9-year-old frustrated by mom hiding finances — outsmarts her in his homework with a response that left her in splits
A 9-year-old’s curiosity about family finances led to a funny and clever moment that quickly caught the internet’s attention. The boy was frustrated that his mother, Jen Hamilton, never revealed how much money the family had. So he found a creative way to sneak the question into his science homework. The incident was shared on Instagram on November 21, 2025, by his mother under the handle @_jen_hamilton_, showing her laughing as she explained the story to her followers.
Hamilton recounted that the story started with a text from her own mother. “My mom texted me this morning, she says, 'Please call me, I have to tell you something funny,'" she began. She explained that her children had stayed at her mother’s house the previous night and, as a result, had to do their homework there. Hamilton then provided some context before sharing what happened. She recalled that when she was growing up, her parents never disclosed exactly how much money they had, as they didn’t want the children to think they were better or worse than anyone else based on material things. “They would always say at least two dollars,” she mentioned, referring to how her parents answered whenever she asked the same question as a child. Following the same approach, Hamilton now keeps her family’s finances private, wanting her own children to learn not to judge themselves or others based on money.
During the homework session at her parents’ house, the boy seized the opportunity to sneak his curiosity into the assignment. When he was asked to draw something he wanted to investigate, he drew a little face looking at a box and wrote, in his own words, that he "wants to investigate how much money my mother has." Hamilton laughed as she showed the homework in the video, noting how the child’s clever approach perfectly captured both his frustration and curiosity. She explained that although her method of keeping money private sometimes frustrated him, it also taught him perspective and the value of understanding life beyond wealth. The Instagram caption read, “The boy is going to investigate it,” highlighting the humor of the moment.
The video has gone viral with more than 675,000 views since being posted online. Many internet users also joined the conversation, sharing stories of their children asking similar questions and showing curiosity in amusing ways. Some viewers also commented that they had the same sense of wonder as children, relating to the 9-year-old’s antics. @never_shone_so_bright wrote, "My dad's answer was always 'More than a little, and less than a lot!' He’s still full of riddles like that." @sambosworth shared, "My 9-year-old always asks about how much money we have. He was also on a kick recently where he would always ask, 'How are the bills?'" While @eleljulve mentioned, "My 12-year-old asked me recently if she needed to start paying rent. I was like, 'You don’t even have a job yet!'"
For more wholesome content, follow @_jen_hamilton_ on Instagram.
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