Cash...
Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 01:18PM I was in the kitchen yesterday when Colton came over and held up a little, rubber bouncy ball. "Mom, is this worth $2?"
"Hmmm, I'm going to go with no. It looks like a 10 cent ball to me," I said.
With that, he spun around and laid into his sister, Sierra. "I told you that I'd only give you $1 for it."
To which she cooly replied, "And I told you for two bucks it was yours."
This is just a small example of the "deals" Sierra makes with her siblings on a regular basis. We joked, years ago, that we should have given her the middle name, Cash, because she is extremely creative with money. She is not greedy, as I've seen her give away all her money on more than one occasion. The first time was three years ago. We were eating dinner and had our KLOVE radio station playing in the kitchen. It was their pledge drive week and as we listened, Sierra jumped up from her dinner and ran to get her bank. "Mom, I'd like to give them all of my money because we listen to them everyday and they share God's love with so many people." Just as the words left her lips, the three other kids followed suit. As a family, we felt called to make a generous donation to KLOVE and each of us contributed.
The other time that Sierra emptied her bank, still brings tears to my eyes. It was shortly after my dad passed away and my mom was going through the difficult, painful task of designing a headstone. Sierra, all on her own, told my mom that she wanted to give all of her money to help pay for the headstone. As much as my mom did not want her to do this, we all recognized that this was part of Sierra's grieving and a way for her to feel like she could "help" her sweet Nana during such a difficult time. Sierra carefully collected loosed change, birthday money and tooth fairy money which she kept in a coffee can labeled, "Headstone." In the end, when the headstone was made, Sierra proudly took her $137 donation over to Nana's house. I was so proud of her for giving so selflessly.
With all of her generosity, she still remains clever in making "deals" with her more financially challenged siblings. Shortly after I discovered Colton had purchased a ten cent ball for $2, he asked me to help him tape up the bottom of his piggy bank because he lost the rubber stopper. I grabbed the tape and sat on his bed while he handed me the bank. I commented on how heavy it was and he told me about the 50 cent piece that Sierra had loaned him during the last month of school.
They were learning about money at school and the teacher wanted them to bring in one of every coin to tape on the top of their desk. As Colton was collecting his coins, Sierra mentioned to him that she had a 50 cent piece. The reason I remember this so specifically, is that there was a terrible squabble about whether or not Colton could borrow the coin for class. Wade and I both felt strongly that Sierra should let him, but she was hanging onto it like gold. In the end, she relented and allowed Colton to borrow it.
As I was taping up the bottom of Colton's bank, he gave me a gleeful, mischievous little look. "I still have Sierra's 50 cent piece in my bank."
I was shocked. "You mean you didn't return that to her as you promised?"
"I did, but she said I could keep it."
"She did? That doesn't sound like something she would have said," remembering how difficult it was for her to even let him borrow it.
"Yep," he said. "She let me keep it and all I had to do was give her $20."
"$20, Colton? That wasn't a good deal for you," I told him.
"It wasn't?" He asked, incredulously.
"No, and I'm going to talk to her about her deals," I promised.
With that, I finished taping his bank and headed over to the office to chat with Wade. My husband and Sierra are alike in many ways. They are both extremely entrepreneurial in their thinking and both are creative in how they think about money. My husband is also extremely generous and never stingy or greedy. If ever there were two peas in a pod, it would be these two.
As I explained the financial hazing that had been done to the youngest, my husband's first response was a smile. I was not amused. He collected himself and understood that there were messages that both kids needed to understand. I trusted that he would take care of the problem.
Just as I was finishing up with him, Colton walked in carrying a small resin paperweight with the remnants of a scorpion neatly displayed inside. "I'm selling this for $10.99, does anyone want to buy it?" Poor little guy was trying to recoup losses on two other bad deals. Wade sat him down and asked him if he knew how much a pack of gum cost. Colton had no idea. Wade reminded him about the "deal" that he had made to Colton a week earlier as we drove down the mountain - $1 for every consecutive minute of silence. After 53 minutes, Colton ended up with two packs of gum. Although it was a win-win at the time, Wade understood that Sierra, his mini-me, has been carefully learning from the master.
As their little talk wrapped up, Colton happily left with a crisp $20 bill and Wade now has a scorpion paperweight on his desk.
Reader Comments (2)
Sheila, I loved the story.
It reminds me why I tell people, "It's amazing what good kids you get with one great parent" (That would be you).
You made me laugh!
Love W
Thanks for the sweet compliments, but you are wrong. They've got TWO good parents and there's so much you can teach them that I can't. I'm glad it made you smile. Love you!