Ben's Treat

By Chris

We've established that Ben is tight with his money. He's approaching 80 bucks to his name. So, he faced a dilemna the other day. With the ice cream man's sweet music playing in the distance, Ben ran in and asked me, "do you have any money for me, Kristian and Kai to get ice cream." When I said no, he pouted. "But, you're welcome to get your pig (where he keeps his money) out and get ice cream for you all. " That struck him to his penny-pinching bones. He thought REALLY hard. Then said, "How much would that cost?" "Just a few of your dollars . . . maybe three," I replied. More thinking . . . Time was running out though. The ice cream man would soon pass by. "O.k.," he said, half unsure, and ran to get his money (I know that half unsure feeling. Teresa says I'm a big grump at purchase time for just about anything, debating endlessly about the need for the proposed item and teetering on the decision to buy for months at a time. It took a good 8 months for me to buy my last car. Pants and shirts can take me several visits to pull the trigger. Buying a house nearly sent me over the edge!). So, retrieved three bucks only from the pig's full belly. Good plan, I told him. Keep everyone under three dollars combined, because you could spend a lot more. A little later, he returned with a $5 bill to put back in his pig (he's real careful to quickly store his money in his pig . . . unlike our other kids who always loose track of their cash). "How did you get that. I thought you were buying ice cream?" "Katy (aunt) gave me money for getting Kai and Kristian (cousins) some."

I just laughed. That's a pretty good deal. Go out with three dollars to treat your cousins to a treat. Get the treat and $5. A kid could get rich like that. And, that's just like Katy too. Come on, girl. At least get your change! I hope she doesn't shop like that.