Milestones: Gambling

The past few months, Vaughn and Eloise have been collecting money. Most of the money is found on the ground, others come from grandparents or a little bonus from Mom or Pop. Pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters- it all goes into a little zippered pouch. Over time, Vaughn has amassed a little over $4. He's had big plans to continue saving until he gets $5 so he can buy a firetruck he saw at a local shop. The other day, I was taking the kids to the Home Depot kids workshop and before we even left the house, Vaughn started telling me they were going to be making a lawn mower.

In my kindest mother-tone, I said, "I don't think so buddy, this isn't engineering class." But all the way there, he persisted. Finally as we pulled into the Home Depot parking lot, I (smugly) said, "Vaughn, I think this would be a good time to make a bet." I explained to him all about what a bet meant and that if we did make a lawn mower, I would double his $4 and if we didn't he would lose all his money and have to give it to me. Although I thought he understood, I knew I couldn't take his money away so as we got out of the car I said, "I don't think we should bet, buddy, I want you to keep your money." As we are walking up to the door, he is pointing out massive tractors and saying that this is what they will be building. Shaking my head and chuckling to myself, I led my children into the store. 

When we got there, we asked the first guy we could find where the kids workshop was. He pointed us in the right direction and I (making a scene for Vaughn) asked, "and do you know what we are building today?" Matter-of-factly, he said, "I think they are building little lawn mowers that hold pencils." I laughed so hard, smacked him on the back and congratulated my son for being right. Again. (Twice in the last week he told me something I doubted only to find he was right!) I said, "Vaughn, you earned it, I'm going to give you that $4." He was excited, but then again, he always knew his money wasn't in danger....I don't think I will be betting Vaughn again anytime soon. 

As soon as we finished the lawn mowers, Eloise looked up at me and said, "Mom, can I have four dollars?"

As a side note, I told Vaughn that I only had a $5 bill and since I owed him $4, he would need to give me some change. I asked him what he would need to give me and without missing a beat, he said, "One dollar." This kid is smart!