Yun will never understand why she is often so amused, amazed and mesmerized by her children. Well, it , might be since she does not see her kids every single day! She is grateful and appreciative of the time when her children are with her. Every minute is a new discovery for her children, every moment, there is a tall tale to be heard…
It was a hot summer Friday, the last day of their summer camp. Yun gave each kid $2 instead $1, so they might purchase more snacks if they wished. There is soda for 50c, and ice cream for 75c , pizza for $1.50.
As any good and curious mother, when she picked them up at the end of the 6 hour camp, she asked: “Tell me, how did you spend your $2 today?” The boys started giggling uncontrollably, and apparently, they had great fun with the $2.
“Mommy, Gavin spent all his money buying food!” Patrick chimed in.
“But, you stole a small piece of my peperoni!” Gavin protested half heatedly.
“So, how did you spend your money, Patrick?” Yun had to ask again.
“I bought a brisk tea, gave $1 to Western, and 50c to other kids. Mommy, can we buy some brisk tea? It is super good!” Patrick was pouring out what’s on his mind by redirecting his mother away from the question at hand!
“You gave most of your money away?” Yun was surprised and disappointed (she wished Patrick would not give most of his money away). “Why did you do this? ”
Yun was curious about the ways the money was spent by each kid. Slowly, more truth came out. Patrick used 50c to bribe his way from the third in line at the soda machine to the first because he was late for class. He believed the 50c was very well spent to avoid getting in trouble. The $1 he gave to Western? Because Western lost his $1, and was upset about it. So, Patrick gave him $1. Well, that was friendship and the money was well spent, no doubt!
Patrick felt proud about his way of spending the money and giggled again with Gavin as Gavin announced proudly: “I was hungry and I spent the whole $2 on food, and Patrick even shared it..”
Yun was tickled that the boys had been so ingenious in their use of money. They both got to eat and drink and they helped others at the same time. Now the bribing to get to the front of the line and out of trouble? Pure problem solving !
It is not always easy to let children make their own decisions. But, at times, the best a parent can do is to encourage their independent thinking and choice making even though we might not feel 100% comfortable with their decisions. Learning to look at her children’s behavior from their perspective is something she has learned, and it has made parenthood so much more fun for her and for her children… So, $2 well spent, says who? Depends on who is talking!
“Bye for Now” from The Two Whos