Teaching a Child the Meaning of Money

The other night when we checked on Carolyn after she had gone to bed, we found that she had unwrapped and stuck about 15 bandaids to her arm. She was half asleep, but still very proud of herself. I said something like, "That was very wasteful." And then I must have said something like, "You have to use band-aids more sparingly because we do not have enough money to buy that many bandaids." Her quick response was that she had money in her piggy bank and that she would buy some new band-aids. True to form, not forgetting a thing, Carolyn woke up the next morning remembering every detail of that late-night conversation. She put the empty box of band-aids and her piggy bank into her purse, and asked if we could go to the store, so she could buy some new band-aids. We went to Rite Aid that morning. She thought about getting the princess band-aids or maybe the ones with Buzz Lightyear and Woody, but ultimately settled on the Mickey-Mouse band-aids. She had to use her own money to buy them. When she was pulling out the money from her piggy bank, she even told the salesperson that she "wasted the old band-aids." Now, she hesitates using them because she thinks they are very special. She also asked how she can get more money for her piggy bank, in case she needs to buy anything else.

After we picked out the band-aids, we walked through the store. She wanted to buy a card because she saw that it had the word "mommy" on it .... but when I showed her how much money from her piggy bank that it would cost, she put it back. Instead, she decided to buy a bag of M&Ms. She gave one M&M to daddy, one to mommy, two to herself, and asked me to save the rest for later ..... because "they are very special. I bought them with 'collar' bills from my piggy bank."

I do not think she understood how much money her band-aids cost ($5.29 for that silly box, by the way!), but she knows that they are very valuable because she had to part with money from her own bank.

MVI_1800 a video by boo4172002 on Flickr.

Carolyn talking about her trip to the store to buy bandaids.

The forgotten child

IMG_1809
Originally uploaded by boo4172002

We hardly talk about him anymore, so here he is. LEO. Believe it or not, he is 11 years old. He is starting to show his age (i.e., he hesitates when jumping up on chairs), but he has not slowed down too much. He may be partially blind in one eye, but that does not seem to phase him too much.

Family Photo Challenge, May 2011

During the month of May, we took care of our neighbor's house and cat while she was visting her family in India. In return, we asked her to bring us back some Indian outfits. Here we are, all dressed up. Carolyn and I even had bindis (the marks on our forehead).

Playing with Friends

Some random photos from a playdate with our babysitting co-op.

Housework

We always seem to be doing housework around here .... well, that is not totally true. I admit that the scrubbing, mopping, dusting, and vacuuming are left to our faithful and trusty housekeepers, Dioselina and Lady. I am thankful that we can afford that luxury in life. Getting the house cleaned every two weeks is some of the best money we (as busy working parents) can spend. Plus, it leaves us time to do the real house-work that we like to do.

This summer, we will complete the front-yard project. Last summer, we replaced the stairs and railing on the front of the house. We added a concrete walkway and a large concrete planter box. This summer, we are landscaping the front yard. I took a residential landscape design class early this spring, and have a lot of knowledge about what types of plants and trees can sustain the hot afternoon sun that plagues our front yard. I also came up with a plan that requires us to remove all of the grass and level the yard a bit with a large concrete retaining wall. Here are some pictures of our progress so far. For the past couple of weeks, Steve has been building the forms for the retaining wall. Yesterday, the concrete truck came.

A little bit of planting has begun, but I will keep updating with more photos as the project starts to come together. Here is the concrete planter box. It is filled with cacti and succulents. They are tiny little pin cushions right now, but hopefully it will fill out in a few years. Our goal is to make the yard look nice and give the house a bit of curb appeal, but to be draught-tolerant and waterwise. The sun and heat in our front yard is fierce.

If I did not have such a handy and hardworking husband, I would never be able to afford all of the brainstorms I have for this house. I love my husband, because he is a good guy, but also because he is a hard worker and takes such pride in his work and our home. Thank you Steve.

UPDATE: Steve is taking off the front side of the wall mold right now (to check that it is setting correctly). It looks awesome. I am so excited. I will post new pictures next week, when hopefully all of the forms will be off and the yard is cleaned up a bit.

In her words

Three fairly recent conversations with Carolyn.

CONVERSATION #1: We were driving down the road and passed a cyclist. As I looked in my rearview mirror, I can see the little wheels in her mind turning. She asked, "Mom, why does our car go fast? Super-fast, faster than that man on the bicycle?" "Well," I hesitated a moment, thinking about how I would answer this question in a way that she would understand. She then said, "Is it because cars have engines?" "Yes, Carolyn, that is right." I was amazed that she had come up with a better answer than I was trying to come up with in my mind to tell her. Then, she asked, "Do we go to the station [gas station] to put gas in the engine? Does gas give the car energy? Is that why our car goes super-fast? And the bike not as fast?" Holy smokes, I could not have come up with a better answer for her.

CONVERSATION #2: On a sunny afternoon, we were blowing bubbles in the yard. She also had a small ball in her hand. As she was running after the bubbles to catch them (POP!), she dropped her ball. Then, she stopped, picked up her ball, looked at the bubbles floating away, and then looked up at me. Uh oh. I knew a question was coming. You can see it on her face. "Mom, why does my ball drop to the ground and my bubbles float in the air?" I told her because the bubbles are lighter than the ball, but that she would have to ask Daddy for a better answer. So, she immediately went inside and asked Daddy. He tried to come up with a better answer. I am not sure his answer satisfied her, but some other wonder of the world amazed her next annd she was on to a new question. Thank god for short attention spans.

CONVERSATION #3: We were driving on an elevated road, and we had a good view of the entire valley, both to the east (toward the mountains) and the west (toward the lake). It was in the evening, around dusk. She looked toward the lake and said, "The sky is getting pink, so the sun must be going to bed." Then, she looked toward the mountain where the moon was already high in the sky, saying "But, mom, I can see the moon over there. I see both the sun and the moon. Why can I see both the sun and the moon?" When we got home, the first thing she told Steve about her day was, "Daddy, I saw both the sun and the moon at the same time. Isn't that funny, daddy? The moon comes when the sun goes to bed. He must have come early today. "

Ah. I just love to see her little mind at work. But, I fear that I may not always be able to answer her questions. Her curiosity is already bumping with my knowledge about the physical world (admitedly, not one of my strong points -- THANK GOD for Steve!).

New Jammies

A box came in the mail -- it was addressed to Carolyn. She knew it said her name and that there was a surprise inside. She insisted that we let her open it up immediately. In it was a pair of pajamas, along with a pair to match her baby doll. Thanks mom and dad. She loves them. She even took Baby Becky to school the other day for show-and-tell. She tried to convince me to let her wear her pajamas too. I told her no on the pajamas, but gave her a picture to take with her to show her friends.

Happy Easter

A bit late, but here are the photos from Easter last month. When Carolyn asked what Easter was, I told her that it was a day that she could pick out the fanciest dress in her closet. She did not hesitate for a second. It was actually a hard decision; she could not decide between two dresses. In the morning, RJ came over for pastries and coffee. Carolyn had an easter egg hunt in the backyard. Then, we enjoyed the afternoon with our friends Kim, Nick, and Sebi.

another new sweater

another new sweater
Originally uploaded by boo4172002

We did not get a good picture, but here is another knitted creation from Grandma Lynn.

Family Photo Challenge

DSCN4206
Originally uploaded by boo4172002

Here is our photo from April. Nothing special, just a Sunday afternoon. We had to have a current photo of our family to submit with the enrollment papers for Carolyn's new school.

That's right, we have decided to switch schools. Carolyn will be starting at the Montessori Community School in early July, right after we get back from our vacation to Ohio.

While we love our current day care providder (Bright Horizon) and have nothing bad to say about them, the university pulled out their subsidy, which means that our tuition would increase 16% next year. Ugh. So, the place went from the most expensive in the area(even with the subsidy) to unaffordable. We had been considering switching to the Montessori, but the price increase made it inevitable.

That said, we are very excited to start the new school. The dedicated dance, music, and art studios are probably what sold me. Not to mention, the Montessori teaching methods resonated with us, and we think Carolyn will thrive. It is a more structured "learning" enviornment than a day care center, but still not like a school with desks. They go on field trips; they learn about a different country, composer, and artist each month. And, the students are much more racially-ethnically diverse than what you normally see in Utah population. The teachers are all full-time and have been at the school, on average, for 8 years.

I will update more throughout the summer as we all make the transition. The new school is only 2-3 blocks away, so I am hoping we can walk sometimes.

holiday

Most mornings Carolyn asks if it is "holiday" -- that means it is a day without school. If it is a holiday, her wheels start turning and she begins to plan her day. She tells us whether she wants to go to the zoo, the museum, visit with friends, or play outside. She quickly fills her holiday with fun plans of what she wants to do. Last month, she had an extra special holiday when Grandma came to town. She arrived on a Thursday (around lunch) and stayed until Monday. She got to skip school on Thursday and Friday, making it an extra long holiday. Our days were filled with lots of fun. Our first stop was to the zoo - of course. She always has to show her visitors Baby Zuri. Grandma let her have a pink ice cream cone too.

On Friday, we went to the aquarium. Then a restaurant called the Mayan, where cliff divers, fire dancers, and arial artists put on a show every 15 minutes. Seriously, the divers dove into a pool 30-40 feet below. It was pretty cool.

On Saturday afternoon, we went to the library. Then, she insisted that grandma read her every book she borrowed. Plus, she got to pick out a movie (Finding Nemo) that she watched with grandma and dad. She thought it was so sad - because the mom and all her babies die at the beginning. She cannot stop talking about how sad that movie was. Carolyn is very sensitive.

Later that evening, Grandma got to meet a lot of Carolyn's friends from day care at a birthday party at "Little Gym." Now, that was fun!

On Sunday, the rain and snow finally stopped, so we took grandma to the farm.

Carolyn and Grandma had a slumber party every night. We could hear them giggling and talking until late in the evening. In particular, grandma taught Carolyn two new games that she has loved sharing with us and her friends. The first one is to say, "I love you more than ..." Carolyn's favorite is "I love you more than cupcakes." She also learned "I see something you don't see, and the color is..." She is so amazed when we guess what she has picked. All holidays must come to an end. Grandma had to leave on Monday morning. When Carolyn woke up, she looked around and came to me with a sad little face, saying "Is Grandma already on the big jet?" Then, she said, "I miss grandma already." The next question was "Today is not a holiday, is it?" Nope. Back to our normally scheduled days.

It is that time of the year

Regalia
Originally uploaded by boo4172002

.... for graduations, grading papers, finishing all of the end-of-the-year awards and evaluations. The life of a university professor is pretty busy in the spring.

Now that I am getting caught up on the work side of my life, I will soon update the blog. I have a lot of photos (from easter, from my mom's visit, from house work) to share.