tickets

Here's a story I forgot to write about in the birthday post. 

My grandpa sent a card along with my mom when she came for Rachel's birthday.  So when she was opening her presents, she also opened the card from her great-grandpa.  When she opened it, four one-dollar bills fell out, since she was turning four.  She got really excited and said, "Wow!"  My mom asked her what they were, as she picked them up. 

"TICKETS!" she replied, excitedly.

"Tickets?" we all asked, trying to control our laughter. 

"Yeah, tickets!"  she said.

She was so excited....but had absolutely no idea what they were.  Grandma explained that it was money (she's never received money before, nor does she ever see me use money, other than a penny to ride the horse at Meijer every now and then....I always use my debit card to pay for everything!).

Then she was even more excited, when she found out it was paper money.

"Mommy, we can buy GROCERIES!!!" she exclaimed.  That had us all rolling on the floor.  I told her that we wouldn't use her money to buy groceries, but that she could go to the toy store and pick out something that she wanted with her money.  She liked that idea.

The next day we were getting ready to go pick up her cake for her party.  She said, "Mommy, we can use my money to buy it!"  Bless her heart.... I explained that Mommy and Daddy would buy her cake and she could save her money for something she really wanted for herself.

She finally decided that she wanted to buy a horn for her new big girl bike--a princess horn for her princess bike. So last week she and I went to Toys R Us to find one.  They only had two, and they were black, and they didn't work.  She was so disappointed.  But then she spotted a princess bell.  I was against it at first, and told her we should go to another store to look for a horn, because she's never been successful at making the bells ring on her own, and I didn't want her constantly asking one of us to ring the bell for her.  But I got it down and had her try it, and sure enough, she was able to make it ring on her own.  So we bought it (after walking around the store looking at everything else, with her telling me she was going to buy this and that too--I had to expain over and over that she only had enough money to buy the bell and we weren't going to buy any of the other things).  She had 79 cents left over, after using her money and the gift card they send you for being in their birthday club. 

She said, "Where's my money?" once the cashier took it. 

I showed her the change and said, "This is what is left after we paid the man for the bell."  She was a little confused about how her paper money became coin money, but she was excited about the coins.

As we walked out of the store she saw the Winnie the Pooh ride on toy they have out in the front.  She has always wanted to ride it, but we've never let her.  She said, "Can I use my coins to ride Winnie the Pooh?"

It was her money, so I told her she could use it for whatever she wanted, and that's what she wanted.  She put in her two coins (it was 50 cents to ride it) and it started moving and playing the Winnie and Pooh theme song.  I don't think there's ever been a little girl so happy to ride that thing.  She smiled and laughed her way through the whole ride.  It was well worth the 50 cents, just to see her so happy to use her money on something she wanted so much.  And the fun continued after we got home: I put the bell on her bike and she rode down the sidewalk ringing it over and over as she rode, making up a song about a princess bell.  She is completely thrilled with it. 

So thank you, Grandpa, for making my girl so happy with her four TICKETS!