Pinching Pennies

I took the kids out on a shopping excursion last Friday. We needed groceries, Easter clothes, and some Dairy Queen ice cream :-) They did really well. Evan loves looking at story books now, so I typically bring along some of his Cars books. Emma, well, she is just Emma and is constantly jabbering the entire time.

We did the groceries first and then headed to TJ Maxx. I bought a handsome little outfit for Evan with khaki's and sweater vest. Of course he didn't care, he just wanted to look at the toys. Emma on the other hand, was a different story. She was overwhelmed by all the little Easter dresses they had. In the end, she picked a pretty white one with purple flowers which also included the same miniature dress for her baby doll. It was a bit more expensive than I wanted ($25) but she knew the consequences. Buying a more expensive dress meant no shoes to go with it. I liked that she had to decide what she wanted and really took the time to think of all possibilities. Especially when she saw the pretty sparkly shoes that I wouldn't let her get with the dress she picked out.

As we were standing in the check-out line, I feel a little tug on my arm. I look down to see Emma's bright blue eyes looking up at me. She points to the floor where she sees 3 pennies and pulls me down to her level. She whispers in my ears "Mama! Someone left their money on the floor. Who does it belong too?" I explain that someone must have dropped it and not realized it. So she asks "Can I pick it up?" I say, yes of course and her eyes sparkle at me with the wealth she has just found. She proudly bends down and picks up the pennies and flashes a big, bright smile to the woman behind us in line. She happily puts the pennies in her pocket, but I can see her constantly feeling her pocket to make sure the treasure is still there. On the way home she takes them out, turns them around in her hands, looks at them closely and just can't keep her hands off of them. Once we get home, she races upstairs and puts it in her piggy bank.

Now this isn't a huge deal, I realize. But for some reason watching her so proud with her three pennies just struck a cord with me. Maybe it is because of her innocence and not knowing that three cents is well, just three cents and not really worth anything. Maybe it is because of how happy finding something expected made her. I am really not sure. But I think of that time and remember her happily plucking them up off the ground and proudly putting them in her pocket and it just makes me smile.

Every once in awhile, I will let her take some money out of her piggy bank and we will go shopping. We usually go to Target and I let her pick out something small with her money and I try to explain how some things cost more pennies than other things and try to make her really think about her purchases. I guess I am trying to instill some sense of money to her at this point and have her appreciate the things she receives or buys. Just like the dress - you get a more expensive dress, then you don't get the shoes. I don't know if it is working or not, but I think in our money/possession hungry society starting small with little kids is the way to go.