The Stories from Long Ago that Julie N. says I must share, Volume II: "I just THREW it away!"

When Victoria was in first grade, she went to our neighborhood school, as opposed to coming to work with me. Our tradition was, and still is, that Victoria buys school lunch on Friday only. It really is a treat to get to have the junk food our public schools feed our children, but that is a subject for a whole different blog. Anyway, it was her first Friday, and I sent her to school with three one-dollar bills. I was unsure the cost and wanted to be sure she had enough money. After school, we attended a friend's birthday party at the Rainforest Cafe. While there, I was soliciting ideas from the other "mom friends" about how to build monetary understanding in my daughter. Despite the fact that she went to kindergarten reading fluently, and was a fantastic reader and writer, I had neglected math and, more specifically, money. As a child I remembered getting my own change out of a jar at home and walking to Circle K to buy candy. At age 6, my own daughter had NEVER done that. I felt I'd failed her. My daughter decided to provide evidence of this that night, in front of everyone.

As if on cue, Victoria interrupted our conversation about her "financial skills." She wanted to tell me about her first day buying lunch at her new school. The conversation went a little something like this:

Victoria: I had pizza today!
Mommy: Was it good?
Victoria: Yes, I had chocolate milk, too.
Mommy: So, did I give you enough money.
Victoria: Oh yeah, you gave me too much. You gave me 3 (not '3 dollars', just 3) and the lady (not the 'lunch lady', just the lady) said I only needed 2.
Mommy: Good! So, where's the other dollar?
Victoria: Oh, I didn't need it.
Mommy: I know, so where is it.
Victoria: (Shrugging her shoulders) I didn't need it. (Then with a carefree tone and demeanor, she raises her hand and waves it across the air) I didn't need it so I just threwwwwwww it away.

As you can imagine, it was not a mother's proudest moment. However, at least my friends knew I wasn't exaggerating about her monetary skills. Stay tuned for more blasts from our past.