Trademarks - not to be understood by a 5 year old.

Now that Jordan is trying to spell and read everything and Mikayla is following in his footsteps, the questions are non-stop. What's this spell? What does that spell? How do you spell _(fill in the blank)__? What does that mean? and on and on and on...

They ask about things they see on TV and around the house like HD - high definition or DVR - digital video recorder. Well they asked about the trademark symbol. I tried to explain that a trademark meant that a product or idea was owned by a company. And if you want to use that item for something that would make you money (like in a movie) you would have to pay money to the company to use that item.

A couple of days later she was going through some toys to throw away or give away. She came across a doll that had the tm right on the tag. She said, "Mom, we can't give this one away, we have to sell it cause it has a trademark." I tried to re-explain the concept to her. Next thing I know Mikayla is walking around with her beloved Strawberry Shortcake blanket. I noticed that it had an M with a circle around it written in marker. I asked her why she wrote on her blanket. She said, "Oh, that's my trademark so if anyone else wants to use it they have to pay me money!"

Too cute!

I think it may be a few more years until this concept sinks in =)