这个方法挺不错。

结果，他根本没接我的话。

反而问：

“那我不能直播吗？”

我说：

“孩子不能直播，等长大一点比较适合。”

“那录像总可以吧？”

“当然可以。”

“那我可以拍生日派对吗？”

“这个可能不行，因为其他小朋友和家长不一定同意。”

“那拍我和你呢？”

“这个当然可以。”

他开心得笑了。

“太好了！”

我说：

“那你现在就可以开始想，你想拍什么内容了。”

他说：

“对啊，要吸引别人，内容一定要很好。”

那一刻，我忽然觉得，他好像已经开始找到自己真正想做的事情了。

不是为了赚多少钱。

而是想创造一些东西，让别人开心，也让别人有所收获。

更让我感动的是，他似乎已经隐隐约约明白：

有些钱，可以赚；有些钱，不值得赚。

如果一个八岁的孩子，已经开始思考如何为别人创造价值。

那么，我相信，他未来的人生，一定会走得越来越远。

婷妈的亲子日常 创作于 2026.07.29

原创发布： tingtingma.com

写给孩子，也写给正在成长的大人。

未经授权，请勿转载。

Tingma’s Parenting Diary 295

At Eight Years Old, He Began Thinking About His Life’s Purpose

As we were getting ready for bed tonight, my son suddenly asked me,

“Mom, why do people know how to eat? Nobody teaches us, but we just know how.”

I smiled to myself.

Here we go again.

Whenever he asks questions like this—questions that make you stop and think—I’m always happy to have the conversation.

I said,

“Think about a newborn baby. No one teaches a baby how to nurse. As soon as the baby is placed in the mother’s arms, he instinctively knows where to find milk and how to drink it. And it’s not just humans. Baby calves and lambs do the same thing.”

“Why?”

“Because life has its own natural order. Every life comes into this world for a reason. Nothing is simply accidental.”

He nodded quietly.

I thought the conversation was over.

Then he surprised me again.

“Mom, can I have my own YouTube channel someday? Right now the channel belongs to you.”

I smiled.

“Of course! Mommy can help you create one tomorrow.”

Immediately, he shifted into thinking mode.

“But how do people record their game videos so everyone else can watch them?”

“There are two common ways,” I explained. “One is to film the screen with a camera. The other is to record the screen directly.”

After a few seconds of silence, he looked at me seriously and said,

“I think what I want to do when I grow up is make people happy.”

For a moment, I was speechless.

He is only eight.

Yet he has already started thinking about what he wants to do with his life.

I asked,

“What do you mean by making people happy?”

He answered,

“I want to create something that lots and lots of people can watch, and when they watch it, they’ll feel happy.”

“So… do you mean teaching people?”

He shook his head.

“Not just teaching. I want people to have fun and learn something.”

I smiled.

“I really like that idea. I’ve had similar thoughts myself.”

Later, we started talking about how YouTubers make money.

I explained,

“One way is through advertisements. You know those ads that appear before or during videos? Companies pay creators to show those ads. Generally speaking, when viewers watch more of the ad, the creator usually earns more.”

He suddenly said,

“That explains why my teachers always watch the ads instead of skipping them.”

I paused.

Apparently, he had been observing these little details all along.

Then he asked me something that made me especially happy.

“So… this isn’t easy money, right?”

“Exactly,” I replied.

“It takes a lot of hard work. You have to keep creating content that people genuinely want to watch.”

He immediately added,

“And you have to make sure your content is interesting.”

I nodded.

“That’s absolutely right.”

Then I told him about another way creators earn money.

“Some channels offer memberships. People might pay $1.99 or $9.99 a month to watch exclusive content.”

To my surprise, he answered almost immediately.

“I don’t want people to have to pay just to watch my channel.”

“I want everyone to be able to see it.”

That moment really touched me.

I had expected him to think that memberships sounded like a great way to make money.

Instead, the first thing he cared about was making sure everyone could have access.

I smiled and said,

“Well, there’s another option. You could keep your channel free, but let members watch brand-new videos a few days early before everyone else.”

I thought that sounded like a reasonable balance.

But he wasn’t interested in discussing that idea.

Instead, he asked,

“Can I livestream?”

I laughed.

“Not yet. Livestreaming is something that’s better for adults.”

“So I can still record videos?”

“Absolutely.”

“Can I film my birthday party?”

“Probably not, because the other kids and their parents might not feel comfortable being on camera.”

“What if it’s just you and me?”

“That would be perfectly fine.”

His face lit up.

“Awesome!”

I smiled.

“Then you can start thinking about what kind of videos you’d like to create.”

He nodded.

“Yeah. If I want people to watch, the content has to be really good.”

At that moment, I suddenly felt that perhaps he was beginning to discover what he truly wanted to do.

Not because he wanted to make money.

But because he wanted to create something that could make people smile while helping them learn something new.

What touched me even more was that he seemed to be realizing something many adults spend years learning:

Some money is worth earning. Some isn’t.

If an eight-year-old has already begun thinking about how to create value for others, then I truly believe his future journey will take him farther than he can imagine.

Tingma’s Parenting Diary
Written on July 29, 2026

Originally published at: tingtingma.com

Written for my child, and for the adults who are still growing.
Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

Originally written in Chinese by the author.
This English version was translated with the assistance of ChatGPT.